Basics concepts

Community: is a permanent social Group embracing the totality

of ends or purposes.

Association: group of people united for a specific purpose or a

limited number of purposes

Institution is defined as certain enduring and accepted forms of

procedure governing the relations between individuals and groups
Basics concepts
• Darwin • Parts
• Zoological independent-
world-same Influence each
human being other

Evolutionary Functional

Marxists Feminists

• Communism • Looking the

• Socialisms’ world with
women‘s
perspective
What we will discuss:
• Is Family Universal ?
• Perspectives on Family: Functional, Marxist and Feminists
• Criticism of family
• Family Today.
What is family
George Murdock: American anthropologist.
Definition
• 'social group characterized by
common residence, economic co-
operation, and reproduction. It
includes adults of both sexes, at least
two of whom maintain a socially
approved sexual relationship, and one
or more children, own or adopted, of
the sexually cohabiting adults'

• Conclusion: The nuclear family is

universal social grouping
Is Family Universal ?
Nayar family of Kerala
 An Exception to Nuclear family:-
Marriage
No restriction to continue- can
break anytime
No duty towards offspring or
wife. No biological father.
No economic responsibility.
Tali-rite Sambnadham
MATRIFOCAL FAMILIES: AN EXCEPTION TO RULE

Murdock • one adult of each sex.

• islands of west Indies , parts of

Where? central America- Guyana and USA

• Polygamy and female economic independence

Reasons • Slavery
• Economic positions of blacks in new world
Some other references
• Bono tribes in Udisa
• Jaunsar Bawara tirbe:
• Banero of New Guiena:
• Gay and lesbian families.
The family: industrial and
modern time.
• Mass production, factory system
industrial • mechanized production system

• development of social, cultural, economic and political

practices.

Modern
• Replacement of religious belief system with scientific
and rational one.
• Growth of bureaucratic institutions – replacement of
monarchies with representative democracies
Talcott Parson: . Evolutionary
development of family
The isolated nuclear family

Typical form of modern

industrial world.

Structural differentiation- Specialized Geographical

Specialist institution division of labor mobility
Status in the family
Isolated nuclear family prevents the conflict

Ascribed Achieved
particularistic values
universalistic
values
On the basis of work status.
Father-son
Father-labour
No influence of achieved statues Son- doctor

No conflict Create conflict

William J Goode

Nuclear family
Industrialization Freedom it
Elite Class- joint
not the only accords to
family
reason individual
Peter Laslett: the family in
preindustrial society
10% household
Studied family in France, Germany,
contained kin-
England: 1564 to Belgium
1966 same
1821 Netherlands, Italy
positon.

NO evidence to
reversed the
support classical
argument
extended family.
Michal Anderson: contradictory evidence

• preindustrial Britain (53%) lived in a household consisting of six or

more people

• pre industrial Europe- Characterize by family diversity without any

one type being predominant
Conclusion: is Nuclear family universal
• Wide variety of domestic arrangements have been devised by human
beings which are quite distinctive form conventional families.

• Diana Gittins
“Relationships are universal, so is some form of co-residence, of
intimacy, sexuality, and emotional bond. But the Forms these can take
are infinitely variable and can be changed and challenged as well as
embraced”
Perspectives on Families

Functional Marxists

Feminists
The family: Functionalist perspective
George Peter Murdock: Universal functions of
family

Sexual

Reproductive Family Economical

Education
Talcott Parson
The Basic and irreducible functions of the family

Primary
socialization of
the children

Family

Stabilization
of adult
Marxist perspectives on the family: Friedrich Engels

Evolutionary view of the family

Production; Community owned-
restrictions on sexual relations
promiscuity- society family

Mode of production changed so the family.

polygamy polyandry

Emergence of monogamous nuclear family

private property and inheritance control over women to reduce the doubt
Feminist perspective on family

• produces and rear chip labour- no cost to the employer

Family • As a housewife; keep husband running to perform labour

• emotional support- for frustration of work due to capitalism

Wife-safety value • Dictatorship of husbands over wives-vent the anger- no
challenge to the system.

Foundation of • Children- no revolt at work place.

• Authoritarian ideology-teach passivity nor rebellion.
obedience
Critical View about the family
• Edmund Leach • R D Laing

• The nuclear family is like a • A family can act as gangsters

overloaded electric circuit. The offering each other mutual
demands made upon it are too protection against each other’s
great and fuses blow violence.
• The parents and children are
huddled together in their
loneliness take too much out of
each other. The Parents fight; and
children rebel.