JOINT FAMILY
Joint
family system is a very old concept. Under this system, all members of the
family would live together and enjoy the income of the family. The
family in India does not consist only of husband, wife and their children but
also of uncles, aunts and cousins and grandsons.
This system, called joint family or
extended family system is a peculiar characteristic of the Indian social life.
A son after marriage does not usually separate himself from the parents but
continues to stay with them under the same roof messing together and holding
property in common.
The family has joint property and every
person has his share in it since the time he is born. The earnings of all the
members are put in a common fund out of which family expenses are met. Non-earning
members have as much share as the earning members. The Indian family system is
thus like a socialistic community in which everyone earns according to his
capacity and receives according to his needs.
The family in India is based on
patrilineal descent. Children are identified by name and allegiance with the
father’s family. Property is passed from generation to generation within the
father’s family.
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Characteristics of Joint Family
(i) Large Size
(ii) Joint Property
(iii) Common Residence
(iv) Co-operative Organisation - The basis of joint family system is cooperation. A joint family consists
of a large number of members and if they do not cooperate with one another it
is not possible to maintain the organisation and structure of the joint family.
(v) A Productive Unit - This feature of joint family is found among agricultural families. All
the members work at one and the same field. They do the sowing and harvesting
of the crops together. Even in the case of artisan classes all the members of a
joint family do one and the same function.
(vi) Mutual Rights and
Obligations - The rights and obligations of the
members of joint family are the same. None except the head of the family has
special privileges. Every member of the family has equal obligations. If one
female member works in the kitchen, the other does the laundry work, and the
third one looks after the children. There is rotation of duties as well.
Demerits of Joint Family
(i) Hindrance in the development of
personality - In joint family there is
very little opportunity for the fostering of individual autonomy or
self-dependence. The whole environment of the family is not congenial for the
growth of the individual because he is bound down by the rules and regulations
framed by the head of the family who looks upon men and women as children even
when they attain adulthood. Any new enterprise
or adventure on the part of the young people is discouraged by the head of the
family. This adversely affects the individuality, originality and creativity
of the young members. One make lack of attributes like leadership and decision
making qualities as head of the family will decide and does all the important
decisions.
(ii) Privacy denied
(iii) Low Status of Women - An important feature of the joint
family system is the low status of women. During childhood, a woman is
subordinated to her father, during youth to her husband and during old age to
her son.
(iv) Hinders Social Change - The joint family is based on
conservatism. Since it is based on traditions, it does not normally allow its
members even to accept or encourage healthy social changes.
(v) Limits Social Mobility - The
joint family is said to be more conservative in nature. Since it is dominated
by tradition, it is slow to respond to the modern trends. It does not encourage
its members to go after change. Members are more concerned with safeguarding
their statuses rather than with changing them. Hence social mobility is very
much limited here.
Factors responsible for
the disintegration of joint family system in India
Joint family system emerged pre-eminently to cater to certain felt needs
of individuals. But consequent upon the forces of industrialization,
urbanization and modernization, it is
gradually disintegrating. The institution of joint family is very old. The fact
now is that there is a disintegration of this system of familial organization.
No single factor can be pointed out as the sole cause of this disintegration.
The breakdown of the joint family in India has often been forecast on the
grounds that joint families were suited to the old agricultural societies but
are dysfunctional under present conditions. Hence a sharp break between the
‘traditional’ joint family and the ‘modern’ nuclear family is supposed to occur.
1.
Industrialization - The joint
family is most suited to agricultural families as the members did not look for
jobs. But in wake of industrialization and the establishment of new factories
have motivated the workers from the villages move to the cities and it breaks
up the joint family. Industrialization affected the cottage and village
industries and workers started searching for jobs in industrial towns.
2.
Urbanization - Urbanization has also led to the weakening of the
joint family system in India. The amenities of urban life in the form of better
transport and communication, better employment opportunities, better
educational facilities, and developed health care facilities attract the
ruralites to the towns and cities. Naturally there is a rural to urban type of
migration.
3. Modern education - The role of modern education in bringing about the disintegration of the
joint family is no less significant. Modern education inspires individualism
among the people. Further, educated men and women in the countryside are forced
to leave their families in search of suitable jobs.
4.
Extension of
Communications and Transport
- Now the villagers are no more isolated
from other areas. Earlier, difficulties of communication and travel in ancient
times compelled all the members of the family to live together and carry on the
family occupation in agriculture and trade jointly. Today when the means of
communication and transportation have been extended, it is no longer necessary
for men to stay with the family and carry on the family occupation. Now they go
to the city and take up any other occupation.
5.
Decline of
Agricultural and Village Industries
- The joint family system in India
flourished when agriculture and trade in the villages were in a sound position.
Today with the establishment of factories the commodities produced by the
village craftsmen cannot compete in quality or price with those produced in
factories with the result that the village industries suffer a loss and after
some time close down. With the closing down of the village industry the workers
in villages also are compelled to go to the city to find a job there. Increase in population has brought an
additional pressure upon the agricultural land, leading to unemployment,
reduced per capital income, food problem and thus disintegration in the joint
family system.
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