SOCIOLOGY

FAMILY
(THE OLDEST SOCIAL INSTITUTION)
A social institution is a society that puts in place a set of norms to connect an
individual with the rest of society. There are primarily five social institutions found
among human groups, these are family, religion, government, education, and
economics. The primary functions of a social institution are to satisfy the basic
needs of a society, to define the social values within a society, establish certain
norms for social behavior, support other institutions, and to give social roles for
individuals within society. Social institutions are the foundations of societies to
provide the necessary structure to maintain development, order, and provide for
basic needs within a society.
Family is considered as the oldest social institution in the world. As an institution
it performs many important functions and valuable tasks.
It provides base for its members. Family as a social institution hasdirectly or
indirectly got affected due to the rapid social changes. Technology which is
considered as the basic factor of social change has made important changes in the
family structure and
organization. Nuclear family has replaced joint family system. Schools and other
assistances like baby homes have stolen the basic functions of
family. Industrialization and urbanization have weakened the basic fabric of
relationships. People rush to work in industries than the agriculture. Pakistan is
one of the countries of the world where family as a social institution has got a
new shape with new assignments. As a result, general masses are migrating from
rural areas to the urban. Feudalistic approach of life where females used to be
dealt as secondary in social status has vanished to certain extent.
 A family is defined as two or more people who are related by marriage, blood, or
adoption. In Western society the family as a social institution primarily consists of
parents and their children. In other parts of the world families can consist of a
husband having more than one wife which is classified as polygyny, and a wife
who has more than one husband which is classified as polyandry. The primary
functions of the family as a social institution are to provide socialization to the
members of that unit, to provide new members to society, to teach the social
norms of sexual behavior, and to provide the economic and emotional stability
within the family unit. Of the various types of social institutions, the institution of
family is a vital component of life and has a significant amount of impact on the
course of the lives of individuals. The development cycle of an individual, the
experiences that they go through, the type of behavior that they show and their
degree of adjustment to the social changes in their lives are affected by the social
institution of family.
“WHY DO WE MARRY”
Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, social, libidinal,
emotional, financial, spiritual, and religious purposes. Whom they marry may be
influenced by gender, socially determined rules of incest,
prescriptive marriage rules, parental choice and individual desire.
In Islam, marriage ( Nikāḥ) is a legal contract between a man and a woman. And
Because two people love each other and they marry to get an Islamic liscience for
physical contact.

““Every individual wants to have a perfect match, but the criteria for choosing the
partner is different. In love marriages, individuals prefer to choose their partners
on their own, while in case of arrange marriages individuals prefers partners
chosen by their family or parents.
I would prefer a marriage that is an “arranged love” marriage. The reason is that I
won’t consider to live my life with some who I barely know and on the other hand
I wouldn’t want to hurt my parent’s feelings.””