UNIT : 5

FAMILY

BY
Chirag
Goswami
FAMILY
 Family is a group of people organised on the
basis of natural love and affection. It is the
fundamental social unit formed in the society,
which provides the safety, security, rearing of
children and for fulfillment of certain human
needs.
 The word family has been derived from Latin
word ‘famulus’ means servant. In Roman the
word is denoted by a group of members
connected by a common descent or marriage.
 DEFINITION

- ‘The biological social unit

composed of husband, wife and children.’
- Eliot and Merril.
- ‘ Family is a durble association of
husband and wife with or without children
or a man or women along with children.’
General characteristics

 The family is a group defined by sexual

relationship between male and female, which is
sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for
procreation and by bringing of children.
 It is constituted by living together of males with
females and their offspring.it establishes a
permanent relationship between husband and wife
through permanent sexual relationship.
 A form of marriage or other institutional
arrangement in accordance with the mating
relationship is established and maintained.
 Attachment of blood relationship among the family
members.
 Itmay be real imaginary.
 Financial provision or some economic
provision shared by the members of the
group to fulfill the economic needs
associated with child bearing and
rearing.
 A system of nomenclature involving a
mode of recongnising descent.
 Common habitation.
 There is a cultural variability in the forms.eg:The
different forms of mating relationship,selection
of mates.
 Universality.
 It fulfiils emotional need of the individual.
 Its is a formative agency of socialisation.
 Will have limited members.
 Its controls the activities of the members with in
the society.
 Its may be permament or temporary in nature.
 The family members will have certain
responsibilities,duties and
obligations;the happiness in the family
depend on low best the
members’discharge their responsibilites
in coordination with the other
individuals of the family.
 The family is peculiarly guarded both by
socail taboos and legel regaultions.
Functions
 Fulfiil
the biological function.
 Replacement of species through the
propagation of progeny.
 Social repetition where the sex excreion and
regultion.
 Family is a medium or sex excretion and
regulation.
 Provision of food,housing and clothing which
are necessry to the existence of human life.
 Psychological function :
 Educational function :
 Protective function :
 Recreational function:
 Religious function :
 Maintains status :
 Cultural function
social function :
Types of Family
 On the basis of Authority
 Patriarchal family: the father is the most
powerful and unquestionable authority
 Matriarchal family : mother plays dominant
role in the family.
 On the basis of residence
 Matrilocal family : the husband lives in the
wife’s home.
 Patrilocal family : the wife lives in the
husband’s home
 Changing residence: husband and wife
alternate continuously change each other’s
residence eg:one year husband lives in wife’s
residence.next year wife lives in husband’s
residence.
 On the basis of Ancestry.
 Matrilineal family : mother is the basis of
ancestry.
 Patrilineal family : father is the basis of
ancestry.
On the basis of marriage:
Polygamy family:one man marries many
women and lives in a family with his wives
and children.
Polyandrous family:woman marries
many men and lives in a family with all of
them or with each of them alternatively.
Monogamous family:one man marries
only one woman and establishes a family.
 Based on dominance :
 Matronaymic:family/ancestry is the name of
the mother.
 Patronymic : family is named after the father.
 Immediate : consists of mother,father and
their children.
 Conjugal family : Husaband and wife lives
together.
 Extended family: besides the couple, other
relatives also live.
 Consanguinous family : blood related
members, marry each other .
 Nuclear family : husband and wife with
their offspring live together.
 Joint family : couple with their children’s
family lives together.
 Extended family : husband,wife,children
and other dependents like brother,sister’s
saty together.
MODERN FAMILY

 The individual nuclear family is universal

social phenomenon.it can be define as’a
small group composed of husband and
wife, immature children which constitute a
unit apart from the rest of the community
 Thus a nuclear family is a characteristics
of all the modern industrial societies. The
American family is typical example of the
modern independent nuclear family.
Structure
 This gives rise to two kinds of nuclear
families :
A ) The family of orientation
B ) The family of procreation
I . The family system in which the nuclear
family is relatively independent
II. System in which the nuclear family is
incorporated in or subordinated to a larger
group , that is to the polygamous or the
exatended family.
Recent trends in modern
family
 Thefamily has undergone some radical
change in the past half a century. Its
structure has change .its function have
been altered and its nature has been
affected. Various
factors,social,economic,eduction,legel,
scientific,technology,etc… the following
important change are…..
 1) Industrialisation :
 2) urbanisation :
 3 ) democratic ideals :
 4) The decline of the influence of mores
and the religious beliefs and the spread of
secular attitude :
 5) The spirit of individualism and
romantic love :
 6 ) Economic independence of women :
 7) Emancipation of women :
 8) decline in birth rate :
 9) Divorce :
 10) parent youth confilct :
Problem of modern family
 Lack of trust :
 Unstability :
 Change the relationship between man and
women :
 sex laxity :
 economic imbalance :
 sexual heterogeneity :
 Decline of religious control :
:
 Decline family control :
 Decline of morale :
 Divorce :
 Impact of western family system :
 Dowry system
Disorganisation of modern
family
 Lack of family unity :
 Decrease in family control :
 strive :
 Laxity of marital bond :
 Conflict between parents and children :
 Lack of security :
Causes of instability in modern
family :
 Less social protection in the family wise
:
 Domination :
 Industrialisation :
 Lack of control in social relationship :
 Idea of romantic love :
 Hedonism :
 Individualisation :
Change in the modern family.
Joint family :
meaning :
 Jointfamily will have two to three
generation and kinship relatives share
the kitchen and common group, its
provides bedrock on which social values
and attitude are built.
Definition :
“A group of pepole who generally live
under one roof,who eat food cooked at one
hearth, who hold property in common who
participate in common family worship and
who related to ecah other”

Dr Iravathi karve
characteristic
 Large in size .
 Joint property; provide social security,
leisure and recreation.
 Antithesis of nuclear family.
 common residence; sharing common
roof.kitechen.
 common version .
 cooperative organisation; promotes
cooperative virtues.
 Productive unity
 mutual right, responsibilities and
obligation
 Authority with head of family
 self sufficiency- to meet the economic,
recreational medical education and
other need of members.
 Higher rate of procreation.
Advantages
 Ensures economic progress.
 protection of members
 Division of labour
 mean of recreation
 Avoids fragmentation of property
 security in wealth
 Development of god quality
 Cooperative, sharing and economy
 stable and durable relationship
Disadavansatges:
 Hinders in development of personality .
 Encourages litigation or strikes.
 Uncontrolled procreations (reproduction )
 promotes laziness , idleness
 lack of privacy and affects adversely socialisation of
children
 Rigidity of superstitions and customs
 poverty
 Damages individual initiative and enterprise; the
centre of quarrels
 Limits social mobility.
Basic Needs of Family
Impact of sickness on the
family.
 1)Economic burden :
 2) Disturbance in family routine
activities .
 3) Leisure time
 4) Altered family relationship
 5) Disruptive and disintegrative effects
Health Aspects of family
planning
 Family planinng and health have two-
way relationship

 Women’s health

 Foetal health

 child health
Child Growth Development and
Nutrition :
Psychosomatic illness
 Introduction :
 Heinroth has used the term for the
first time in 1818,intra psychic conflicts
are responsible for structural change
and produce manifestations of diseases
through the disturbances in the function
of autonomic nervous system .
Definition :
 “Prolonged influence of emotional
factors produces a group of diseases
where structural lesions are produced in
organs supplied by autonomic nervous
system”

 A group of disorders in which

emotional factors have a demonstrable
role in aetiology.
Aetiology
 Continues presence of life stressors.
 The personality type-conscientious
,rigid uncompromising ambitious, easily
upset,sensitive,the people who who
struggle with high motivation inspire of
situational difficulties
 Genetic and constitutional
predisposition.
Characteristics
 Emotions,upsets,precipitate attacks of
the illness and increase severity of an
attack

 stressful life experiences

 These disorders have a phasic course.

Common psychosomatic
disorders.
 Respiratory disorders –
 Gastrointestinal disorders-
 Skin disorders
 Musculoskeletal disorder –
 endocrine disorders
 cardiovascular disorders
 immune system
 Reproductive system
 menstrual disorder
 vasomotor