Introduction:
The family is considered as the cornerstone of human society. However, it changes. While certain factors contribute to family stability certain other forces lead to change, more so in industrial societies.
STABILITY IN THE FAMILY
One of the main features of the family is its relative stability. The factors which, contribute to stability are:
i) Male-Female Bonding: The attraction that develops between a male and female is one of the main bases of stability of the family.’ The attraction initially is physical and later is strengthened by social and cultural factors. One of the factors which promote relatively enduring male-female bonding is the fact that amongst all primates, the sharpest and most well developed biological differences in terms of sexual characteristics exist between the two sexes of Homosapiens. This is the dimorphism.
ii) The Long period of Dependence: The long period of dependence of the young on adults is another factor to be reckoned in the stability of human family. The human young takes nearly 15 years to mature physically to take mates; this is the longest period of dependence of in offspring on its adults. The total helplessness and dependence of the young on their period of dependence of the young on their parents also promote stability of the domestic group. Throughout this period of dependence, children need a great degree of attention and care.
iii) Motherhood and its Importance: The long gestation period for giving birth (36 weeks) to and the hormones (progesterone and estrogen) related lo motherhood lactation also create a unique mother- child bond which is very crucial in the stability of the human family. In view or the nutrition, the human female generally give birth to only one at a time. Multiple births are rare in Homo sapiens.
iv) Social-cultural factors: In addition to the above factors a host of social- cultural factors promote the stability’ of the family .These are:
a) Religious values emphasize family happiness, harmony, cooperation and duties associated with the family. For example, in the Hindu concept of Purubartha and Grihasthasharma is the most important stage in the life of an individual.
b) Economic factors like succession, property, division of labour also contribute to family’s stability. The family in many tribal societies constitutes a production group as well .
CHANGE IN THE FAMILY
However, all this does not necessarily mean that the family is static, stable and has not undergone any change or is subject of any change at all. The family like any other social institution displays continuity and change. The factors which have affected the family, its structure and functions are:
- (a) Industrialization
- ( b) Urbanization
- (c) Money Economy
- (d) Secular Mechanism
- (e) Modern Education
- (f) Science and Technology specially developments in birth control and assisted conception
- (g) Political factors like state intervention through legislation Ideological factors like gender equality, individuality etc. ,
- (h) The impact of the west specially on Asia and Africa ‘Where the Western colonial powers ruled for more than a century their rule affected the basic social institutions of marriage, family and kinship.
- (i) Media
Numerous changes have taken place in the family by and large,; in contemporary society.
1.Decline in the functions of family
A major qualitative change that has occurred with regard to the family is that many of its traditional functions have declined or weakened– For example, earlier in pre-industrial societies the family was both a unit of production and consumption and took care of the economic needs of its members. Today an individual has alternative sources available:-
(a) His employer who provides him, in addition to salary, assistance like provident fund, gratuity, bonus loans etc.,
(b) Banks
(c) Chit funds and other financial agencies.
In some countries, the state offers unemployment fees to the youth (weekly payments) till they get a job. In today’s society, the family has become only a unit of consumption.
2. Again family’s role in the socialization of the young also the declined with education at a very early stage itself becoming complex taken care of by formal institutions. In addition the TV and other media also play a significant role in the socialization process.
3.Due to developments in reproductive medicine and assisted conception even the procreation functions of the family also a have been affected- Now we have surrogate mothers who offer their wombs for rent for carrying transplanted embryos, sperm banks, fertilization outside the womb etc., we do not know what the future developments in this regard would be with rapid developments in genetic engineering.
4.Weakening of control of elders:
The conventional family was based on authority exercised by the elders which was more or less undisputed. Today that authority and control over the young specially after adolescence tends to weaken due to several factors like (a) education (b) peer group influence (c) mass media (d) state support, if any, in the form of doles to the youth and (e) the fact that children may not even stay with their parents in case they undergone specialized education and training residing in hostels away from home.
5.Gender and Generational equality
As a result of (a) increasing levels of education; (b) employment (c) idea of equality and (d) to some extent due to the campaign of women’s movements for equal rights, freedom of choice etc., women in contemporary families have come to play a more important role than what they used to in early stages of industrialization. In dual career families where both the spouses work and even otherwise, in families where women are more educated compare pre-industrial societies there is a tendency towards egalitarianism or equality between the sexes. This manifest in shared conjugal roles like the man helping out the wife and more importantly, women play decisive roles in matters concerning family budgets, job changes, and the career choice of children and so on.
Another direction of change is the growing tendency towards generational equality: Due to (a) ever increasing scope and content of formal education, (b) greater access to a wide variety of information from specialized institutions, (c) mass media, (d) peer group influences, (c) greater availability of employment opportunities, (f) scholarships and state support ( in the west) youth are no longer totally subordinate to their elders at home. In preindustrial societies productive resources in the form of land and capital were more or less entirely controlled by the elders in the kin groups. In contemporary society, education and possession of professional qualifications make the youth less dependent on their elders. Of course, in many countries like India the cost of such professional qualifications may have to be met by the family. But in the west, generous scholarship assistance, loans and part time employment opportunities to bear any substantial sums at all with the young finding their own means of funding. The- trend towards generational equality is seen in greater freedom of choice for the children in selection of careers, place of study and even mates for marriages.
6.Change in Gender roles:
Another change noticed in the family is a change in conventional gender roles, especially of females. The pre-industrial and early industrial societies, confined women to the kitchen and the home mostly. The roles of wife and mother were emphasized more. The socialization of children also proceeded on gender lines. While boys were prepared for culturally defined adult male roles, girl children were trained for what were conventional female roles-cooking, needle craft, signing etc., even toys and dresses were separate for boys and girls. These conventional gender roles have undergone a change under the impact of (a)
increasing literacy and education amongst females., (b) employment of women and (c) ideological factors like gender equality and right of choice propagated by political and women’s liberation movements. In addition the state it self in many countries, is committed-to gender equality and has passed laws providing for equal inheritance rights.
7.Privatization and Isolation:
The condition of the modern family as one of privatization and isolation. That means unlike the pre-industrial family, the contemporary western family has hardly any links with other related kin group and relations and lives for itself. The pre-industrial agrarian family had close enduring links with wider kin groups and kin in terms of visits, exchange of gifts and participation in rituals and festivals. In contemporary society the family is relatively isolate from the rest of the society and visits and participation in ceremonies in relation and with other kins are less frequent.
8.Mobility:
The family now is much more mobile both geographically and socially with men and women changing job for better prospects and in the process constantly relocating themselves and their family members. At times one of the family members, specially the young, may prefer to stay back for the sake of continuity in their academic careers. This frequent mobility leads to disruption and instability in the family. The family may lose its cohesiveness.
9.The other Important trends of change seen in the family are:
- (a) Increase in the number of single parent families where one of the partners prefers to remain single after divorce or death of the other partner.
- (b) Disruption of socialization of children and cohesiveness of the family due to high divorce rates and remarriage.
- (c) Increase in the number of reconstituted or step families, where the spouses, either due to death or divorce of the partner, remarry. In such cases children have a problem coping with the new parent and with other children if any, of that parent from his or her previous marriage.
- (d) A definite tendency towards nuclearization and smaller families with just one or two children. The nuclear family has certain advantages in an industrial society . It is more mobile. It can afford to spare the woman for work and can afford to give the best to children in terms of education.
- (e) Increase in dual career families where both the spouses are in wage employment– The dual career family puts strain on the wife husband relationship, especially on the woman as it pushes her into a role conflict of wife versus career woman. Also it affects the socialization of the young with the parents away from home most of the time
The changes described above in the structure and functions of family may be more pronounced in the west and in urban areas of third world. What we have presented here is a general picture of change. These are of course, variations from country to country and continent to continent due to cultural and economic variations.