CHANGES IN THE INDIAN FAMILY-

UNIT 2
A.M Shah in this reading wants to argue against the
assumption that there was a trend of large and complex
households which slowly shifted to small and simple
households.
The belief of traditional India family subsumes a set of
some other beliefs
 Traditional India was Village- having joint families.
 Urban Areas are New- Having elementary families
 Urbanization leads to the disintegration of the Indian
Family.
Distinction between “Family” and “Household”
Family is a group of people that are either connected by
birth or by affinal relationships.
Whereas households are a group of people that may or
may not belong to same family dwell together.
 SIMPLE HOUSEHOLD- It is composed of a complete
elementary family or a part of elementary family.
 COMPLEX HOUSEHOLD- It is composed of more than
one complete elementary families or more than one
part of the elementary family.
Progression in Household is due to increase in the
member mainly by birth or marriage, while regression in
households is due to decrease in the members mainly due
to marriage, death or partition or separation.
Principle of Aggression
The idea behind these norms is “principle of residential
unity of Patri-kin and their wives. This principle is
‘Normative’ in nature. Thus, there’s always measures of
deviation and conformity

Variation from Norms

- Differences in the Maximum extent to which the
development process goes in the progression. Such
differences can exist in villages and towns, or
between different castes & between different religion.
- Differences in the maximum extent of the
development process may be the same in two
sections of the society with differences in the
frequencies of the cases in which norm is observed.
Degree of extension
- The principle of residential unity of Patri-kin and their
wives appears to be the degree of Sanskritization of a
caste.
- The principle appears to be the institution of cross-
cousin and uncle- niece marriages.
The process of progression and aggression go
simultaneously in a society as when there is a partition in a
complex household between two brothers, then there’s
also formation of two or more separate households. Thus,
this delivers us a technical distinction between
“households” and “society”
Definition of Joint family

- Hindu legal text Mitaksara defines coparcenary-

comprises only those males who are entitled by birth
to an interest in the joint family.
- In Dayabhaga, there is no coparcenary between a man
and his son(s), married or unmarried, eve when they
are living in a single household.
Thus the legal definition of the joint family is based on
coparcenary which consists of all males, plus their wives
and their daughters but the later are not coparceners.
Therefore, we arrive at two main points i.e.
1. The legal definition of joint family is highly specialized
and has nothing to do with sociology distinction
between elementary family and joint family
2. The law does not lay down to the rule that joint family
of the legal conception should always be a joint
household.
Thus, the law is only concerned with the rights of the
property holding group and of maintenance, not with the
constitution of joint family.

Indological Definition
Starting with the shastras… there are answers to
questions on who should inherit the property from whom,
or who should perform the Sharad ritual from whom… this
coincides with the legal definition of the constitution of
joint family and is sanctioned by the definition of the circle
of persons required to perform the Sharad ritual. However,
the person may or may not live in the same household just
as the persons constitution the joint family. Since the legal
and the ritual definition coincided, it came to be accepted
as the general definition of the Hindu joint family written in
the Shastras.

COMPLIMENTARY FILIATION
JOKING RELATIONSHIP
AVOIDANCE RELATISHIPS – SHORT NOTES

DESCENT THEORY- BOTH RADCLIFF & FORTES

Indigenous system of Sri Lanka that says women are
allowed of multiple paternity, women had the right to
choose the father of the child, irrespective of whose sperm
it was. Peter and genitor where Peter is not the social
father and genitor is the biological father. However the
Britishers Scarped this law and now Genitor is the father of
the child.