ASSIGNMENT HIS102

SUBMITTED TO: Professor Dr.Abul Hossain A. Bhuiyan

SUBMITTED BY:MD.Fahid Chowdhury

ID: 1931964630.
Section 10
Topic: Social Groupings: The Family
In this chapter, the author discusses the close connection that exists between approaches of
defining kinship or partnership and social organization systems, particularly those based on
various kinds of marriage institutions. The author also makes a point of showing how social
contexts have clearly defined relationship terminology and how, once this role has been
developed and accepted, relationship structures give us a very useful tool for researching the
history of social establishments and how various aspects of the classification system arose from,
and can thus be historically clarified from social evidence.
In many ancient civilizations, social units in the truest sense are the family-based social
divisions. In other words, the family's social duty is to determine all interpersonal interactions
with a sense of belonging while also giving each person born into a community a definite
position in that society (Rivers, 1924, p. 6).
The author has discovered various categories that come from the category of family of a person's
uncontrollable behaviors. The author claims that in England, we refer to a limited social group
when we discuss family life and the family as the core of our civilization a family and child-
centered community. On the other hand, when we refer to a more or less close relative as a
member of our family, we do it in a very specific and much larger manner.
The form of marriage, however, might have an impact on the specific family structure. The only
issue that occurs in a monogamous relationship, in which one person can be married to another at
a time, is when a person has been married more than once and has offspring from each union.
(1924, Rivers, p. 12). It is more logical to suppose that there are several families with the father
and husband as a common feature in polygyny, where each woman has her own business.
However, when all the wives reside under one roof, the children are not distinguished according
to their mothers, and the household is referred to as polygynous.
A polyandrous family's fundamental structure consists of the parent and kid, as well as siblings
and brothers. The author claims that the biggest challenge is deciding whether this group is
"bilateral" or "unilateral" (Rivers, 1924, p.13). Bilateral refers to a group that includes relatives
from both the mother's and father's sides, whereas "unilateral" refers to a group of families
connected only by their father or mother. Although this type of family grouping is uncommon,
there are definite signs of bilateral grouping in Northern Europe's past. IN Bangladesh it is
usually that a child takes the name of their father and thus it can be called a unilateral in terms of
the father.
If we go further beneath the umbrella of the family, whose members are enumerated in a single
manner, i.e., through a connection with just the mother or just the father. This results in the two
primary matriarchal and patriarchal families are two types of unilateral groups. A patriarchal
family is a collection of people that are exclusively linked to one another via their fathers, unlike
a matriarchal family. A family is an exclusive group of individuals connected to one another
solely by their mothers. Compared to Bangladesh the unilateral group that exists the most is the
patriarchal families as children mostly take the name of their father’s side.
According to the author, we'll see that affiliation is assessed under the topic of family. 
Unilaterally, i.e., either by the mother or the father in respect to the child. The two main
unilateral groups that come from this are the patriarchal family and the matriarchal family. The
Cecils or the Cavendishes are typical examples of patriarchal families, which are made up of
individuals who are solely connected to one another via their fathers (Rivers, 1924, p. 13). The
matriarchal family, on the other hand, consists of a group of individuals who are exclusively
connected by their mothers.
In the Western Solomon Islands, on Eddystone Island, a significant group known as the 'taviti' is
composed of people who share a genealogical connection on both their mother's and father's
sides according to the author; (Rivers, 1924, p. 13), examples of bilateral families can be found
there.
The most concrete illustration of a type of social organization that would fall under the first
section is the joint or undivided family, which is extensively prevalent throughout India. This
particular socioeconomic class is consisting of individuals with a male ancestor, with a father, his
sons, and grandsons making up the traditional group. This can also be seen in most parts of
Bangladesh as here people live in joint families and mostly consisting of the males side of the
family rather than females as it is a male dominated socity.There are other types of joint families
as well, according to the author, who cited the taravad of the Nayars of Malabar as the ideal
illustration of the type of joint family that exists in India in his classic work on Hindu law and
custom (Rivers, 1924, p. 15). A typical group of this kind would include a male, his sisters, the
sister's children, and the daughter's children, but not their sons. It is a category that is identical to
the joint family found in other parts of India, with the exception that membership is determined
by mother rather than father. Additionally, the author added, "Before I move on to the next major
mode of social grouping, I must mention a group which, while resembling the family, simple or
joint, in many ways, differs from it. I'm talking about the Household" (Rivers, 1924, p. 16).
According to the author, the home often includes people who are not family members, such as
servants or even people who don't truly have any form of personal links to the family, in many
countries throughout the world, including India.
In conclusion, it can be concluded that the author has clearly outlined the kinds of the majority of
the popular family compositions that were present in the 19th century, and probably a few of
them are still prevalent in the 20th century as well. As a result, the author has divided the concept
of family into four different types of groups. These groups are: the minimal family, which
consists of parents and children; the bilateral family, which includes members from both the
mother's and father's sides; the unilateral family, which includes only those related to the father;
and the other unilateral family, which includes only those related to the mother. What is even
more interesting is how the author describes a community that is not connected by blood, but
rather develops when strangers live together under one roof, maybe out of need, and nevertheless
respect one another like family. The perfect family, in my perspective, thus fulfills several
societal duties. Youth are socialized, its residents receive practical and emotional support, and
they have a feeling of belonging. Here, the author has brilliantly detailed many types of families,
including those in Western and South Asian regions of the world.
Bibliography
 Rivers, W., 1924. Social Organization. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.,
London, pp 6
 Rivers, W., 1924. Social Organization. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.,
London, pp 12
 Rivers, W., 1924. Social Organization. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.,
London, pp 13
 Rivers, W., 1924. Social Organization. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.,
London, pp 15

 Rivers, W., 1924. Social Organization. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd.,
London, pp 16