Page 163 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Unit 22: Development Cycle of Family in India

which he cannot do without other’s help. If we consider the physical abilities only the man is Notes
not perfect. Although he tried to get victory over nature by his organised efforts because he has
a brilliant mind.
This is why manmade groups had many functions and principles.
Kinship arrangement is the easiest and the most clear principle.
Means the relatives developed between the family members on the basis of inheritance and
marriage.
This type of family relation is trifocal in nature, husband-wife, parents-children, and relation
with other relatives. It is not necessary that secondly and thirdly relative are blood relatives only
because children can be adopted. It means that, the definition of a family cannot be given on the
basis of biological nature of a human. It is now clear from above discussion.

What are the principle sources of a family?

22.2 Family: As a Process

There are two ways to learn a family. A family can be studied by thinking human-society as a
universal and static institution. In other words, a family is a functional unit, which is already
discussed above. The second type of family is, a group. Or a constructed society, now we would
study, forms of a family and its introduction.
As told before, the family has a biological side pregnant mother and infant need a family’s
protection a lot. But mother and child does not make a family, mother, her sex partner, their
children creates privacy membership in the family. This primary group has many names. Such
as — Nuclear, nearest, primary family. Well the words have same meaning. The centre point
of all types of family are those people, who relate to each-other with intention of reproduction,
with their children parents forms a productive secured society.
This center expands with the contribution of close family. Now, we called it extended family.
Extended families are of many types. Firstly, they develop near the centre and secondly, they are
very broad Hindu joint family, based on the principles of blood relation.
In the diameter of husband-wife, other relatives comes in the center are called Blood related
families. Members are related by birth, there is no place of choice. This is why, it is more stable
unit. Blood related families do not destroy when a child grow-up to male or marriage breaks.
Blood relatives fulfills each others need except sex needs. The marriage is universally prohibited
among close relatives. Because of this reason husband/wife belongs to other family clad. So, we
see that, in blood related family, focus is given on the blood relatives only but not on marriage. It
is said that Malabar’s Nayyars have these family in the beginning to the millennium. The father
and the husband had no social recognition.
The type of family, we are familiar to in our society is the couple, their children and some
relatives. This type of family is called nuclear family, this type of family is found in tribes as
Kariya. Married or (couple relationship) is the most important in these families. These families
are not stable in those societies where marital relations can not be disconnected. This is why
some dynamism is seen among the family member because every member’s (male/female)
loyalty rifts after marriage from the original family to their own. The percentage of change is
different. For example – in fatherly- resident family – a daughter-in-law has least relationship
with her original family but her husbands relationships does not break with his family.

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