Page 145 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Unit 20: Family: Family and Household, Definition of Family, Nature of Family

(i) Marriage Relation: Every family comes into existence after marriage only. Notes
(ii) Type of Marriage: In every society, a certain kind of marriage is prevalent, which may
be single marriage, multi-wife or multi husband marriage etc.
(iii) Family Name: In a family, there is a system for naming a child. Children are either
known by their father’s name or mother’s name.
(iv) Economy: Every family does some financial activity to support its family members.
(v) General Residence: The members of every family live in one place, which they call
‘home.’
Maceywore and Page have also mentioned some specific characteristics of a family, which are
as follows:
(i) Universal—The institution of a family is found in all the periods and in all the place,
(ii) Emotional Base—There is an emotional bond between the members of a family. They
have the feelings of love, support, sacrifice and generosity.
(iii) Creative Effect—It is in the family that a child picks up good and bad habits. The role
of the family is pivotal in shaping his personality.
(iv) Central Position—The family has a central position in structuring the society. The
coming together of many families make lineage, sib, seek caste, sub-caste, community
and society.
(v) Responsibility of Members—Instead of other unions and institutions, a family has
more and important responsibility towards its members.
(vi) Limited Size—Because of the organic membership of the family, the number of family
members is limited and not in thousands little other organizations.
(vii) Social Norms—Every family controls its family members through customs and tradi-
tions.
(viii) The Permanent and Temporary Nature of the Family—As an institution, the family
is permanent and has been there since the early period but as a committee personal
families collapse after the demise of family members.

Self Assessment
Fill In the Blanks:
1. Every family has to do some financial activity in order _________ its members.
2. The family as an _________ has found in every era and all place.
3. A child picks up good and bad _________ from his family only.

20.2 Muslim Family

The basis of the Muslim society is ‘Family’, which is established through ‘Nikah’. The Muslim
families are of the paternal Lineage, which gives more importance to men than women. In a
Muslim family, the head’s power is supreme. In the absence of a male child in a family, the cus-
tom of adoption is followed. Like, Hindu marriage, the basis of a Muslim family is Quran. Thus,
the Muslim family reflects the effect of religion too. Everything, from the unity of the family, to
responsibilities of members and their relations, the inheritance rules have been clarified on the
basis of religion. There has been an effect of Hindus on the Muslim society, family and marriage
because the Hindus and Muslims have been staying together since a long period. Like Hindus,
in case a Muslim family does not have a son, the daughter’s husband, i.e. the son-in-law stays
with his wife’s family.
Discussing the effect of Hindus on Muslim, Dr. Kapadia writes, “Indian Muslims have more
similarities with Hindus than with Arab countries or with Islamic people of other countries.
Those Hindus, who converted to Islam did not discard their basic religious beliefs and social
customs, despite accepting Islam. As a result, their religious life is full of Hindu customs and be-
liefs.” The custom of a joint family prevalent amongst the Muslims is a result of the Hindu effect.

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