Society is composition of people.People interact,interrelate with the society. Their needs are fulfilled by the society.Order,unity,coordination,control are some elements that are required for a society to sustain.These functions of the society are performed through certain social institutions.These institutions while fulfilling the needs of the individual and society as well,they maintain order and stability of the societies.Social institutions consist of ideas,interests and structure with a set of common values and procedures in order to meet needs of the society.
Types of Social Institutions :
Social institutions are enduring relationships that result from human interaction. Over a period of time, these relationships have established predictable patterns that allow the members of society to pursue life, their dreams and happiness. Social institutions are natural products or creations of societies, the primary function of which is to help societies meet basic needs. They exist in every known society. They overlap, interact, and support one another. It would be impossible to think of a social order without any existing social institution for they serve as the bedrock of human society.
There are six major social institutions, namely: family, marriage, education, economics, politics, and religion. These institutions have shown continuity and stability for they are products of relationships that have long endured the test of time Other social institutions may have developed out of these major social institutions as we see them existing in society at present.
Family as an Institution
Family is the primary social unit.Of all human groups family is the most important primary groups.The exact definition of family can vary greatly from time to time and from culture to culture. How a society defines family as a primary group, and the functions it asks families to perform, are by no means constant.Generally it is defined as basic social unit consisting of persons united by ties of marriage(affinity), “blood”(consanguinity), or adoption and usually representing a single household. The essence of the family group is the parent-child relationship, whose outlines vary widely among cultures.The family as an institution provides for the rearing and socialization of children, the care of the aged, sick, or disabled, the legitimation of procreation, and the regulation of sexual conduct in addition to supplying basic physical, economic, and emotional security for its members.
It means family institution fulfills basic and primary needs like food,clothing,shelter,protection and economic needs of the people sharing common living space.Family ensures continuity of society through function of reproduction.Since the family consists of man and woman who are married and have legal sanction for mating and progeny,the function of reproduction is being done by the family.It also fulfills psychological needs like love and affection,it is an effective agency of social control and it also performs religious functions which has immense influence and control on the behaviour of the individual.
Some common features of Family :
- Family is a primary social unit.It is considered as an universal unit because it is seen in one form or the other in all the communities.
- It is a close knit group and is limited in size because all the people in a society cannot become members unless they have biological or marital relations.
- The new members or children learn the traditions,beliefs,norms,values,etc. from the family.
- There is common and mutual responsibility among the members.
- It is both temporary and permanent .It is permanent because it is as old as the society itself.It is temporary because the members of family would change each time with the events like birth,death,marriage and migrations.
- All the family members have a common house and live together.
- Families are identified by nomenclature.The members of family bear a common nomenclature.
Functions of Family :
1. Fulfilling the biological needs
2. Satisfying the Psychological and emotional needs
3. Economic co-operation
4. Maintaining the morality
5. Giving legitimacy to the children
6. Gives social, religious and cultural recognitions for sexual mating after marriage
7. It plays a prominent role in the socialization process of an individual
8. It acts as an agency of social control - it controls the behaviour of the individuals
9. It acts as a basic unit for performing religious functions
10.Still many families esp. in the developing countries are acting as basic economic units.
11.It takes care of the
aged, sick, or disabled
and young members.Family plays an integral role in children's development.
Types of Families :
1.
On the basis of marriage: Family has been classified into three major types:
- Polygynous family (having more than one wife)
- Polyandrous family (having more than one husband)
- Monogamous family (one spouse/one couple)
2.
Based on size and structure family are three types:
- Nuclear Family
- Joint Family
- Extended Family
Nuclear family, also called elementary family, in sociology and anthropology, is a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children. Typically, but not always, the adults in a nuclear family are married. Although such couples are most often a man and a woman, the definition of the nuclear family has expanded with the advent of same-sex marriage in some countries. Children in a nuclear family may be the couple’s biological or adopted offspring.
Extended family includes a group of relatives.It includes a nuclear family and their blood relatives consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all living nearby or in the same household.The extended family system often, but not exclusively, occurs in regions in which economic conditions make it difficult for the nuclear family to achieve self-sufficiency.
Joint Family is a type of extended family composed of parents, their children, and the children's spouses and offspring in one household.In general, a family is called a joint family where the members in a house, taking food in a common cookery enjoy undivided landed property, participate in a common worship and united in blood relationship.
3.On the basis of the nature of residence family can be classified into five main forms :
- Family of matrilocal residence
- Family of patrilocal residence
- Bilocal family
- Avunculocal family
- Neolocal family
Matrilocal residence or matrilocality (also uxorilocal residence or uxorilocality) is a term referring to the societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents, thus the female offspring of a mother remain living in (or near) the mother's house, thereby forming large clan-families, typically consisting of three or four generations living in the same place.
Patrilocal family is a family system in which the wife is expected to live near the husband's parents.
Bilocal family is a family system in which the couple lives in the house of the father of groom for some time and in the house of the mother of the bride for some time.
Avunculocal Family is a family where the couple lives in the house of maternal uncle of the bride after marriage.
Neolocal family is a family where the couple choose a new residence after marriage.
4.On the basis of ancestry or descent family can be classified into three main types:
- Matrilineal family-descent that follows a female line is known as matrilineal.Both males and females belong to their mother's kin group
- Patrilineal family-both males and females belong to their father's kin group but not their mother's.
- Ambilineal family-descent from either male or female is recognized, but individuals may select only one line to trace descent.
5.Classification on the basis of authority :
- Patriarchal Family - form of family in which the male is the family head and lineage is traced through the male line
- Matriarchal Family - A family group, in which the wife has the highest status, controls the other family members and makes important decisions affecting the family group.
