FAMILY &

MARRIAGE
Mr. RAJ R. KASPATE
CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR,
Dr.G.D. POL FOUNDATION’S
INSTITUTE OF NURSING
EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
 A family can be defined as a set of people related by
blood, marriage or some other agreed-upon
relationship, or adoption who share the primary
responsibility for reproduction and caring for
members of society.
 In this chapter, we will look at the family and intimate
relationships from the functionalist, conflict etc. Then
How do people select their mates? When does a
marriage fail? What is the importance of joint family?
FAMILY
 Family is the most distinct primary group in the society.
 The word ‘family’ has been taken from Latin word
'famulus’ means servant.
 Family is known as a primary group, social institution,
and basic unit of the society and key association of the
human society.
 There is no society in world where family is not found.
 Family fulfill basic needs of the society also
psychological, & social needs of the human being.
 Family is the most important institute of socialization
where child learns his culture. Also there are so many
variations in family from culture to culture.
 It’s the smallest and most basic unit of society
considered as primary group within the society.
 A family is our basis of strength. Family teaches us
about the meaning of actual relationships and how it
exists among its members. Family members help us
create meaningful relationships in the outside world.
We pass on the love, care and protection that we inherit
from our families, to our independent relationships.
DEFINITION
 MacIver says, “Family is a group defined by a sex
relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to
provide for the Procreation and upbringing of children.
OR
 According to Clare, “Family is a system of
relationship existing between parents and children.”
CHARACTERISTICS
 MacIver and page given two types of features:
1. General features of family.
2. Distinctive features of family.
 A mating relationship.
 A form of marriage.
 A system of Nomenclature.
 Economic provision.
 A common habitation.
 A system of descent or lineage.
 Permanent Institution.
1. The distinctive feature:
 Universality.
 Emotional basis.
FAMILY AS A BASIC NEED
 A family is our source of strength. Family teaches us
what exactly relationships mean. Family members
helps us in creating meaningful relationship in the
outside world. The love, worship, devotion and care
we inherit from our families.
 The family is the first institution to provide life-giving
support, to bind and connect the individual to a social
group & help to socialize the person for participation
outside the primary group.
Family is a basic need because:-
Family is our first introduction or beginning into
this physical world.
Family gives us our genetic heritage and
ancestral ties.
 Family is our first school; it is where children
learn who they are, where they fit in, and what
they can contribute to the world.
 Family offers moral and spiritual support.
 Family helps in building community spirit.
 Families are important because they provide us
unlimited comfort, care, love, affection, laughter, & a
feeling of belonging.
 FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY
 The most important function of the family is to ensure
the continuation of society, both biologically through
the procreation and socially through the socialization.
From the prospects of the parents, the family’s
primary purpose is procreation.
 MacIver describe the functions of family :-
 Stable satisfaction of sex needs: Sex instinct is
the fundamental need of the human. To fulfill the
sexual need, society has acceptable provision of
family via marriage.
 Procreation and rearing: For the continuity of family,
procreation is important and through family procreation
follows & runs the generation. And family plays a imp
role in rearing of child.
 Provision of Home: Family crates when love, affection,
security, protection and comfort needs are fulfilled.
 Socialization function: Family is one of the primary
agencies of socialization. Family members inculcate in
the child the norms, values, morals, belief, and ideals of
society.
 Function of Love & affection: Each family member
shares strong emotional affection to each other.
Everyone has a desire to feel worthy.
 Economic functions: Family is center for economical
activities. Members of the family depends upon
parents or elders for fulfilment.
 Educational functions: The family provide avenue
of child education. Family provide the formal &
informal education to child.
 Religious functions: Families are the eternal
source of religious behaviour of a person. Spiritual
and religious character formulate within the family.
 Recreational functions: Family functions, festivals,
celebrations, family rituals are some of the occasion
by which family members fulfil recreational needs.
 Health function: A family performs health function
for its individual; evidences shows family positively
affect health of a person.
 According to William F. Ogburn;
 Reproduction: For maintenance of society, family
cycle must be maintained. Family must replace or
substitute dying members.
 Protection: Children require constant care as well as
economic security.
 Socialization: Parents transmit the norms, values,
ethics & language of their culture to their child. Child
learns to socialize through family.
 Regulation of sexual behaviour: Whatever
cultural norms, values of a society; standards of
sexual behaviour are most clearly defined only within
the family circle.
 Affection & Companionship: Ideally, the family
provides intimate relationship, helping them to feel
satisfied, secure as well as in a comfort zone.
 Provision of social status: We all inherit a social
position because of the family background and
reputation of our parents & siblings. Moreover, family
resources affect children’s ability to pursue certain
prospects & opportunities such as higher education
etc.
TYPES OF FAMILY
 Families are smaller today. People are marrying later,
women are delaying childbirth, higher rates of divorce
are occurring, and couples are choosing to have fewer
children or at all.
 A national census data and national family health
survey (NFHS) data suggest that, nowadays gradually,
nuclear families are becoming the predominant form of
Indian family at least in urban areas.
 Generally, the extended family is the most common
type of family throughout the world.
BASED ON BIRTH
 Family of orientation:
 The family In which an individual is born in his family of
orientation.
 Family of procreation:
 The family where an individual sets up after his or her
marriage is considered his or her family of procreation.
 Note: The family of orientation and family of
procreation may exist or live together under the same
roof a, but can still be different.
BASED ON MARRIAGE
 Monogamous family: Family consists of one
husband and wife, including children and this is based
on monogamous marriage.
 Polygamous Family: Family consist of one husband,
and more than one wife, and all the children born to
all the wives or adopted by each of them.
 Polyandrous family: Family is made up of one wife
and the children, either born or adopted with each
one of them.
BASED ON RESIDENCE
 Matrilocal residence: When couple stays or
continues to live in the wife’s house.
 Patrilocal residence: When family stays in the house
of husband. (Most preferable type)
 Changing residence: When family stays in the
husband’s house for some period of time, and moves
to wife’s house. Stays there for a period of time
according to their stability, then moves back to
husband’s parents or than begin to start living in
another place for sometime.
BASED ON ANCESTRY OR
DESCENT
 Matrilineal family: When ancestry or decent is
going in accordance with female line or through the
mothers side.
 Patrilineal family: A family in which the authority is
carried down through male line and descent is going
through the male line or from the father’s side.
AUTHORITY PATTERNS OF
FAMILY
 Patriarchy family: A society that expects males to
dominate in all family decision making is termed a
patriarchy.
 Matriarchy family: A women have greater authority
than men. A women holds power to make decisions.
 Egalitarian family: Authority pattern of spouses are
regarded as equals.
BASED ON NATURE OF
RELATIONS
 Conjugal family:
 A family system of spouses and their dependents
children.
 Consanguine family:
 A consanguine family consists of members among
whom a blood relation exists. (Grandparents, aunt,
uncle)
BASED ON STATE OR
STRUCTURE
 Nuclear Family:
 A nuclear family is a small group consisting of a
husband, a wife and their children, naturally born or
adopted.
 Nuclear family consists of only two generations.
 Nuclear family is more independent and self-
governing in nature.
 Most people nowadays see the nuclear family as the
preferred family arrangement.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
NUCLEAR FAMILY
 Small size of family.
 Limited responsibilities.
 Limited functions.
 Individualization.
 Instability.
 Importance of secondary relationship.
 Personal income & property.
Joint family:
 “ A group of people who generally live under one roof,
who participate in common family worship and who
are related to each other”.
 CHARACTERISTICS;
 Depth of generation.
 One roof.
 One kitchen.
 Same religious practice.
 Share property.
 Exercise of authority.
 Arranged marriage.
 EXTENDED FAMILY:
 Family form that consists of three or more
generations who live together.
 It is a type of family consisting relatives (aunts,
uncles, grandparents & cousin) in addition to
the nuclear family.
 The structure of this family offers certain
advantages over the nuclear family. Like crisis
situation such as death, divorce & illness put
less strain on family, more people provide
assistance, help & emotional support & most
important factors is more economic unit.
 OTHER FORMS OF FAMILY
 Blended family:
 When parents brings unrelated children from prior or foster
parenting relationship into a new joint living situation.
 Single- parent family:
 A family in which only one parent is present to care for the
children. Single parent families are comprised of a parent
or caregiver and one or more dependent children without
the pressence, support & assistance of a spouse or adult
partner who shares the responsibility of parenting.
 Cohabitation:
 Cohabitation means when a couple shares a residence but
not a marriage.
MARRIAGE
 Marriage is one of the personal, deepest as well as
most complex human relationships.
 Marriage is a social, legal, religious union between
spouses.
 Marriage is an institution that binds the men and
women to create family.
 Marriage is perceived by sociologist as a system of
roles & responsibilities of a man and women whose
union has been social sanction as a husband & wife.
DEFINITION
 According to Gillin & Gillin, “Marriage is a socially
approved way of establishing a family of procreation”.
 According to Robert H. Lowie, “Marriage is a relatively
permanent bond between permissible mates.
 According to Horton and Hunt, “Marriage is a contract
for the production and maintenance of children.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
MARRIAGE
 Permanent social & legal contract of relationship:
 In most of the society a marriage is considered a
permanent social as well as legal contract and bond of
relationship between two persons & that is based on
the mutual rights and obligation among the partners.
 Intimate Relationship:
 A successful marriage is based on an idealistic or
romantic relationship. But regardless, it typically signals
an intimate relationship between two people.
 Marriage an imp social institution:
 A marriage, however, does not simply exist between
the married partners, but rather, signifies as a social
institution in legal, economic, social and spiritual or
religious ways. Because marriage is recognized by
law or rule and by religious institutions, & involves
economic ties between the spouses.
 Familial Descent:
 Main distinguishing feature of marriage is to
determine family names and lines of familial descent.
Marriage is often greeted socially with immediate
expectations that the couple v produce children or
their offspring for continual existence.
FORMS OF MARRIAGE
 Monogamy: Monogamy is a form of marriage in which
one man marries one woman. This is the most popular
& common form of marriage.
 Serial monogamy: In this type, a man can marry
again only after the death of his first wife or after
divorce but he is not permitted to marry more than one
wife.
 Straight Monogamy: In this case, remarriage is not
allowed for either of the couple even one of them is
death or has divorced.
 Polygamy: Polygamy is a form of marriage where one
man marries more than one woman at a given time. In
India, various religious and tribal communities follow this
form of marriage.
 Polygyny: Men have more than one wife.
 Sorolol Polygyny: where wives are sisters.
 Non-Sorolol: Where wives are not related to each other.
 Polyandry: Women have more than one husband.
 Fraternal Polyandry: When several brothers share the
same wife.
 Non-Fraternal: Where wife lives with each husband for
some time and at last decides to live with one of them but
other husbands have no right to claim over her.
BASED ON STATUS
 Isogamy: Marriage take place between the Individual
of two equal social status families.
 Anisogamy: Marriage is just opposite to isogamy.
 Hypergamy(Anuloma): Means a women marries
with a man of higher varna or superior caste.
 Hypogamy(Patriloma): Just opposite to hypergamy.
BASED ON PRIORITY
 Cross-cousin marriage: Cross-cousin marriage
takes place when a person is married to its paternal
uncle’s daughter or son or with the paternal aunt’s
son or daughter. Such marriages are held to avoid
high dowry payment as well as to strengthen cross-
cousin relationships. It is mainly practiced in some
states of India like Rajasthan, Maharashtra and
Odisha.
 Parallel-cousin marriage: The Parallel-cousin marriage
takes place between the children of either the sisters or
two brothers. This is mainly practiced in the Muslim religion
which aims to strengthen the bond or connection between
two sisters and two brothers.
 Levirate marriage: Levirate marriage is a type of
marriage in which the woman marries her husband brother
after his death. Such marriages are practiced by the tribes
like Munda, Gond, Santhal, Toda and the Organ. It is
practiced in particular locally called ‘Devar Vivaha!
 Sororate: Sororate type of marriage is in which the man
marries his wife’s sister after her death or in some cases
even if she is alive. Such marriages are practiced in some
particular tribes like the Kharia and the Gond. It is in the
vicinity or surrounded area called ‘Sali Vivah’
CIVIL MARRIAGE
 Civil marriages are contracted under State laws,
which set out the conditions that must be met for a
marriage to be official as well as valid.
 Civil marriages also called statutory marriages,
constitutional marriage legislative marriages.
 These conditions may include the minimum legal age
at which prospective parties marry; different
modalities for formalizing the marriage; marital
property regimes; maintenance, upbringing of
children and parental obligations; divorce; and
property distribution and child custody arrangements
upon divorce.
FUNCTIONS OF MARRIAGE
 Procreation.
 Building of family or home.
 Protection & upbringing.
 Marriages construct financial capacity.
 Companionship.
 Marriage inculcates sense of responsibility.
 Inheritance & right to property.
IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE
 Start of new beginning
 Team.
 Economic stability.
 Improves Life expectancy.
 Improves health.
 Development of children.
 Decreased feeling of isolation.
 Emotional safety.
PROBLEMS R/T FAMILY &
MARRIAGE
1. Breakdown of the joint family.
2. Elder Abuse.
3. Dowry.
4. Domestic Violence
5. Divorce.