Punjab State Board PSEB 11th Class Sociology Book Solutions Chapter 7 Marriage, Family and Kinship Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.
PSEB Solutions for Class 11 Sociology Chapter 7 Marriage, Family and Kinship
Sociology Guide for Class 11 PSEB Marriage, Family and Kinship Textbook Questions and Answers
Answer the following very short answer questions in 1-15 words each:
Question 1.
What do you mean by endogamy?
Answer:
Endogamy is a type of marriage in which one needs to marry within a particular group, caste, or sub-caste.
Question 2.
Name the important bases for the emergence of the institution of marriage.
Answer:
Physical need, emotional need, the perpetuation of society, to upbring the children, etc.
Question 3.
What is Monogamy ?
Answer:
Monogamy is a type of marriage in which one male marries with one female.
Question 4.
What is sororate marriage ?
Answer:
In this type of marriage, man, after the death of his wife, marries her sister.
Question 5.
Mention the types of polyandry.
Answer:
It is of two types : fraternal polyandry in which all the husbands are the brothers and non-fraternal polyandry in which all the husbands are not brothers.
Question 6.
State the types of polygyny.
Answer:
It is of two types : Bigamy in which a male has two wives and polygamy in which a male has many wives.
Question 7.
Give few examples of endogamy.
Answer:
Among Muslims, Shias and Sunnis are endogamous groups and among Christians, Roman Catholics and Protestants are also endogamous groups.
Question 8.
Define Marriage.
Answer:
According to Lundberg, “Marriage consists of the rules and regulations, which define the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.”
Question 9.
Mention two functions of family.
Answer:
(i) Family socialises its children.
(ii) Family gives property to its children.
Question 10.
Write the name of the forms of family on the basis of composition.
Answer:
On the basis of composition, family is of three types-Nuclear family, Joint family and Extended family.
Question 11.
Write the name of the forms of family on the basis of authority.
Answer:
On the basis of authority, there are two types of family-Patriarchal and Matriarchal family.
Question 12.
What is affinal relationship ?
Answer:
Affinal relationship is the relationship which is made after marriage. For example, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law etc.
Question 13.
What do you mean by Joint family ?
Answer:
Joint family is the family in which members of two or more generations live under one roof and eat in a common kitchen.
Question 14.
What do you mean by kinship ?
Answer:
In Kinship, all the relations are included which are based on real or imaginative ties and are influenced by society.
Question 15.
Name the degrees of kinship.
Answer:
There are three degrees of kinship-primary, secondary and tertiary.
Answer the following short answer questions in 30-35 words each:
Question 1.
What do you understand by the term institution ?
Answer:
An institution is not a group of people or an organisation. It is a system of norms to achieve few objectives. It is a collection of folkways centred around specific human activities. Institutions are transmitted process with which humans complete their functions.
Answer the following short answer questions in 250-300 words each:
Question 1.
What do you mean by institution ? Discuss its characteristics.
Answer:
Meaning of Institution. We use the word ‘institution’ thousands of time in our life. According to a layman, the meaning of an institution is any building. But in sociology the meaning of an institution is not any building or collection of people. Sociologists use the meaning of institution in detail and according to society. According to them, an institution is a system of rules or norms which help people to fulfil their needs. In this way institution is the collection of folkways and mores to fulfil the needs or actions of society.
These are those processes with the help of which man does his work. Institution is that organized system of relations in which values of society are included and which fulfil the needs of society. Their function is to fulfil the needs of human and to fulfil functions and behaviour of an individual. In this web of status and roles, their an distribution is also there.
In this way we can say that an institution is an organisation of methods and rules for fulfilling the needs of individuals. Man has to take membership of many groups to fulfil his needs. In every group lots of efforts have been done to fulfil the needs of its members. After many successful and unsuccessful efforts members of the groups finds the ways of fulfilling their needs and all the members of the society accept these ways. In this Way most of the members of society start to obey those rules.
In this way for the specific conditions, specific ways will be decided and it will be wrong to go against those ways or rules. In this way socially accepted methods to fulfil specific needs of persons are known as an institution.
Definitions :
1. According to Merill and Eldridge, “Social institutions are the social patterns that establish the organized behaviour of human beings in the performance of basic social functions.”
2. According to El wood, “Institutions are habitual ways of living together which have been sanctioned, systematized and established by the authority of the communities.”
3. According to Sutherland, “In sociological parlance, an institution is a set of folkways and mores that centre in the achievement of some human end or purpose.” So from these given definitions it is clear that an institution is developed for the achievement of any specific aim. That’s why this is a group of customs, norms, rules, values etc. Sumner included social structure in institution in his book ‘Folk Ways’. An Institution expresses the ways of individual behaviour to man.
In short, we can say that an institution is the organization of actions which are accepted by society to fulfil its specific heeds. In society many types of different associations are there and every association has its own institution with which it fulfills its needs or achieve its aims.
Features or Characteristics of Institution :
1. It is made up of cultural elements. The organization of all the elements of culture of any society like folkways, mores, norms, values etc is called an institution. According to one sociologist it is the bunch of customs. When the customs, traditions, folkways, mores etc of a society integrate and take the form of a system then it is known as an institution. In this way it is the system of elements of the culture and it fulfills the different needs of humans.
2. They are Permanent. Any institution cannot be useful if it does not fulfil the needs of persons for a very long time. If it doesn’t fulfil the needs of people then it cannot be called as institution but can be called as the association. In this way institution fulfills the needs of the people for a long time.
But it doesn’t mean that an institution never comes to an end. Demand of any institution depends upon the time. Demand of any institution can be increased or decreased and it depends upon age. If any institution is of no use or any institution is unable to fulfil the needs of the persons then slowly and slowly it comes to an end.
3. It has some special motives or objectives. If any institution is formed then it is because it has some kind of specific motive. That institution knows that if it is formed then what is its function. Its function is to fulfil the specific needs of the people. In this way their main, aim is to fulfil the needs of the people but it is also possible that with the passage of time it will stop fulfiling the needs of the people. Then in that case that “institution can be replaced by any other institution.
4. Cultural Equipments. For the fulfilment of the aims of an institution material aspect of culture is used like furniture, building etc. Their form and behaviour is also fixed. In this way if an institution wants to achieve its objectives then it has to take help of material culture. Many aspects of non-material culture like folkways, mores etc already exist in an institution.
5. It is Abstract. An institution is developed with folkways, mores, customs etc. All these are the parts of non-material culture a©d we cannot see these aspects of non-material culture. We can just feel them.
In this,.the aspect of abstractness is included. It cannot be touched and can be felt only. Institution is not an organization of concrete things but is an organization of rules, methods, folkways etc. \yhich is being developed to fulfil human needs.
6. Tradition based. When an institution is formed then it is formed because of rules. Before the formation of an institution, rules are defined and then aims of that institution are clearly defined. The behaviour of the people who take part in this are also defined. If every thing will be defined earlier then no problem comes later on. If these are not defined then every one will try to change them in their own way which is dangerous for the existence of the institution.
Question 2.
Write a note on marriage as a social institution.
Answer:
Marriage is a socially approved relation of male and female which forms a new family. Marriage not only gives sanction to the relationship of male and female but it also gives approval to many other relations. Meaning of marriage is not sex alone. Marriage is the base of family. With the help of marriage, man enters into sexual relations, makes a house, produces children and upbrings them.
Institution of marriage is a universal social institution. It exists in every type of society whether it is modern or ancient. If we want to maintain human society then institution of marriage is necessary. Fulfilment of sexual needs is a biological need and if this need would be fulfilled outside the institution of marriage then the formation of family is almost impossible. Family is necessary to maintain social structure.
Marriage is an institution which gives permission to male and female to live a family life and legally accept the children produced by the relations of male and female. In this way it regulates the sexual relations of male and female.
Morgan has studied ancient societies and comes to know that life of people in ancient society was like of animals. No one was taking responsibility of upbringing of the children. Because of this problem need was aroused of the institution of marriage. That’s why for the maintenance of stability of modern society institution of marriage was accepted.
Definitions of Marriage:
(1) According to Wester Mark, “Marriage is a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is recognised by the institution of law, and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of parties entering the cyiion and in the case of children born out of it.”
(2) According to Majumdar, “Marriage is socially approved union of male and female, or as a secondary institution by society to sanction the union and mating of male and female, for purpose of (a) establishing a household (b) entering into sex relations (c) procreating and providing care for the offspring.”
(3) According to Lundberg, “Marriage consists of the rules and regulations, which define the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.”
(4) According to Anderson and Parker, “Marriage is the sanction by society of a double bond between one or more males and one,, or more females established to permit sexual intercourse for the implied purpose of’parenthood.”
On the basis of given definitions we can say that the institution of marriage is a type of institution on which the social structure of society depends. Only after the regulations of sexual relations between male and female, we can take care of upbringing of our children.
If these sexual relations will be without the approval of the society then they would be known as illegal or extra marital relations and the child produced by this relation would be known as illegal child. That’s why marriage not only fulfills the sexual needs but also does many functions for humans, as are necessary for the development of society.
Question 3.
Discuss in detail the different types or forms of marriage.
Answer:
Every society is different from another society in itself and is different from many aspects. Every society has some of its different rules, traditions, institutions etc. and every society has its different institutions for different purposes. These are different because every society has moulded them according to its facilities and needs. In this way the institution of marriage has different types according to the different needs of different societies.
All these types of marriage are given below :
1. Monogamy:
This type of marriage prevails and is very much popular in today’s modern age. In this type of marriage, one male can marry with one female at one time. Relations, in this type of marriage, are more stable, more loveable, deep and are full of sympathy. The upbringing of children can be done? in a proper way in this type of marriage and children get complete love from their parents.
Husband and wife have complete understanding in monogamy because of which there are very less chances of quarrels or creation of problems in them. But this type of marriage has some of its demerits. If wife or husband will fall ill then every work would be halted and they would not be able to give proper attention to their children.
2. Polyandry:
The custom of polyandry prevails in many societies of the world. The meaning of polyandry is the custom of that marriage in which one female marries to many males at a time and that’s why it is known as polyandry.
In this way when one female has more than one husband then it is known as Polyandry. It is of two types :
(i) Fraternal Polyandry
(ii) Non-Fraternal Polyandry.
(i) Fraternal Polyandry. In the custom of fraternal polyandry, all the husbands of a female are brothers among them. This type of marriage prevails in the Khas Tribe in India. Eldest brother is known as the father of the child and rest of the younger brothers are known as her husbands. They establish sexual relations with their wife without the permission of their elder brother. Elder brother is the head of the family and it is his duty to upbring the children in a proper way.
If even after the marriage, any brother of the husbands will be born then he will also become the husband of that wife. If except elder brother, any other younger brother will marry any where else then other brothers are also permitted to make relations with his wife. If that brother will not permit then he can be thrown out of his property right.
(ii) Non-Fraternal Polyandry. In this type of polyandry, all the husbands of a female are not the brothers. In fact, they live at different places. Time is determined for the female that for how much time she will live with any husband. After the expiry of time period she goes to the other husband and this process goes on. If in this type, female will die then all the males are forced to live the life of the widower.
If at the time of pregnancy any husband will gift her the arrow and the bow then he will be considered as the father of the child. All husbands get a chance for that and it is their right. In this way according to this custom, the rule is that if in a definite period, wife is living with any husband then other husbands are not permitted to establish sexual relations with her. .
3. Polygamy:
The custom of polygamy was prevailing in ancient times in India. Kings were keeping many wives and the status of any king was understandable by looking at the number of his wives. So the system of polygamy is that a person can keep many wives. Number of wives depends upon his ability to keep and economic capacity.
In middle ages this system was prevailing in Muslims and even today Muslims are permitted to keep four wives. The sexual need of males and the wish to have big family has encouraged this type of marriage. Many types of psychological problems are arising due to this system. Females are getting lower social status in society due to this type of marriage.
4. Sororate Marriage:
In this type of marriage male is marrying with the sister of his wife. Sororate marriage is of two types—Restricted Sororate marriage and Simultaneous Sororate marriage. In Restricted Sororate marriage man marries his sister-in-law after the death of his wife. In Simultaneous Sororate marriage man accepts or considers all the younger sisters of his wife as his wives. First type of this marriage is more prevailing as compared to second type. With this the problem of breaking up of families never arises and upbringing of children will be possible in an efficient way.
5. Levirate Marriage:
In this type of marriage, wife marries the younger brother of her husband after the death of her husband. With this type of marriage, property of the family can be secured and family is prevented from breaking. Upbringing of children can be done in an efficient way. Another reason of this type of marriage is that after marriage there is no need to give back the value of the bride.
6. Love Marriage:
We can see a number of love marriages in our day to day life and this type of marriage prevails in modern societies. Boy and girl both are studying in college or are working in any office and at first sight they start to love each other. They start to meet each other very frequently. They meet each other in cinema, parks etc.
They promise each other to live and die with each other and try to show their true love. Society tries to prevent them to be married and tries to obstruct their way but they remain fixed to their decision. Even if their parents are not permitting them to get married then they go to court and become married. In this way love marriage takes place.
7. Endogamy:
According to the rules of Endogamy, a man has to marry in his own caste. Castes are divided into sub-castes and he has to marry in his sub-caste. In the times of caste system this rule was strictly applied. If any one was trying to break this rule then he was thrown out of the caste. So every person had to marry in his sub-caste in endogamy.
It is so because it maintains the purity of blood, it protects the occupation of caste, it fosters the sense of unity within the group, it preserves the property of the caste, it keeps the women happier also because it is easy for them to maintain balance in their own culture. But on the other side it encourages casteism, it limits the sphere of mate selection, it is a danger to national unity and it hinders the social progress also.
8. Exogamy:
The meaning of exogamy is to establish marital relations out of its clan, village and totem. All the persons of one clan, village and totem are considered as the sisters and brothers of each other. According to Wester mark, the main reason behind this type of marriage was to prevent close relatives to establish sexual relations with each other. This marriage is a symbol of progressiveness. It increases the contacts between different groups. This type of marriage is considered as right from biological point of view.
One of the biggest disadvantages of this type of marriage is that the husband and wife have to face many problems in understanding each other’s view because they belong to different groups. Mutual love and co-operation also increase in different groups due to this marriage. It also helps in strengthening national unity.
9. Anulom Marriage:
Anulom marriage is a type of Hindu marriage according to which the males of higher castes can marry the girls of lower castes. For example, one Brahmin boy can marry with the girl of Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra castes. The main reason behind this type of marriage is that the people of lower castes consider it respectful to marry their daughter in the higher castes. It is so because it gives higher position to them in society.
10. Pratilom Marriage:
In this type of marriage males of lower castes marry the females of higher castes. Manu was strictly opposed to this type of marriage. According to Manu, the children produced from this type of marriage should be considered as untouchables or ‘chandals’. Manu says that the children produced by Brahmin girl and Shudra boy are chandals. That’s why this type of marriage is seen with the hatredness. Children from this type of marriage cannot adopt the name of any family.
Question 4.
Define marriage. Write the rules of mate selection in detail.
Answer:
Definitions of Marriage:
(1) According to Wester Mark, “Marriage is a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is recognised by the institution of law, and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of parties entering the cyiion and in the case of children born out of it.”
(2) According to Majumdar, “Marriage is socially approved union of male and female, or as a secondary institution by society to sanction the union and mating of male and female, for purpose of (a) establishing a household (b) entering into sex relations (c) procreating and providing care for the offspring.”
(3) According to Lundberg, “Marriage consists of the rules and regulations, which define the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.”
(4) According to Anderson and Parker, “Marriage is the sanction by society of a double bond between one or more males and one,, or more females established to permit sexual intercourse for the implied purpose of’parenthood.”
On the basis of given definitions we can say that the institution of marriage is a type of institution on which the social structure of society depends. Only after the regulations of sexual relations between male and female, we can take care of upbringing of our children.
If these sexual relations will be without the approval of the society then they would be known as illegal or extra marital relations and the child produced by this relation would be known as illegal child. That’s why marriage not only fulfills the sexual needs but also does many functions for humans, as are necessary for the development of society.
Rules of Mate Selection:
In every society rules of selection of mate are there which tell the persons that with which boy or girl he/she can marry and with whom he/she cannot marry. These rules are given ahead :
- Endogamy
- Exogamy
- Hypergamy
- Hypogamy
1. Endogamy:
According to the rules of Endogamy man has to marry within his own caste. Caste was again divided into sub-castes. In this way man had to marry in sub-caste. In the times of caste system this rule was strictly applied. If any one was trying to break or was breaking this rule then the caste was throwing him out of caste and they were breaking or severing all types of relations with it.
According to religious books society was divided into four castes. These castes were again divided into sub-castes. Every person has to marry in his own sub-caste. In this form of marriage many changes have come due to the passage of time.
There are different forms of endogamy available in India and these are :
- Tribal Endogamy
- Caste Endogamy
- Class Endogamy
- Sub-caste Endogamy
- Racial Endogamy.
According to the rule of tribal endogamy the man has the permission to marry only in his tribe. In the same way man should marry in his caste, class, sub-class, race etc.
2. Exogamy. Institution of marriage is one of the important social institutions. Any society cannot give permission to any couple to live as husband and wife-without marriage. That’s why every society has made some rules to establish marriage system in society. The most important function is the selection of the mate. Exogamy is also one of the rules of mate selection.
In many societies the marital relations are forbidden between the persons who are related with each other by blood. According to Sumner, “Endogamy is conservative while exogamy is progressive.” In this way in exogamy marriage is prohibited within the group. Children of same parents are also forbidden to marry.
Among Muslims, marriage between the relatives of parents is permitted. In the Roman Catholic Church of England marriage with the sister-in-law, after the death of the wife, or Sororate marriage was not allowed. In Australia, boy can marry with the wife of his father if she is not his mother.
According to the rule of Exogamy, man is not permitted to marry within his caste, clan, Spraver, Spinda etc. Some of its types are given below :
- Gotra Exogamy.
- Spraver Exogamy.
- Spinda Exogamy.
- Village Exogamy.
- Totem Exogamy.
3. Hypergamy and Hypogamy. In ancient Indian Society two forms of inter caste marriages existed (1) Hypergamy and (2) Hypogamy. Hypergamy marriage is that law in which girl can marry either in the same or equal caste or with the boy of higher caste. In other words when a boy of higher caste marries a girl of lower caste then it is known as Hypergamy. In this type of marriage Brahmin girl, can only marry Brahmin boy. Kshatriya girl can marry either to Kshatriya boy or Brahmin boy.
Vaishya girl can marry with Vaishya boy or Kshatriya boy or Brahmin boy. Except this Brahmin boy can marry with the girl of any caste. Kshatriya boy can marry the girl of any caste except Brahmin girl. Vaishya boy can marry with the girl of any caste except Brahmin and Kshatriya girl. When t
he problems were started with the rule of endogamy then this rule of marriage of hypergamy was encouraged. According to Risley, “Aryan women were less in number. That’s why to remove this problem they were accepting the girls of Indian origin and when this problem was removed then this type of marriages came to an end.”
Second type of marriage in this category is Hypogamy. This rule is totally opposite to the rule of Hypergamy. According to this rule boy of a lower caste marries to the girl of higher caste. Like girl of the Brahmin caste would marry with the boy of Kshatriya caste or boy of Kshatriya caste marries the girl of Brahmin caste. According to Radha Krishnan, “In the rule of hypogamy boy of lower caste used to marry with the girl of higher caste. The children produced by this type of marriage were not kept in any caste and they were known as chandal.”
So this type of marriage was restricted in caste system. Only on some special condition this type of marriage was allowed. In the end we can say that now both types of inter-caste marriages are developing in Indian society. In today’s society people are free to do inter-caste marriage. Now people feel that the clutches of caste system have been finished but still we are living in the caste system.
Question 5.
What is family ? What are the basic features of family ?
Answer:
If we study human society we observe that the first group in human society was family. In ancient times division of labour was based on the family. We will not find any society in which the institution of family does not exist. This institution exists from ancient societies till modern societies and it will remain forever yet many other institutions came into being and came to an end. But the institution of family is standing there as it is.
Yet in present developed societies, the importance of family has been reduced because most of the functions have been taken by many other institutions but still even today most of the human actions are centred around family. Psychologists have proved that character of a child will be made in the way in which he gets the family and he functions according to that in his future life. The main reason behind the social disorganization and many other problems is the disintegration of the family.
Family is an important group for social structure. The word family has been taken from the word ‘Famulous’ which is a Roman word that means servant. According to Roman Law, the meaning of this word is by that group in which all those servants, slaves or owners are included which are based on blood relations or marital relations. It is that type of group in which the satisfaction of sexual needs of males and females
are sanctioned by the society. After the upbringing of the child, one becomes the citizen of the society. In simple words the meaning of family is the group of husband, wife and their children. But from sociological point of view its meaning is not only a collection of people but is by the system of their mutual relationship and its main objectives are to produce children, their up-bringing, their socialization and satisfaction of sexual instincts.
Different sociologists have given different views about the family and some of these definitions are given below –
(1) According to Maclver, “Family is a group defined by sex relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children.”
(2) According to G.P. Murdock, “The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually co-habitating adults.”
(3) According to H.M. Johnson, “Family is a group of two or more individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption and residing together, all such persons are considered as members of one family.”
(4) According to Elliot and Merrill, “Family is the biological social unit which consists of husband, wife and children.” Many differences are there in the definitions given by different sociologists but on one thing their views are same that the family is a group in which the sexual relationships of male and female are accepted by society and it is a universal group.
About its meaning in the end we can say that family is a biological unit which is related as an institution for sexual relationships. Its members are personally related with each other with the process of reproduction. In short, we can say that mother, father and their children are included in the family and if is developed in every society.
Characteristics of Family:
1. Family is a universal group. Family is a social group. It is also known as the first institution in human history because it exists in every society and in all times. Every member of society is definitely a member of any family. It is so because wherever we take birth, we are related with those members of the group. Except this, man can fulfil his basic needs by living only in society.
2. Emotional base. Family is the base of the human society which is based on basic instincts of human like to produce children, relations of husband and wife, maintenance of descent, protection of property and emotions are also included in this. Feelings of cooperation, love, sympathy also are developed in this which is necessary for progress and development of the society.
3. Formative Influence. Family is an important unit in social structure. Family exerts a formative influence on the development of the personality of the child. Family is an institution in which child gets knowledge about social behaviour. All round development of the man is possible only in family. Whatever child observes in family, tries to learn and imitate that thing as quickly as possible.
4. Small in size. Size of family is limited because only those persons are included in family who either have taken birth in family or who have a marital relation. In ancient times when society was based on agriculture then joint families were there in which father-mother, grandfather-grandmother, uncle, aunt etc.
lived collectively. With the development of society, females started to move out of family for the job. Then nuclear family came into being in which only parents and their unmarried children are included. The meaning of small size is that membership of the person in the family is based on birth and blood relatives are also included in this.
5. Central position in the social structure. Our society is based on family and different associations are formed only from family. That’s why it has central position in society. In earlier societies social organization was based upon family. Social progress was also based upon this. Yet most of the functions of family have been taken by other institutions but still a number of functions are there which only family can do for society. No other institution can do that work. ’
6. Sexual relations. In family, male establishes sexual relations with female because society gives sanction to the formation of family only after marriage. In earlier societies there was no rule regarding sexual relation and there was no real form of family and society was moving towards disintegration.
Question 6.
Discuss in detail the different types of family.
Answer:
This world is too big and many types of societies exist in this world. Every society has some of‘its distinct geographical, social and cultural features. These features are different in different societies and that’s .why different types of families exist in different types of societies. It is so because every society has its different ideals, beliefs, culture etc.
For example in India we can see many types of societies like Patriarchal or Matriarchal. In this way family also has many forms. All these forms can be divided on the basis of numbers, on the basis of marriage, on the basis of authority, on the basis of nomenclature, on the basis of place of residence etc. Now we’ll see them one by one.
1. Types of Family on the basis of Marriage. It is of two types :
(i) Monogamous Family. In this type of family, one male marries one female and the family on this type of base is known as Monogamous family. In modern age, this type of family is known as correct type of family.
(ii) Polygamous Family. When one male marries more than one female or one female marries more than one male then this type of family is known as polygamous family.
It is further of two types:
(а) Polyandrous Family. When one female marries with more than one male then it is known as polyandrous marriage. The main feature of this type of family is that one female has many husbands. It is again of two types. First type is Fraternal polyandrous family in which all the husbands are brothers. Second type is non- fraternal polyandrous family in which all the husbands are not the brothers.
(b) Polygamous Family. When a male marries more than one female then it is known as polygamous family. In this type of family, one male has many wives. For example, a Muslim is permitted to keep four wives. Hindu kings, in ancient times, kept many wives. But according to Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, Hindus are not permitted to keep more than one wife. Many tribes in India are still there who have this type of family like Nagas, Gonds etc.
2. Family on the basis of Numbers. Family on the basis of numbers is of three types :
(i) Nuclear Family. Nuclear family is a very small family in which husband, wife and their unmarried children are living. Other relations are not included in nuclear family. This type of family exists in today’s modem societies because people are doing jobs in cities. Children make their own nuclear family after their marriage.
(ii) Joint Family. There are many members in this type of family. Grandfather- grandmother, elder uncle-aunt, younger uncle-aunt, brothers, sisters are included in this type of family. Generally this type of family exists in villages.
(iii) Extended Family. This type of family is generally made only after and with the help of joint family. The advanced stage of joint family is known as extended family. In this all the brothers, their married children and even their grand children are also living. This type of family is not possible in modem societies. This type of family was possible in earlier time when the whole family was engaged in same occupation but today it is not possible.
3. Family on the basis of Nomenclature.
It is further of four types :
(i) Patrilineal Family. In Patrilineal family descent is of the father which generally exists in today’s life. It means that the son gets nomenclature of the father and the nomenclature of the father is of great importance.
(ii) Matrilineal Family. This type of family runs on the name of the mother. It
means that the child gets nomenclature of the mother. This type of family exists in many tribes of India. «
(iii) Bilinear Family. In this type of family descents of both mother and father
are going side by side. It means that the child gets the nomenclature of both the mother and the father. . ”
(iv) Non-Unilinear Family. In this type of family, nomenclature is determined on the basis of nearest relative. It is known as non-unilinear family.
4. Family on the basis of types of relatives. This type of family is of two types :
(i) Consanguine Family. In this type of family, blood relations are at highest place and there are no sexual relations in it. Husband and wife are also there in this type of family but they are not the base of this family. Membership of this type of family can be attained only on the basis of birth. This type of family never comes to an end even after divorce and it is permanent.
(ii) Conjugal Family. Husband-wife and their unmarried children are here in this type of family. In this husband-wife and their relatives are included. This type of family can be broken after the death of either husband or wife or both.
5. Family on the basis of Residence. This type of family is of three types :
(i) Patrilocal Family. In this type of family, bride leaves her father’s house and
goes to the house of her husband to live and establish the family. We can see this type of family very often. – ”
(ii) Matrilocal Family. This type of family is definitely opposite to Patrilocal family in which girl never leaves her father’s house after marriage but lives there only. In this, her husband leaves his father’s house and goes to the house of his wife to live. It is known as Matrilocal family. We can find this type of family in Garo and Khasi tribes.
(iii) Neolocal Family. This type of family is different from other two types. Husband and wife are not living at their father’s house but are making a new house after their marriage and that is why it is known as Neolocal family. We can find this type of family in today’s modern age.
6. Family on the basis of Authority. This type of family is of two types :
(i) Patriarchal Family. In this type of family whole power is in the hands of males. Head of the family is male. Descent also depends upon the father. After marriage wife goes to the husband’s house and property is distributed among the boys of the family. Eldest son of the family gets most respect. His respect in the home is equal to the respect of the father.
In every type of necessary family matters, male’s interference is necessary. It we look at the ancient Hindu society then according to the Vedic descriptions male was just like a God for the female. Eldest son gets all the rights of the family after the death of his father.
(ii) Matriarchal Family. In this type of family, female is dominant in the family, whole ownership of the property of family is in the hands of the female. Females of the family have the right over the property. After marriage husband goes to the house of wife to live. Function of the Brahmin was being done by females. Property was divided among the females of the family. Descent was also moved from females.
Question 7.
Highlight the changes that have taken place in the institution of family in contemporary period.
Answer:
1. Changes brought by the Government. When marriage got sanction of society in the form of an institution then many changes were brought in it. Many laws were passed related to marriage out of which Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 was the most important. According to this law, Polygamy was now restricted and Monogamy was accepted by the society and was ’accepted as an ideal marriage. Problem of child marriage also came to an end and it was written that if any one will try to break the law then he will be punished severely.
A law related to divorce was also passed so that the life of male and female should last without any problems. In earlier times if the wife was manhandled by the husband even then she had to live with her husband because she was dependent on him. But now male and female both are free to use their legal right to get divorce so that they can live a happy life.
2. Marriage is related to social contract. According to ancient ideology of marriage, it was related and limited to religion and couple had to live with each other even if they didn’t like each other. But according to modem ideology if the relations between husband and wife are not good then this contract can be severed. In some cases when the marriage is done forcefully then they both can decide to break this marriage. Now it is equated with a contract that marriage is a social contract and it ean be broken at will.
According to T.B. Bothomore,” Marriage is no longer an economic partnership, and is no longer sustained by wider kinship groups. Finally, the desire for a Hemerous progeny is replaced by the aim of deliberate aim of limiting size. Thus the marriage bond is reduced to simple relations of mutual attraction.” In modern times marriage is related with personal happiness so that the family could take care of their children properly.
3. Change in the status of women. The way in which females started to take part in other sectors of society, in that same way the form of marriage was changed.
Marriage, Family And Kinship:
In earlier societies females were economically dependent upon others. That’s why they loved to suffer a lot of hardships. But slowly and slowly, with the education of females, she became economially independent. She started to take her decisions herself. She got a lot of help from the law. Now she can take divorce from her husband and can live a happy life.
In this way when a female has made her place in the society then the institution of the marriage also changed. Divorce rate is increased. Now females have a better status as compared to earlier times. Now she is economically viable. She can take her decision. She takes part in the economic activities of the family and stand jointly with the husband to face the problems of life.
4. Changes because of development in education. In earlier times, no one was bothering about importance of education. That’s why the institution of marriage was developed to fulfil religious situation. But after the spread of education, compulsion of marriage comes to an end. Child marriage comes to an end. Now educated children marry according to their wish.
5. Changes because of development in industries. In ancient societies rules related to marriage were so strict that one had to marry in his own caste. If he was breaking this rule then he was punished by caste. But with the increased importance of money, marital relations are also changed. Now purity of earliest times does not exist.
Relations of male and female are generally related to money because of which sometimes they hardly believe each other and start to live separately. Except this, many problems have emerged from both sides because of which the importance of marriage is reduced.
6. Changes in the outlook regarding arranged marriages. In ancient societies the institution of marriage was dependent upon elders because a child had to do what his elders wanted. But in modern times the importance of arranged marriage has been reduced because both boy and girl want to marry according to their ideas, ideals and views.
They do not accept the preferences regarding marriage given by their parents because the point of view of new generation has been changed regarding marriage. Sometimes even their decisions are proved wrong but still they want to give importance to their independent thoughts.
7. Change due to scientific outlook. People have changed their views regarding the institution of marriage because of the new inventions which came in the society. Now point of view of the people regarding religious sacrament has been changed. Now people are doing court marriage. The religious feelings of humans are now related to the scientific outlook.
In ancient times husband was like a god for wife and some religious rules were there even for males for marriage. But now all these things have changed and because of which the stability of the family has been decreased. Families have started to disintegrate.
Question 8.
Define Kinship and discuss its types in detail.
Answer:
Meaning of Kinship. ‘Kin’ word is an English word which has been taken from the word ‘Cynn’ meaning relative. Sociologists and Anthropologists have kept this word ‘relatives’ while studying Kinship. In word Kinship all the relatives are included like blood relatives, relatives made by marriage etc.
In simple words, according to Sociology and Anthropology. Kinship System is that collection of rules which regulates the nomenclature, heirness, heritage, marriage, extra marital relations, place of living etc. and determines the status of person in any specific Society or in group from the point of view of blood relation and marital relations.
It means that the system of social relations developed and made by blood relations or affinal relations is known as Kinship system. Its clear meaning is that all those relations which have been made by blood or by marriage are the part of Kinship system. In this all those relations are included which have been made by blood or by marriage. For example, mother-father, uncle-aunt, maternal uncle-aunt, brother-sister, father-in-law-mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law etc. All these are relatives and are the part of Kinship System.
1. According to Levi Strauss, “Kinship is an arbitrary system of ideas.”
2. According to Charles Winick, “Kinship system may include socially recognized relationship based on supposed as well as actual geneolocal ties.”
3. According to Redcliffe Brown, “All those relations which came as a result or made because of family and marriage are the part of Kinship System.”
Brown further says that it is that web of relationship which forms due to marriage and family and these relations are the part of our social structure. Relatives keep duties and rights towards each other and obey the social customs in Social meetings because with their help Kinship can be explained.
4. According to Dr. Majumdar, “An individual is tied with many types of relations of group in all societies. The most basic and usual relation among these relations is that which is based upon reproduction which is the internal human motivation. It is ‘ known as Kinship.”
On the basis of given definitions we can say that two persons are relatives. If their ancestor is one then they are the offsprings of one person. Kinship system is the system of relatives which is based on blood relations or affipal relations. Kinship system is cultural and its structure is different in the whole world. In Kinship system all those real or imaginative blood relations are included which are sanctioned by the society.
One illegal child can never get high place in society but one adopted child can get highest place in Kinship system. It is a system of specific relation group in which all the relatives are included which understand the responsibilities towards each other. In this way system of social relations established by socially sanctioned real or imaginative blood and affinal relatives is known as Kinship system.
On the basis of the closeness and distance from a person, Kinship has been divided in different categories. In Kinship we don’t have the same type of relations with all the relatives. The type of relations which we have with our parents, husband-wife and children, we cannot have that type of relations with our uncle, aunt, nephew etc. We don’t have very close relations with them. On the basis of this closeness and distance, Kinship has been divided in three categories
which are given below :
1. Primary Relatives. In the first category of Kinship primary relatives like husband-wife, father-son, mother-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter, sister-sister, brother-sister, brother-brother are coming. According to Murdock, they are of 8 types. They are primary because relations among them are direct and very close.
2. Secondary Relatives. Some of our relatives are primary like mother-father, brother-sister etc. and have direct relations with them. But some relatives are there who are not directly related with us. In fact we are connected with them through the medium of our primary relatives like brother of mother, brother of father, sister of mother, sister of father, husband of sister, wife of brother etc. We don’t have very close relation with them. In fact they are our secondary relatives. According to Murdock, these are of 33 types.
3. Tertiary Kins. First relatives are primary. Then comes secondary relatives which are related with us with the medium of primary relatives. Third type are of those relatives which are primary relatives of secondary relatives. Like son of brother of father, wife of brother of mother, wife of brother of mother etc. According to Murdock these are of 151 types. So in this way there are three types of categories of Kinship but if we want then we can make fourth and fifth categories of Kinship also.
Question 9.
Discuss the importance of Kinship in social life.
Answer:
Kinship system has an important place in the social structure. With this structure, the society .can be formed. If the Kinship system would not be there, society cannot be made like an organization and would not be able to function in a proper way. That’s why it’s importance has been increased
1. With the help of Kinship system rights, marriage, family, production and method of consumption, rights of political power are fixed in tribal and agricultural societies. Even in urban societies we can see the importance of Kinship relations at the time of marriage and family festivals.
2. Kinship, family and marriage are deeply related to each other. With the help of
Kinship system we can determine that who willmarry whom and which name would be given to which relation.’ From Kinship only we can come to know about the nomenclature, clan, and the family of the person and of the concept of exogamy exists in family or linage or clan. , „
3. Family life, relations of family, nomenclature, clan and rituals related to birth and death are fixed by the Kinship and who will perform all the rituals is also fixed by Kinship.
For example, in the rituals related to marriage big brother, mother and sister of the father are of great importance. Who will give fire to the dead body is also related with Kinship. Who will be the heir of the person is also determined by the Kinship. At the time of Social functions, festivals, relatives are of great importance because at these moments it is necessary to call them. It will strengthen the relationship.
4. Kinship system gives strength to the society. Kinship system plays an important role in making social organization. If Kinship system would not be there then the social system will break down and there will be chaos all over the society. ,,
5. Kinship system determines the sexual relations. Sexual relations in;3E^jship system are restricted in our society. If Kinship system would not be there then there will be a lot of illegal relations and children in the society and social disorders will prevail.
6. Kinship System plays an important role in the determination of marriage. You are not supposed to marry in your clan, how many relatives would be left from mother’s side and father’s side all depend upon Kinship system. If this system would not be there then no one will obey the rules related to marriage and social disorder will prevail in society.
7. Kinship system gives mental peace to an individual. Yet in modern industrial Society our views have been changed from emotional to practical but still man is tied with the Kinship ties. He hangs the pictures of his ancestors in his house, he collects their pictures, he even does ‘Shradha’ after their death. Humans are based on the group and Kinship.
Without Kinship man is just like a dead man. Our relatives know us very well. They accept themselves as the part of the family. If we are in any tension then our relatives give us mental peace. Only by lining with our relatives we become happy and feel pleasure in their company.
In this way we can say that Kinship is of great importance in our Society. Nothing will be left in our society if we will take out Kinship system from it. So that’s why Kinship system is very important for our society.
Question 10.
Differentiate between affinal and consanguinal relations.
Answer:
Consanguinity. Consanguinity are the relations based on basic family and the relations based on real or imaginative traditional blood relations. In simple words, all those relatives or persons which are tied with blood relations are known as Consanguinity. Blood relations whether real or imaginary keep a higher place in the Kinship system if these relations are sanctioned by the society.
For example, an illegal child never gets sanction from the society even if he is related by blood. But the adopted child is sanctioned by the Society even if he is not blood relative and is a part of consanguinity system. Blood relations have the Social Sanctions in every type of Society.
In this way it is clear that all those relatives which come out of traditional relatives of blood relations of early family are included in consanguinity system, for example, brother, sister, uncle, grand parents etc. Here one thing should be kept in mind that blood relations are not only from father’s side but are also from the mother’s side. In this way blood relatives of father’s side are known as Patrilineal relatives and blood relatives from mother’s side are know as matrilineal relatives.’
Classification. On the basis of blood relations, relatives can be called by different names. Children of the same parents, which are real brothers and sisters are known as siblings. Step brothers and sisters are known as half siblings. From the side of father blood relatives of only males, which are also only males, are known as agnates.
In the same way from the side of mother blood relatives of only females, which are also only females, are known as utrive. In the same way those persons who are blood relatives are known as consanguined kin.
These blood relatives can be divided in two parts :
1. Unilineal Kin. In this type of Kinship those persons are coming which are related to the single line or unilineal of a descent. For example Father, Father’s father, Son and son’s son.
2. Collateral Kin. These types of relatives are those relatives which are indirectly related through every relative. For example’ Brother of father uncle, Sister of Mother – aunt, Brother of mother – uncle etc. Affinity. It is also known as Social Kinship. In this type of Kinship all those persons are included which are produced because of the marriage of a male and female.
When a boy marries a girl then he not only establishes relation with the girl but with the medium of girl he establishes relations with many members with the family of the girl.
In the same way, when a girl marries a boy then girl also establishes relations with all the members of the family of the boy. In this way just with marriage many new relationships come into being. So in this way the Kinship based on marriage is known as Affinal Kinship.
For example, brother-in-law, son-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister- in-law etc. from both sides. This type of Kinship is not only important from biological point of view but it also has social importance. Biological importance is only for husband and wife but mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother- in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law etc. are the social relationships.
Morgan studied Kinship of many parts of the world and gave them the names of descriptive and objective categories. In descriptive system generally one name is given to marital relatives. These names tell more about a relationship as compared to Kinship. Objective words tell more about real relationship. For example, ‘uncle’ word is used for Mama, Chacha, Fuffa, Mausa etc.
This is example of first type.
But no word can be used for father. In the same way ‘Nephew’ word is used for (Bhatija and Bhanja,) ‘Cousin’ word is used for the children of Mama, Chacha, Taya, Maasi, Bua etc. In the same way the word sister-in-law is used for Sali and Ninaan and brother-in-law is used for Deor and Sala. In this way new words are used in modern society.
Actually all these words are the symbols of kinship and are based on affinal kinship or Affinity. Like the status of son-in-law and husband to man and the status of daughter-in-law and wife to female can be given only after marriage. In this way we can count a number of affinal relationships.
