Historical and Contemporary Factors That May Have Contributed To Diversity in The Caribbean Family

Historical and contemporary factors that may have
contributed to diversity in the Caribbean family
SLAVERY
The first historical factor that contributed to diversity in Caribbean families was slavery. In fact,
“The study of the family in the Caribbean region has mainly focused on the Afro-Caribbean,
lower-class family” (Chinapoo,2004). The African Caribbean family mainly consisted of
matrifocal families and marriages were not considered necessary for unions, hence,
common-law relationships and the practice of polygamy were common. “The attention paid to
female-headed households is apparent based on the belief that such family types are
dysfunctional since they do not conform to the standard family types associated with Western
societies” (Chinapoo 2004). Herskovits 1947, and Frazier agreed that these families had
common features as they were maternal, extended, had high rates of illegitimacy, and often had
common-law unions, also called ‘keeper’ unions by Herskovits, or ‘irregular’ unions by Frazier.
Herskovits conducted ethnographic studies in Toco where they claimed to have found evidence
of surviving African cultural heritage although with modifications. He modified polygamy to
include both men and women in a situation where ‘progressive monogamy’ was commonplace.
This justifies the prominence of the Functionalist perspective as implications to change these
family patterns intended to create social order. In the village of Toco, “They discovered the
looseness of the conjugal bond, the close nucleus of mother and child, the importance of family
support to the individual, the peripheral status of the father, and the rituals of courting, birth and
child socialization” (Herskovits,1947). In terms of sociological theory, regardless of structural
functionalism in family patterns, slavery can be compared to the Conflict Theory. “According to
Karl Marx 1818-83, the founder of this perspective, historically, societies have been
characterized by clashes of competing interests between economic groups or social classes.
These clashes usually result from injustice, inequality, and the exploitation and subjugation of
the less powerful groups” (Mustapha,2009). Slavery is the perfect example of Marxism as both
economic groups suffered an inherent conflict due to their opposing goals. The capitalists
wanted to raise profit while workers wished to earn higher wages, hence, workers were
exploited for the benefit of the capitalist class. In retrospect, slavery was an impactful factor that
contributed to family diversity, particularly the African Caribbean family, and many of these
kinship patterns were considered dysfunctional and had to be modified to achieve social order.
Marxism also had a big contribution to the economy of slavery society and explains it’s concept
in terms of labor exploitation.
POST EMANCIPATION AND INDENTURESHIP

Post-emancipation as well as indentureship added further to diversity in the Caribbean.
Ex-slaves were liberated from plantation work leading to a lack of workers in the labor force.
This is when colonists sought out laborers from other parts of the diaspora and in result brought
a variety of diverse cultures, ethnicities, race, and religions to Caribbean territories. This also
exposes the Caribbean to a variety of kinship patterns especially, unions and family types. An
ethnic group that is still present in the Caribbean till date and contributes heavily to diversity is
the East Indians. East Indians consisted of mostly extended families, patriarchy, and in terms of
unions or gender roles in their families, they ascribe these things based on their values and
norms such as in their caste system. “The Caste System of India persisted in a much-diluted
way and became a consideration in arranging a marriage and in joining political organizations,
but it could not persist in other aspect of daily life. A caste system is one in which people are
born into their social standing and will remain in it their whole lives. People are assigned
occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or potential. There are virtually no
opportunities to improve a person's social position” (Klass,1961). Other ethnic groups may have
class divisions or a hierarchy of status but not of a complexity as in the Indian caste system. In
fact, some ethnic groups determined status, and roles of individuals based on gender. Klass
1961 observed that “The respect accorded to men and the need for a man to represent the
family in a community and in organizing business affairs and arranging the marriages of his
children- a woman would not be considered competent in the public sphere (compare the
situation in Afro-Caribbean communities where women went out to work and support the home
because men only had irregular work or low-income). Not just African or Indian groups but all
immigrants such as the Chinese, Europeans, Madeirans, etc. had differentiating lifestyles and
practices that affected family patterns. All these people learning to live in a heterogenous
society consists of varying opinions and beliefs that will most definitely be influenced through
socialization. This can compare to the interactionist perspective especially in contemporary
Caribbean society. “Max Weber 1864-1920 defines Interactionism as the microsociological
perspective, which sees the individual as a knowing person who exercises agency in choosing
his or her actions” (Mohammed,2014). To synopsize, post-emancipation along with
indentureship contributed to the diversity of Caribbean family patterns as this historical factor
brought ethnic groups belonging to different aspects of the diaspora into Caribbean territories.
This created exposure to different aspects of life and through the process of socialization
individuals will develop their own opinions on these cultures and traditions, therefore,
heterogeneous society expresses the Interactionist perspective. Apart from these historical
impacts there are indeed contemporary factors of society that have contributed to diversity in
the Caribbean family such as industrialization, urbanization, and migration or social mobility.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
Industrialization refers to the process of converting society from agricultural predominance to
dominated by manufacturing. According to Parsons, in preindustrial society, kinship dominated
all aspects of life, and the extended family was the dominant family form. In industrial society,
the nuclear family became the dominant family form. In early industrialization production began
to fade and face economic challenges such as lack of workers. For families wages were low and
prolonged unemployment worsened the situation. “According to Young and Willmott this
encouraged families to create ‘insurance’ by inviting relatives beyond the nuclear family into its
network. It weakened the conjugal bond in favor of greater ties between mother and married
daughter to create an organized and informal network between women which excluded men.
Young and Willmott’s study found that men had been eased out of the female circle to find
‘comfort’ in the pub” (Willmott and Young,1957). It can be observed in Willmott and Young’s
study of ‘The Symmetrical Family’, as well as in Marxist sociologists’ view of the family, that
industrialization gave families a distinct sexual division of labor. Men were not involved when it
came to domestic tasks and dedicatedly worked as laborers. This makes industrial society an
agent of female subjugation from a Marxist point of view, as they suffer more exploitation than
that of men regardless of status. This is justifiable as they are expected to make the home a
stress-free environment to facilitate their husbands after working hours and means that in
addition to domestic tasks, they may have to tolerate outbursts of anger or even forms of abuse
from men in their family. This simply benefits the capitalists as it ensures that workers are
functioning well and completing their jobs, and while they gain profits, individual family members
are exploited to ensure society runs smoothly. Some sociologists have criticized this view as
they believe that Marxists focus on the negative aspects of family life and they fail to recognize
the satisfaction that it provides for its members, especially for some women who embrace their
traditional roles of wife and mother. To summarize, industrialization has influenced society to
have monogamous relationships and create nuclear families that in result, created a sexual
division of labor, and from the Marxist perspective showed how exploitation took place and
benefited capitalists. Indeed, industrialization significantly impacted the family but other
contemporary factors such as urbanization and migration further changed family patterns

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POST EMANCIPATION AND INDENTURESHIP

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