Page 179 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Unit 23: Joint Family: Types and Functions

spend her life cooking food, giving birth and raising children and serving other members Notes
of the family. She is considered a source of entertainment. She is forced to have complained
from mother-in-law and sisters in law. She becomes a victim of abuse and admonition. She
has no relation with education and outside world.
4. Center of Dispute: There is always a quarrel/dispute, over children. Property or behav-
iour of females in a joint family. It endangers the peace of family. Hatred and antagonism
develop among women over issues related to children and personal expenses and the co-
operation and attention in the family turns into struggle and entity. The end result of strug-
gle and quarrel lead to division of family.
5. Producing More Child: In a joint family a member is neither required to be self-sufficient
nor he is required to marry for his maintenance. Every member is looked after in the same
way in a joint family. In order to get a son so that the religions rituals are fulfilled and to
attain salvation a person may give birth to many daughters. It increases the number of chil-
dren in the family whose burden is born by the joint family.
6. Obstacle in Dexterity: A joint family has exploited a hard working person and encouraged
indolents. In a joint family interest of all the persons are taken care of and their require-
ments are fulfilled whether they are earning or not. As a result work-efficiency of an earn-
ing member starts declining because of excess burden and no encouragement at all. His
health and life-style also declines.
7. Obstacle in Movement: People have a deep affection in their families. They have this con-
cept, “Out of right, out of mind, “Thinking this, a person does not want to go anywhere
leaving his family behind. The affection and facilities a persons get in the family, is impos-
sible to act anywhere. Therefore, a person doesnot like to go outside for a job or business
even if he is unemployed.
8. No Secret Place: The gathering of members in a joint family looks like a small fair, because
the number of members keep increasing but the house remains the same. A joint family
is buzzed 24 hours by the warbling of its members. There is no private and quiet place.
These conditions create a very difficult situation for newly-married couples. In general,
it is against the respect of elders and ideology of family if husband and wife talk to each
other or they talk in excess to their own children and take extra care of their children. In
such a situation husband and wife looks like more stranger to each other rather than being
a co-operator. Dr Rajendra Prasad has written in his Autobiography that, “In a joint fam-
ily, meeting of husband and wife are so artificial and unnatural conditions that they do not
even have a formal introduction and the development of love is a distant thing. Having no
private place is also troublesome for children as sometimes they see undersirable events
that proved to be harmful to them.
9. Discretionary Power of Karta: ‘Karta’ has an important place in a family. All functions in
a family is directed by karta and his will is done all. The wish of other members are sup-
pressed for karta’s wish. So karta is an absolute ruler of the family. This situation of karta
is proved to be explosive in the present time as the new generation, who has grown up in a
different thought with a new concept, is not ready to accept and adjust with thus discretion-
ary power of one man. As a result, they are turning rebellion. This condition is provided to
be total for the integrity of a joint family.
10. Supporter of Social Problems: Joint family has been a place for many conservative tra-
ditions and useless religious ceremonies. Joint families have given way to and promoted
many social problems, e.g., child marriage, dowry system, restriction on widow remar-
riage, marrying in the same caste, parda system, problem of population, illiteracy, caste
based discrimination, exploitation of women, etc. However there are several reasons for
these problems but the most important is a joint family because there is an atmosphere of
zero knowledge in joint families and members behave like puppet, it wears they cannot dif-
ferentiate between right and wrong. Joint families have discouraged the modern thought
and development and helped in carrying on these problems as it is.

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