1.

Introduction

Family is considered to be one of the basic units of social structure. It is one of the main
socialising institutions. Family is defined as “a unit of two or more persons united by
marriage, blood, adoption, or consensual union, in general consulting a single household,
interacting and communicating with each other.”1 It is basic, cohesive and integral unit of
the larger social systems. The Indian family has always been a dominant institution in the life
of the individual and in the life of the community. The joint family is considered be one of
the traditional family systems of India. The joint family as “a group of people who generally
live under one roof, who eat at one hearth, who holds property in common, who
participates in common family worship and who are related to each other as some
particular type of kindred.” 2It’s a system under which even extended members of a family
like one’s parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. live together.
These members living in a joint family eat the food cooked at one hearth, share a common
income, common property, are related to one another through kinship ties, and worship the
same idols. The family supports the old; takes care of widows, never-married adults, and the
disabled; assists during periods of unemployment; and provides security and a sense of
support and togetherness.

The families in India are undergoing vast changes like disintegration of the joint family,
increasing divorce and separation rates, domestic violence, inter-generational conflicts, social
problems of drug abuse, juvenile delinquency etc. These changes indicate the inability to
cope with the pressures of the modern life. Also, with the advent of urbanisation and
modernisation, younger generations are turning away from the traditional Indian family form.
There is a rise in individualism among the people that has led to the rise in the nuclear family.
Migration to urban areas, growth of slums, change from caste oriented and hereditary
occupations to new patterns of employment offered by a technological revolution, the cut-
throat competition for economic survival and many other economic changes have left their
impact on the family. There is a change in the patterns of loyalties, obligations and
expectations within a family. So, this project tries to study the Indian families that have
changed over a period of time and the causes behind these types of changes

1.1 Aim
1
Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal Change”, Vol. 17 Mai-Ago(2001),
p. 178
2
Ibid.

1
This project focuses on studying about the family system in India. It also tries to comprehend
the changes that are undergoing in the Indian family system and also to understand the causes
behind the changes in family system in India.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of the project are as follows:

 To study about the family system in India.

 To try to comprehend the changes that are undergoing in the Indian family system
 To understand the causes behind these changes on the family system in India

1.3 Scope and Limitations

The scope of the project is to study about the family system in India and due to the vastness
of the subject matter; the researcher has limited his study to –

 the study of the joint family in Indian family system

 the study of the changes that are undergoing in the Indian family system
 the study about the causes behind these changes on the Indian family system.

1.4 Literature Review

2
 Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal
Changes”.
This article by Reeta Sonawat presents socio-demographic data on families in India aiming to
provide bases for analysing research, particularly in the area of family development and also
reviews the rapidly changing family scenario. She defined family, “as a unit of two or more
persons united by marriage, blood, adoption, or consensual union, in general consulting a
single household, interacting and communicating with each other”.3The families in a large
and culturally diverse country such as India have plurality of forms that vary with class,
ethnicity, and individual choices. Its members are bound by interpersonal relationships in a
wider network of role and social relations.4 The Indian families, according to Sonawat are
classified as patrilineal and matrilineal according to the lineage or descent by father or
mother. She conceptualized the family structure in India as the configuration of role, power,
and status and relationships in the family which depends upon the families’ socio-economic
background, family pattern, and extent of urbanization. She also gave us an clear insight on
the vast changes like increasing divorce and separation rates, domestic violence, inter-
generational conflicts, social problems of drug abuse, juvenile delinquency etc. that are fast
undergoing in the families of India. The writer also in her work reviewed the works of
Kolenda who did various studies on the structures of families in India. She also talked about
the different problems like marital problems, family violence etc. that is faced by every
family. Lastly, she concluded the article by recognizing family as a basic unit of society that
acts as link between the individual and the community and that there are definite changes that
are undergoing on the basic structure of the family due to the current trends.

 R Datta Choudhury, “Joint Family System-Its Present and Future.”(1957)

R Datta Choudhury, in her research, reviews the position of the Joint Family System in India.
Choudhury says that the future of the Joint Family in India is a subject of great speculation
ranging from its gradual decay to its slowly regaining fresh strength and vigour. 5 The use of
1951 census was made in order to analyse the position of the Joint Family in India. Here,
Choudhury defines house as “a building or part of a building in which at least one commensal

3
Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal Change”, Vol. 17 Mai-Ago(2001),
pp. 177

4
Ibid
5
R Datta Choudhury, “A Joint Family- Its Present and Future”, The Economic Weekly(1957) pp. 1233

3
family lives together”6 and says that the changes in the relative size of an average family may
led to the speculation of breakup of the joint families but that was not the case. It was seen
that due to the rise in the average size of the family, there was seen to be a rise of two types
of joint family households- the small type of households and the large type of households.
The article also reviews the composition of the family in India which varies depending on the
trend of the average Indian joint family. Choudhury, at last concludes that the most common
type of family in India the joint family but finds it difficult to conclude whether it is the trend
is towards the is whether the trend is towards the 'small' or the ‘large’ joint family house hold.

 J.P Singh, “Problem of India’s Changing Family and State Intervention”

J.P Singh in his article talks about changes that have undergone by the family system due to
the influence of westernization, industrialization, modernization and greater population
mobility across the sub-continent. He said that the Indian family has progressively confronted
and combated various kinds of problems and challenges, and yet India does not have any
family policy per se so far; albeit the Government of India has indeed taken several useful
legislative measures relating to widow remarriage, women’s right to property, practice of
child marriage, succession, adoption and maintenance, dowry, dissolution of marriage
affecting different communities and most recently domestic violence, which have impacted
the Indian family system in more ways than one. 7 Singh through his article wants to throw
some light on the major problems and wants to confront the Indian society and a Indian
family in general. The Indian society exhibits considerable variations between regions,
between rural and urban areas, between classes, and finally, between different religious,
ethnic and caste groups. The Indian society is, in fact, a congeries of micro-regions and sub-
cultures and differences between which are quite crucial from sociological angles and
comments that these diversities are reflected in the family system. Lastly, he considers some
of the problem like the passing of the joint family, changes in the martial practice, change in
authority structure, domestic violence, child labour, divorce etc. as problems that had led
erosion of values and the institution of family and further adds the need of a set of strong,
consistent policies to strengthen the Indian family system.

6
Ibid
7
J.P Singh, “Problems of India’s Changing Family and State Intervention” pp.1

4
  Ms. Nawaz Khan and Dr. Ms. Nuzhat Rizvi, “ Urbanization and Its Effect on
Joint Family System in India”
The writers of this article consider technology to be a powerful tool for social change. It has
also institutionalized the functioning of the social institutions. The institutions of family,
religion, morality, marriage, state, property have been altered. 8 It is found that the
urbanization in society is responsible for structural changes in the pattern of family. This
article also gives us an insight on the origin of the urbanisation and went on to explain its
effect on the joint family system. This article also throws light on the approaches of the
family system. This article is concluded by pointing out that there is a huge and direct impact
of social change on the fundamental structure and the way of functioning of social
institutions. It is found that the urbanization in society is responsible for structural changes in
the pattern of family as whole and some of the observations are-
 In the first place various agencies of socialization have stolen many functions
of the family.
 Secondly it may be concluded that the marriage is considered not as a sacred
one but a social contract. It has been found that, divorces and separation are on
the increase. Much distress has been witnessed in the social family.9

 Andre Beteille, “Family and Social Change in India and Other South Asian
Countries”
Andre Beteille, in his article reviews that the traditional family type is undergoing rapid
transformation and that the older joint family is being replaced by a simpler structure. Due to
the shift from agriculture to industry, the ties which held together the joint family have been
loosened and the joint family is replaced by the nuclear family as the new economic forces
favours everyone living separately. However, Beteille points out that since vast majority of
India's population still preserves an agricultural mode of life so the number of people who
have been actually affected by the new forces of change is relatively small. It can be said that
the new forces have had any general effect on the family structure of the country. Lastly,
Beitelle says that the long tradition of living in a structure where kinship values are of prime
importance generates sentiments which might be difficult to abandon even when they appear

8
Ms. Nawaz Khan and Dr. Ms. Nuzhat Rizvi, “ Urbanization and Its Effect on Joint Family System in India”,
Vol 3, Iss 2, IJRITCC (2015), pp. 156
9
Ibid

5
to be largely irrelevant.10 Kinship ties might adjust themselves to changing conditions and
manifest themselves in new and different types of structures.

10
Andre Beteille, “Family and Social Change in India and Other South Asian Countries” The Economic
Weekly 11964, pp. 237

6
 1.5 Research Questions

Q.1) Describe the family system in India?

Q.2)What are the changes that are undergoing in the Indian family system?

Q.3)What are causes behind these changes in the family system in India ?

1.6 Research Methodology

This is a qualitative research. This project is done by way of exploring and analysing the
existing literature by applying reasoning power. A closed reading about the family system in
India has been done. Books and research papers relating to this topic have been referred to as
secondary sources of information.

7
 2. Perspectives in Studying Family

Sociologists have mainly used three approaches in studying family. These approaches are-
the functionalist, the structuralist and the interactionist.11

In the functionalist approach, the family is regarded as a sub-system or as a part in relation to

society as a whole. The Functionalists studies family in the basis of:

 Set of functions it performs and its contribution to the maintenance of the total social
system
 Functional relationships between the family and the other parts of the total social
system
 Functions for its individual members.12
The functionalist approach assumes a universality of certain functions of family and around
specific functions, it conceptualizes roles also. It further explains the relationship among
family roles mainly due to change in society and norms and values.

In the structuralist approach, the family is seen in terms of a pattern of interrelated statuses
and roles at a particular time and as an organised pattern of interrelated rights and
obligations.13 This approach also assumes a universality of family statuses (like parent,
grandparent, uncle etc.) in all societies and believes that variations in the roles of individual
family members are associated with these statuses. For instances, in some societies, the
grandfather or the eldest member of a family may have all the property and personal rights
while in some other societies, the grandfather may have little or no authority.

In the interactionist approach, the family is concerned with the interaction between
individual members. This perspective, assuming that action is meaningful to those involved,
seeks to understand the meanings which family members give to their activities. The
interactionists are generally concerned with the definition of the situations in family and the
analysis of the way a family member interprets the language, gestures and manners of other
members which affect his behaviour and his interaction with others 14. The interactionist

11
Ram Ahuja, INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM, 2011, pp. 22- 23
12
Ibid
13
Ibid
14
Ibid

8
 approach is concerned with the diversity of both structures and roles in family life.
Interactionists are generally interested in primarily studying the way in which these
variations affect the relations between members of the family group. The focus of the
sociologists of this perspective is on the extent to which the husband and wife, parents and
children etc. have developed in contemporary families a modus operandi to maintain the
unity within the family.15 This approach looks into the matters related to the solidarity in the
family, that is, with personal and martial adjustment in the family. They generally attempt to
discover those aspects of interaction which are important in making personal adjustments.
For instances, taking decision jointly, the necessity of giving more attention to other’s
values and aspirations etc.

Thus, it can be concluded that the functionalist analyse liaisons with other groups and
institutions, the structuralist focus on the tradition maintenance for sustaining existing
norms and values, and the interactionists access the sustaining solidarity among the
members.

15
Ibid

9
 3. Indian Family System

The family is the most important institution that has survived through the ages in India. India
is a collectivist society that emphasizes family integrity, family loyalty, and family unity. C.
Hui and H. Triandis defined collectivism, which is the opposite of individualism as, “a sense
of harmony, interdependence and concern for others”.16 More specifically, collectivism is
reflected in greater readiness to cooperate with family members and extended kin on
decisions affecting most aspects of life, including career choice, mate selection, marriage and
its continuity.

The Indian family has been a dominant institution in the life of the individual and in the life
of the community17. For the Hindu family, extended family and kinship ties are of utmost
importance. In India, families adhere to a patriarchal ideology, follow the patrilineal rule of
descent, are patrilocal, and have family-oriented values, and endorse traditional gender role
preferences. The Indian family is considered strong, stable, close, resilient, and enduring. 18
Historically, the traditional, ideal and desired family in India is the joint family. A joint
family includes kinsmen, and generally includes three to four living generations, including
uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, and grandparents living together in the same household. It is a
group composed of a number of family units living in separate rooms of the same house.
These members eat the food cooked at one hearth, share a common income, common
property, are related to one another through kinship ties, and worship the same idols. The
family supports the old; takes care of widows, never-married adults, and the disabled; assists
during periods of unemployment; and provides security and a sense of support and
togetherness.19 The joint family has always been the preferred family type in the Indian
culture, and most Indians at some point in their lives have participated in joint family living.
The beauty about the Indian culture lies in its age-long prevailing tradition of the joint family
system. It’s a system under which even extended members of a family like one’s parents,
children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. live together. The elder-most, usually

16
C.N Shankar Rao, SOCIOLOGY OF INDIAN SOCIETY, 5th ed. 2012, pp. 133.

17
www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/36906/1/Unit-1.pdf

18
Ibid
19
Ibid

10
the male member is the head in the joint Indian family system that makes all important
decisions and rules, whereas other family members abide by it dutifully with full respect.
Manners like respecting elders, touching their feet as a sign of respect, speaking in a dignified
manner, taking elders’ advice prior taking important decisions, etc. is something that Indian
parents take care to inculcate in their kids from very beginning. The head of the family
responds by caring and treating each member of the family the same. The intention behind
the formation of any social unit will fail to serve its purpose if discipline is lacking and the
same applies to the joint family system as well. Due to this reason, discipline is another factor
given utmost importance in the family system in India. As a rule, it’s the say of the family
head that prevails upon others. In case of any disagreement, the matter is diligently sorted out
by taking suggestions from other adult members. One usually also has to follow fixed timings
for returning home, eating, etc.

With the advent of urbanisation and modernisation, younger generations are turning away
from the traditional Indian family form. The new modified extended family system that does
not demand geographical proximity or occupational involvement and a hierarchal authority
structure has replaced the traditional family system20. This new family system encourages
frequent visits; financial assistance; aid and support in childcare and household chores; and
involvement and participation in life-cycle events such as births, marriages, deaths, and
festival celebrations. The familial and kinship bonds are thus maintained and sustained. Even
in the more modern and nuclear families in contemporary India, many functional extensions
of the traditional joint family have been retained, and the nuclear family is strongly
embedded in the extended kinship matrix.21 In spite of the numerous changes and adaptations
to a pseudo-Western culture and a move toward the nuclear family among the middle and
upper classes, the modified extended family is preferred and continues to prevail in modern
India.

In a traditional Indian family, the wife is typically dependent, submissive, compliant, demure,
non-assertive, and goes out of her way to please her husband. Women are entrusted with the
responsibility of looking after the home and caring for the children and the elderly parents
and relatives. Child rearing practices in India tend to be permissive, and children are not
encouraged to be independent and self-sufficient. The family is expected to provide an

20
www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf
21
Ibid

11
environment to maximise the development of a child's personality and, within the context of
the Hindu beliefs and philosophy, positively influence the child's attitudes and behaviours.

Adolescence and young adulthood are particularly stressful and traumatic stages in the lives
of Indian youths. In one way, they desire emancipation and liberation from family but
residing in the matrix of the extended family makes it difficult for them to assert themselves
and exhibit any independence in thought, action, or behaviour. Social changes are gradually
occurring but arranged marriages are still the norm, and dating generally is not allowed.
Furthermore, sex and sexuality issues are not openly discussed, sex education is not readily
available, interrelationships with the opposite sex are discouraged, and premarital sex is
frowned upon. In the traditional Indian family, communication between parents and children
tends to be one-sided. Children are expected to listen, respect, and obey their parents.
Generally, adolescents do not share their personal concerns with their parents because they
believe their parents will not listen and will not understand their problems.22

22
www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf

12
 4. Joint Family System in India

The joint family system is an inseparable part of the Indian social system. K.M Panikkar
regarded the joint family system as the basic pillar of the Indian social system. 23
It is the
most common and uniform family pattern found in India.

However, the concept of ‘jointness’ in the term ‘joint family’ has defined by different
sociologist in different manner. Sociologist like Iravati Karve gave importance to the term
‘co-residentiality’ with regards to jointness while others like B.S Cohn, S.C Dube, Pauline
Kolenda etc. regarded co-residentiality and commensality as essential ingredients of
jointness.24 Sociologist like F.G Bailey gave importance to joint ownership of property
irrespective of type of residence and commensality while I.P Desai and few others gave
importance to fulfilment of obligation i.e, identifying oneself as a member of a particular
family, rendering financial and others kind of help etc. towards kin, even if the residence is
different and there is no common ownership of property. 25 Dr. Iravathi Karve in her works
has pointed that in the “Indian social evolution of the family has always meant the joint
family.”26 She pointed that the ancient family in India (in the Vedic and Epic periods) were
joint in terms of residence, property and functions. She termed that family as traditional or
joint family.27 Karve has defined family as a “a group of people who generally live under
one roof, who eat at one hearth, who holds property in common, who participates in
common family worship and who are related to each other as some particular type of
kindred.” 28

However, eminent sociologist I.P Desai said that it is the relationship between the members
of a household among themselves and with those of another house hold that determines the
type of the family of the household.29 He points out that when two families having kinship
relationship are living separately but function under one authority, it will be considered as a

23
C.N Shankar Rao, SOCIOLOGY OF INDIAN SOCIETY, 5th ed. 2012, pp. 132

24
Ram Ahuja, INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM, 2011, p. 27
25
Ibid
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid, p. 28
28
Ibid
29
Ibid

13
joint family. Thus, it can be considered that he takes three criteria namely, generation depth,
rights and obligations, and property to explain the joint family and its nature.

Characteristics of the Joint Family System in India

Some of the basic characteristic of the joint families are as below:

 It has an authoritarian structure: Authoritarian here means the power to make

decisions and pass judgments is in the hands of one person who demands immediate
obedience.30 In an authoritarian family, the power traditionally lies in the hands on the
hands of the eldest member of the family because of his age and its seniority. The
head allows little individual freedom to other family members and may or may not
consult them in decision-making. Unlike the democratic family, the authority is
vested in one or more family members on the basis of their ability and its competence.
Also, it is obligatory in the part of the head of the family to consult other members
and give weightage to their opinions before taking the decisions.

 It has familistic organization: This refers to the subordination of individual’s interests

to the interests of the family as a whole, which means that the goals of the family
must be the goals of the individual members. For instances, if a child wants to become
a doctor, instead asked to join his family’s business, then he has to subordinate his
interest to the family’s interest.

 Status of the members is determined by their age and relationship: In the traditional
joint family, it can be found that the status of women in the family is generally
determined by the status of her husband in the family. Also, in case of two generation;
the status of a person in the higher generation is higher than the status of the person in
lower generation and the status of a person of higher age is higher than the person of
lower age.

 The filial and fraternal relationships gets preference over conjugal relationships: It
meant that husband-wife relationship is considered to be more subordinated to a
father-son or brother-brother relationship.

30
Ibid, p. 36

14
 The family functions on the ideal of joint responsibility: Every member has their own
duties and obligations towards the family. The interest of the family prevails over the
interest of an individual. It is the duty of everyone to look and help each other on the
time of need and crisis. The responsibilities are equally shared. For instances, if a
father takes loan to marry his daughter, then it is also the responsibility of his sons to
repay the loan.

 All members get equal attention : This is based on the idea of pooling of income for
running the household.

15
 5. The Emerging Trends in the Indian Family

The Indian family system has undergone quite changes in the past few years. This change is
not static and the change proceeded slowly throughout the twentieth century. Different
powers have successfully broken down the traditional concept of the family. The changes
from ‘traditional’ to ‘transitional’ family include trends toward:
 Neo-local residence
 Functional jointness
 Equality of individuals
 Equal status for women
 Joint- mate selection
 Weakening of family norms.

Neo-local residence: After marriage, children may live for some time with their parents but
soon prefer to live separately. As industrialisation and urbanization proceed, more and more
young married couples and their families find their residences being determined by the
location of their jobs. Thus, Neo-local residence is becoming very common nowadays.

Functional Jointness: The neo-local residence may lead to the weakening of ties with the
tertiary and distant kin but not with the primary and secondary kin living separately. The
married sons and their wives continue to fulfil their obligations to their parents and the
siblings. Mutual help in various emergencies of life and economic co-operation with primary
and secondary kin remains as important characteristics of neo-local families.

Equality of Individuals: Treating spouses and other members of the family on the basis of
equality is a part of large ideological change. Individualism has changed the workings of the
family. The worth of the individual is recognized and his/her wishes are now considered
more important in the new family. The individual’s status is evaluated not by his age but by
his own accomplishments. Patriarch or parents in the family no longer try to impose their
decisions on their children and gave them their freedom to go according to their wishes.

Equal Status for Women : The joint family has been associated with the subordination of
women. Women are generally assigned with their domestic chores. Nowadays, women have
started taking jobs in the expanding economy and their salary is used for making family

16
expenses and raising the quality of life. Men have come to treat women in terms of equality
due to this.

Joint- mate selection: In the traditional family, the marriages for the children were arranged
by parents without consulting them. In the ‘transitional’ family, the parents and the children
jointly take the decision. The joint selection reduces the chance of conflict and the newly
married spent some time with their parents before setting up their separate household. This
helps in fulfilling the obligation towards the family.

Weakening of Family Norms : The family norms in the ‘transitional family’ have weakened
to the extent that the distribution of opportunities and rewards is determined by the
individual’s qualities and not by the membership of the family. Indian family was based on
the particularistic criteria31. This refers to the distribution of opportunities and rewards were
determined by one’s membership of the family but not due to any specific qualification or
abilities that the individual possess. But the demand of the modern economy requires the
application of the universalistic criteria which involves the assignment of opportunities on the
basis of skills, irrespective of family and other member relationship. 32 This led to a huge
dilemma and led to the weakening of the family norms of the traditional family as the
families began to yield to the demands of industrialisation.

31
Ibid, p. 47
32
Ibid

17
 6. Changes in Indian Family System

The family has been and continues to be one of the most important elements in the fabric of
Indian society. The bond that ties the individual to his family, the range of the influence and
authority that the family exercises make the family in India not merely an institutional
structure of our society, but accord give it a deep value 33. The family has indeed contributed
to the stability to Indian society and culture. Today, the Indian family is subjected to the
effects of changes that have been taking place in the economic, political, social and cultural
spheres of the society. The process of industrialisation and the consequent urbanisation and
commercialisation have had drastic impacts on the family. Migration to urban areas, growth
of slums, change from caste oriented and hereditary occupations to new patterns of
employment offered by a technological revolution, the cut-throat competition for
economic survival and many other economic changes have left their impact on the
family.
Thus, these changes in the socio-economic-political-cultural milieu of our society have led to
changes in the structures, functions, roles, relationships and values of the family. In the
context of the changes in the economic system more and more
members of the family are moving away from the larger family circle and living as
individuals or members of a nuclear unit in urban areas. 34 The patterns or loyalties,
obligations and expectations have changed.

 Disintegration of Joint Family in India

The joint family has been one of the prominent features of the Indian society since the time
immemorial. But the twentieth century brought some enormous changes in the family system
of India. Changes in the traditional family system have been so enormous that it is steadily on
the wane from the urban scene. In villages, the size of joint family has been substantially
reduced or is found in its fragmented form. Some of the families have split into nuclear
families, while others have taken the form of extended or stem families. An extended family
33
Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal Change”, Vol. 17 Mai-Ago(2001),
pp. 179

34
www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf

18
is a family which includes a couple with married sons or daughters and their spouses as well
as household head without spouse but with at least two married sons, daughters and their
spouses.

It is found that the people have migrated to cities either to pursue higher education or to
secure more lucrative jobs or to eke out their living outside their traditional callings, ensuing
from the availability of better opportunities elsewhere as well as the rising pressure of
population on the limited land base. These days in most cases two brothers tend to form two
independent households even within the same city owing to the rising spirit of individualism,
regardless of similarity in occupation, even when the ancestral property is not formally
partitioned at their native place.

The nuclear family, same as elsewhere, is now the one of the characteristic feature of the
Indian society of all the households. According to the 2011 census, nuclear family constituted
70%, single member or more than one member households without spouse comprised about
11% and the extended and joint family or households together claim merely 20% of all
households in the entire country.35

With further industrial development, rural to urban migration, nuclearisation of families and
rise of divorce rate and the proportion of single member household are likely to increase
steadily on the line of industrial West36. This is believed to be so because the states, which
have got a higher level of urbanization, tend to have a higher proportion of single member
households. The emergence of financially independent, career-oriented men and women, who
are confident of taking their own decisions and crave to have a sense of individual
achievement, has greatly contributed to the disintegration of joint family.

However, Sociologists have always questioned the disintegration of the joint family in India.
Sociologist like K.T Merchant, A.M Shaw, Aileen Ross and others are of the view that the
joint family is undergoing fast change and these changes has led to the disintegration of the
joint family whereas, Dr. Irvathi Karve, David Mandelbaum and others are of the view that
the joint family are changing fast but still they continue to stay in relatively smaller size. 37
But, Sociologist like K.M Kapadia, I.P Desai, M.S. Gore are of the view that the joint

35
Census of India (2011), Available at http://www.censusindia.net/
36
J.P Singh, “Problems of India’s Changing Family and State Intervention” pp.4

37
C.N Shankar Rao, SOCIOLOGY OF INDIAN SOCIETY, 5th ed. 2012, pp. 140

19
families in India are still continuing by withstanding the different disintegrating forces. 38 It is
seen that though rural people who have deserted joint families and have moved to the cities
but still they keep their connection with their parental joint families and they continue to visit
them. Moreover, it can be seen that the today’s big business houses like the Tata, Birla etc.
are all family ventures. So instead of the breaking of joint families due to urbanization and
industrialization, more joint families are found in urban business communities. Married
brothers may have separate houses, but they run a common business and meet regularly at a
variety of family rituals. Hence, a large number of families in India are described as being
functionally joint, with separate residence.39 Thus, it can be said that today joint families are
making enough compromises with the modern trends for their survival.

 Changes in Authority Structure

In a traditional joint family, the authority within the family was primarily in the hands of
family elders. The general attitude of members of the family towards the traditional patriarch
was mostly one of respect, loyalty, submissiveness and deference. These attributes also
encompassed other relationships in the family, such as children to their parents, a wife to her
husband, and younger brothers to their older brothers. 40 Within a household no one was
supposed to flout the will of his elders. The father, or in his absence the eldest brother, was
consulted on all important family matters like pursuing litigation in courts of law, building a
house, buying and selling of property and arranging marriages, etc. The joint family did not
allow the neglect or disregard of elders. The age-grade hierarchy was quite strong.

Now the people of younger generation, particularly those with modern tertiary education, do
not seem to show the same reverence which their fathers had for their parents or elders
elders. The father, or in his absence the eldest brother, was consulted on all important
family matters like pursuing litigation in courts of law, building a house, buying and
selling of property and arranging marriages, etc. The joint family did not allow the
neglect or disregard of elders. The age-grade hierarchy was quite strong. The people

38
Ibid
39
J.P Singh, “Problems of India’s Changing Family and State Intervention” pp.4

40
www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf

20
of younger generation, particularly those with modern tertiary education, do not seem to
show the same reverence which their fathers had for their parents or elders.
Among women, patriarch’s wife was the paramount authority. In fact, women’s
position depended on the position of their husbands in the household. The wife of the
household head or mother-in-law was in charge of the household. Her word was law or at
least had the same force. Her decisions were made for the entire family and not for the
welfare of the individuals in it. Young women in the family were expected to be dutiful
and obedient. Widows and those spurned by their husbands were assured of the family roof,
though mostly as voiceless members.

With a view to absolving themselves of responsibility now parents cleverly

encourage their educated sons and daughters-in-law to take independent decision in a
joint and extended family situation, leave aside urban areas, the similar situation has
started to emerge in rural areas too. This is not unusual when sons and daughters tend to
possess a higher level of education and a greater degree of exposure of the world outside
the family than ever before. Now boys and girls, contrary to the old practice, are
beginning to assert their wishes in mate selection. Parental decisions are no more
supreme.
It is also found that some of the households are headed by women. In the absence of their
husbands, either because of death, separation, transfer in job or business engagement, women
are themselves able to run the affairs of their family. Long distance migration of men for
employment is also an important reason for the emergence of such households.

 Dissolution of Marriage

The dissolution of marriage has been quite uncommon and rare in India for a long
time. In case of any crisis or threat to stability of marriage, caste, community, kinsmen,
tended to have played a dominant say. People had both respect for and fear of social
values and public opinion. The system of religious belief has provided enough sustenance to
the institution of marriage and family. Individual choice has always been subservient to the
communal sentiment or public opinion41. Even in the event of frequent mental and physical
torture, most Indian women persist in marriage, since remarriage of divorced or separated
women is quite difficult. Despite all these, there has been a significant change in the views
41
www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf

21
and attitudes towards sanctity of marriage in the recent past, especially in cities. Marriage is
no longer held to be a ‘divine match’ or a ‘sacred union’. The marriage is no
longer sanctified as it was believed in the past, and is viewed only as a bonding and
nurturing life-long relationship and friendship.42 These days divorce rates in India’s urban
sphere are, however, slowly mounting. Today, in cities there is disenchantment with the
system of arranged marriages. There is a greater incidence of extra-marital relationships,
including open gay and lesbian relationships, a delay in the age at marriage, higher rates of
marital disruption and more egalitarian gender role attitudes among men and women. 43 It is
reported that in big metropolises a new system of ‘live-in-arrangements’ between pairs,
particularly in upper stratum of society, is steadily emerging as a new kind of family life.

 Domestic Tension and Violence

Violence within family settings is primarily a male activity. The prime targets are
women and children. The women have been victims of humiliation and torture for as long
as we have written records of the Indian society Increasing family
violence in modern times has compelled many social scientists to be apologists for the
traditional joint family- as happy and harmonious, a high-voltage emotional setting,
imbued with love, affection and tenderness. India’s past has been so romanticised by
certain scholars that they have regarded the joint family as the best form of family 44. This
underlines the fact that, although the home and community are places where women provide
care for others, they are also places where millions of women experience coercion and abuse

Pagelow defined family violence as “any act of commission or commission by family

members and any condition resulting from such acts and inaction which deprive other
family members of equal rights and opportunities and/or interfere with their optimal
development and freedom of choice.” 45According to Gandhi, factors related to poverty and
42
www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/36906/1/Unit-1.pdf

43
Ibid
44
www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/36906/1/Unit-1.pdf

45
Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal Change”, Vol. 17 Mai-Ago(2001),
pp. 179

22
lack of education among women makes them more vulnerable to violence. Thus, elimination
of violence against women requires reengineering of society on equalitarian values, where
women enjoy equal rights over education, land, property, and business46. The creation of such
a society needs the support of all, including men.

7. Causes for the changes in the Indian Family System

The changes in the traditional Indian family system have affected the structure, the function
and the stability of the family system in India. It was a combination of industrialisation, with
46
Ibid

23
its application of universalistic criteria to ever-widening sphere, ideals of individualism,
equality and freedom. Milton Singer has identified five factors which have affected the
family the most. These are- education, industrialisation, urbanisation, change in the
institution of marriage, specifically in the age of marriage and legislative measures.47

 Influence of Education: Modern system of education has affected the Indian family
system in several ways. It has brought change in the attitude, beliefs, values and
ideologies of the people. Education has also aroused the feeling of individualism.
There was a rapid growth of the education in India in the last few years. This
increasing education not only brought changes in the philosophy of life of men and
women but also provides new avenues of employment to the latter. Women have
started to become emotionally and economically independent and refused to accept
anybody’s dominance over them. The education system brought a change in the
relationship between the members of the family, thus leading to the structural changes
too. Sociologist I.P Desai and Aileen Ross have both talked about the influence of
education system and family system on each other. The former has referred to the
working of the education system against family in two ways: first by emphasizing
individualism, it puts before the people the concept of the type of the family which is
contrary to the prevailing concept of joint family, and two, it prepares the people for
occupations which cannot be found in their native places, as a result of which they
separate from their ancestral family and live in areas which provide them the
occupations suited to their educational equipment. In course of time, these people lose
contact with the parental family and imbibe new ways of living and thinking which
are inimical to the joint family sentiments and conducive to the nuclear family. This
led to an increase of percentage in the favour of nuclear families and decline in favour
of joint family.

 Impact of Industrialisation: Factory systems of production, new system of

organisation and management and new style of life have affected the joint family
system. It has made people leave their joint family to faraway places and search for
job and employment there. It has resulted in the breakdown of the link between the
kinship and the occupational structure. The family that was a principal unit of
47
Ram Ahuja, INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM, p. 62

24
 production was transformed to a consumption unit as instead of all the family
members working together in an integrated economic system a few members go out to
earn family’s living. This has affected the family relations. Moreover, the factory
employment has also freed young adults from direct dependency on their family and
this financial independency has weakened the authority of the head of the family
member over them.

 Influence of Urbanisation: The phenomenon of urbanisation has become widespread

and urban population has been increasing steadily. M.S Gore has pointed out that the
urban families show a shift away from the joint family norms in their attitudes, role
perceptions and behaviour.48 For example, in the area of decision making, unlike the
rural families, it is the parents rather than the eldest males takes the decision for their
children. Studies have also revealed that urban living weakens joint family pattern and
strengthens nuclear family patterns. Cities provide increasing opportunities for new
occupation and higher education. People who have deviated from the traditional
family occupation and have taken a new professions show a greater shift in their
attitudes than those who follow their traditional family occupation. This change in
attitude has relationship to the length of the stay in the city. Cities also provides
source of employment for the women, and when women starts earning, she seeks
freedom in many sphere and this gives rise to the feeling of individualism and this
affects the family system in India.

 Change in Marriage System: Change in the age at marriage, freedom in mate selection
and the change in attitude towards marriage have affected our family system. Children
who marry at a late age neither obey the parental authority nor perceive the eldest
male as the main person in the decision making. The freedom in mate selection has
promoted inter-caste marriages which in turn have affected the relationship structure
in the family. Today, people do not wait for parental permission. Parent’s role in mate
selection has diminished. It does not symbolise the superior authority of family head
over the family members.

 Legislative measures: The impact of legislative measures on the family system of

India is a huge one. Prohibition of early marriages and minimum age of marriage

48
Ibid, p. 63

25
 through the Child Marriage Restrain Act, 1954 and Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 have
help to lengthen the period of education. Other legislation such as the Widow
Remarriage Act, 1856, the Hindu Succession Act etc. have helped to modify the
interpersonal relations within family, the composition of the family and the stability
of the family system of India.

 Some of the other causes include the influence of western values, awareness among
women, government jobs and unmanageable size of the family.

8. Conclusion

At the end of the project, the researcher got a clear idea about the family system in India
which in turn tells about the social structure of the Indian society. It is found that the most
desired and ideal family type is the joint family which is defined by Dr. Iravathi Karve as “a

26
group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat at one hearth, who holds
property in common, who participates in common family worship and who are related to
each other as some particular type of kindred”. 49
The research project also looks into the
various changes that are undergoing every day in the Indian family system. The causes for
this change as described by Milton Singer are the education, urbanisation, industrialisation,
changes in the institution of marriage and the legislative measure.50 The changes are the
disintegration of the joint family which according to sociologist like K.T Merchant, A.M
Shaw, Aileen Ross and others is taking place every day. While, Dr. Irvathi Karve, David
Mandelbaum and others are of the view that the joint family are changing fast but still they
continue to stay in relatively smaller size. But, Sociologist like K.M Kapadia, I.P Desai, M.S.
Gore are of the view that the joint families in India are still continuing by withstanding the
different disintegrating forces. While, there was a change in the authority structure of the
family and also issues like divorce and domestic violence are some of the changes that are
seen in the Indian family system. Some of the other causes behind these changes as pointed
out by the researcher are the influence of the western values, unmanageable size of the family
etc. This has started making the nuclear family a characteristic feature of the Indian family
system.

49
Ram Ahuja, INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM, p. 27

50
Ibid, p. 62

27
 9. Bibliography

Secondary Sources:
Books:

 C.N Shankar Rao, SOCIOLOGY OF INDIAN SOCIETY, 5th ed. 2012, S. Chand &
Company, New Delhi.
 T.N Madan, FAMILY AND KINSHIP: A study of the Pandits of Rural Kashmir, 4 th ed. 2010,
Oxford University Press.
 Ram Ahuja, INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM, 2011, Rawat Publications, New Delhi

Articles and Research Papers:

 Reeta Sonawat, “Understanding Families in India: A Reflection of Societal Change”, Vol. 17

Mai-Ago, 2001
 J.P Singh, “Problems of India’s Changing Family and State Intervention”.
 Andre Beteille, “Family and Social Change in India and Other South Asian
Countries” The Economic Weekly 11964
 Ms. Nawaz Khan and Dr. Ms. Nuzhat Rizvi, “Urbanization and Its Effect on Joint Family
System in India”, Vol 3, Iss 2, IJRITCC (2015).
 R Datta Choudhury, “A Joint Family- Its Present and Future”, The Economic
Weekly(1957) pp. 1233

Internet Sites:

 www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/36906/1/Unit-1.pdf
 www.familystudies.ac.in/onlinelib/234590/98034/jl/iss04.pdf
 Census of India, 2011 : http://www.censusindia.net/

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