Family, Marriage and Kinship

Family

• Classical definitions of family describe it as a group based on marriage, emotional bonds, common residence, and the provision of domestic services.

• It is also defined through marital relations, parenthood responsibilities, cohabitation, and reciprocal parent-child relations.

• Most sociologists consider the family as the cornerstone of society, playing a foundational role in social structure and functioning.

• Functionalist George Peter Murdock, in his book Social Structure (1949), views the family as a universal social institution found in all societies—from hunting-gathering to industrial societies.

• Murdock defines family as: “The family is a social group characterised 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-habiting adults.”

• Talcott Parsons stated that modern families are ‘isolated nuclear families’, which evolved due to industrialisation.

• Parsons argued that there is a functional relationship between the family system and the economic system of industrial society, where the family adapts to the demands of a mobile labor market.

• In the Parsonian model, the nuclear family performs two major functions: primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities.

• Ogburn and Nimkoff identify the basic functions of family as: affectional, economic, recreational, protective, and educational.

• The family acts as a primary agent of socialisation, transferring values, norms, and culture across generations.

• Besides biological reproduction, the family serves social reproduction, ensuring social continuity.

• In sociological terms, the family is both a biological and social construct, adapting in form and function across cultures and time periods.

Theoretical Approaches of Functionalist and Structuralist

• Functionalist view society as a system in which all parts work or function together to create society as a whole. Functionalism, also called structural functional theory, sees society as structure with interrelated parts design to meet the biological and social needs of the individual in that society.

The Functionalist Perspective

• Functionalists view the family unit as a key social construct that performs essential functions necessary for the smooth functioning of society.

• For functionalists, the family plays a central role in social integration by instilling cultural values and social norms into children, producing well-integrated members of society.

• Structural functionalism is a theoretical framework that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

• This approach compares society to an organism, where different components like institutions, social constructs, and norms are analogous to organs, each performing specific functions to maintain the whole system.

• Structural functionalism takes a macro-level perspective, focusing broadly on the social structures and institutions that shape society as a whole.

• It explains society in terms of the functions performed by its constituent elements, such as norms, customs, traditions, and institutions.

• Functionalists believe that social order is maintained when these components function properly and are interrelated.

• The family, as a core institution, is believed to fulfill several vital functions:

  • Reproduction – ensuring the biological continuation of society.

  • Socialisation – transmitting cultural values, norms, and belief systems to the next generation.

  • Care and protection – providing for the physical and emotional well-being of its members.

  • Emotional support – offering affection, belonging, and psychological security.

  • Assignment of status – giving individuals their social identity, especially through ascribed status like caste, class, ethnicity.

  • Regulation of sexual behaviour – through the norm of legitimacy, guiding sexual relations within socially approved frameworks like marriage.

• According to Talcott Parsons, in industrial societies, the nuclear family is functionally adapted to meet the needs of a mobile labor force and specialised economy.

• Functionalism often overlooks internal inequalities or conflicts within families but is valuable for understanding how families contribute to social stability and continuity.

Functional Approaches to Family

• George Peter Murdock, in his work Social Structure (1949), identifies four universal functions of the family, each addressing key societal problems:

  • Regulation of sexual relations

  • Control of reproduction

  • Economic support and survival

  • Socialisation of children

• These functions are essential for the stability and continuity of society across cultures and time.

• MacIver and Page emphasize the unique and central position of the family among all social institutions due to its distinctive features.

• Key features of the family include:

  • Universality – the family exists in all societies, without exception.

  • Emotional foundation – the family is based on affection, attachment, and emotional bonds.

  • Limited size – it is the smallest kin group or social unit.

  • Nuclear position in social structure – family is at the core of social organisation.

  • Responsibility of members – duties and obligations are distributed among family members.

  • Social regulation – family helps in controlling behaviour through norms and sanctions.

  • Permanence and temporariness – families can be enduring or temporary depending on social and individual contexts.

• Ogburn and Nimkoff list the basic functions of the family as: affectional, economic, recreational, protective, and educational.

• According to I.P. Desai, “Family lives in the minds of the people as far as India is concerned”, highlighting the ideational and cultural dimension of family in Indian society.

• Family is not only understood in terms of functions, but also through its structure, i.e., the composition and kinship relationships.

• Family structure refers to persisting patterns of kin relations, and it is influenced by factors like size, roles, and authority systems.

• Families can be classified based on structure as:

  • Nuclear family – consisting of parents and children only.

  • Extended family – includes additional relatives like grandparents, uncles, aunts.

  • Male-headed or female-headed families – depending on authority and decision-making roles.

  • Matrilineal or patrilineal descent – depending on the line of inheritance and kinship tracing.

• Family structure interacts with other institutions like the political, economic, and cultural systems, leading to dynamic changes.

• Example: Male migration from villages in Bihar has resulted in a rise of female-headed households in rural areas.

• Example: Young software professionals’ work schedules in urban India have led to more grandparents living in households as primary caregivers, altering household composition.

• Changes in family structure can be understood as responses to broader societal transformations, such as migration, urbanisation, economic shifts, and cultural evolution.