Student unrest
In most of the country, the basic units of society are the patrilineal family unit and wider kinship groupings. The most widely desired residential unit is the Joint family, ideally consisting of three or four patrilineally related generations, all living under one roof, working, eating, worshiping, and cooperating together in mutually beneficial ocial and economic activities.
Family patterns are conceptualized in terms of family composition. A household is one of the dimensions of the family pattern.
It is a residential and domestic unit composed of one or more persons living under the same roof and eating food cooked in a single kitchen (Shah, 1973). The family has been and continues to be one of the most important elements in the fabric of Indian society. The bond that ties the individual to his family, the range of the influence and authority that the family exercises make the family in India not merely an nstitutional structure of our society, but accord give it a deep value.
The family has indeed contributed to the stability to Indian society and culture.
Today, the Indian family is subjected to the effects of changes that have been taking place in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres of the our society. In the economic sphere, the patterns of production, distribution and consumption have changed greatly. The process of industrialization and the consequent urbanization and commercialization have had drastic impacts on the family. Migration to urban areas, growth of lums, change from caste oriented and hereditary occupations to new patterns of employment offered by a technological revolution, the cut-throat competition for economic survival and many other family.
Briefly speaking, these changes in the socio-economicpolitical-cultural milieu of our society have led to changes in the structures, functions, roles, relationships and values of the family.
Family is the foundation stone of society. It teaches us to be social. It teaches us to digest the fact that there is a common interest, which may be more important than individual interest. Thus, it may require to be given up in favour of family interest. It modifies individual behaviour and cultivates tolerance, patience, wrww. iJsrp.
org respect for others, love and affection, dedication, care and sacrifice.
It checks selfishness and restrains rigidity. In fact, a family is the first institution that cultivates social values and social behaviour among individuals. Social values are basically family values written at large. Had the family been absent, concepts like nationalism could never originate. Traditional Asian societies have survived for thousands of years mainly ecause there has been a consistent emphasis on enforcing family values.
Collapse of the family system simultaneously leads to social breakdown. With the advent of urbanization and modernization, younger generations are turning away from the Joint family form.
One of the most striking features of contemporary societies is the presence of a range of family variations, from the most traditional, extended families with strict, gender based sex roles to the modem dual career families based on liberal, equal sex roles and to adults cohabiting without marriage. The term “alternative family patterns” suggests amily patterns that result from personal circumstances outside one’s control (death of a partner, infertility) or from socio-economic conditions (male migration, work participation of women).
In the Indian context, most family variations are a result of personal or socioeconomic circumstances.
Experimental or chosen lifestyles like living without marrying, and being childless voluntarily are restricted to an extremely small group of people. The following are the most commonly observed family variations in India. Single parent families, Female headed households, Dual earner career families, Childless families, Adoptive families. Thus this study was planned assess changing family composition, structure and practices in urban area of Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh. II.
OBJECTIVES To assess the changing family composition in urban area. To assess the changing family structure in urban area with respect to following: 0 Changing role, power and status in family 0 Changes in familial relationships To assess the changing family practices in urban area of Kanpur city with respect to following: 0 Changing marriage patterns and 0 Changing other family practices 2 ‘V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table: 1- Percentage distribution regarding changing family composition in urban area. Total (N=80) No. 65 81 .
25 15 18. 75 00. 00 Type of families Nuclear Joint Alternate Table. revels that 81. 25% families were nuclear where as only 18. 75% were Joint.
There were no families of alternate family type out of selected families. Banerjee S. (2010) explains In Indian cities, families aspire to an improved lifestyle, which they recognize is possible with fewer children. Reflecting the rise of the nuclear family in urban India, these households re small in size”88% have 3-4 members and there are no senior citizens in these households. Just 11% have more than two children” again a pointer to how well entrenched the small family norm has become in the urban landscape.
According to Kashayap (2004), Industrialization, together with technological development, has brought several new challenges to the family. It has brought significant changes in the structure of urban families that have moved from large extended family systems to more nuclear Table: 2- Percentage distribution of role, power and status in families in urban area – Role, power and status n families According to age According to gender 69 11 86. 25 13. 75 As shown in Table. 2, in most of the families (86. 25%), Role, power and status was given according to age of person in family where as only 13.
5% gender was the basis for distribution of role, power and status in family. Table: 3- Percentage distribution regarding familial relationships in urban area – Ill. METHOD The study was carried out in Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh (India). Purposively eighty, families of middle income group, were selected for the study. A survey, was conducted using a self- structured questionnaire with close nded questions to collect the data regarding changing family composition, structure and practices in urban area.
Data was analyzed in terms of mean, frequency and percentage.
Familial Relationships Relationship with extended Family members Kinship 7 8. 7 5. 0 Poor 25 Averag 37. 25. 7 9 75 50 As shown in Table.
3, 37. 50% families were having normal dyadic relationship and 31. 25% families had good dyadic relationship with their extended families. Only 8. 75% families wrww.
iJsrp. org were having enmeshed dyadic relationship with their extended families where as 22. 50% families were not connected/poorly onnected to their extended families. 46. 5% families were having normal dyadic relationship and 25. 00% families had good dyadic relationship with their kinship reference group.
Only 5. 00% families were having enmeshed dyadic relationship their kinship reference group whereas 23. 75% families were not connected/poorly connected to their kinship reference group. areas. Kashyap (2004) explains in his study, with urbanization and migration, kinship bonds have been weakening in urban areas.
However, there is also evidence that the kinship system is changing, adapting itself to the newer demands.
In urban areas, this extended kinship system has proven to be a viable organization even today, as it has facilitated the adaptation of its individual members to city life by providing shelter and other material assistance. Along with the change in the structure of the family from the traditional Joint or extended family systems to the evolving nuclear form, changes have also been observed in role relationships and authority among family members. Norms of interpersonal relationships are gradually becoming more egalitarian and reciprocal Kashayp (2004).
Table: 4 – Percentage distribution regarding changing Marriage practices in urban area – Marriage practices Selection of Marriage partner Types of Marriage Age of marriage Marriage Rituals Financial Exchange during Marriage Monogamy Polygamy Exogamy Endogamy Love marriage Arranged marriage Arranged-Love marriage Below 18 years 18-21 years 21-25 years Above 25 years Present Absent 100.
00 21 26. 25 59 73. 25 24 30. 00 33 41 . 25 28. 75 8.
75 32 40. 00 41 51 . 25 96. 25 3 3. 75 The concept of Indian wedding has seen drastic changes, over the last few years.
In the yesteryears, the ceremony was a brief affair, confined o an economical budget, even though the guest list was long.
On the contrary, in the present time, the occasion is generally celebrated in an elaborated way, with number of rituals that are conducted before, during and after it. The table 4 shows that 100. 00% of the families had adopted monogamy marriage pattern (on man to one woman) because polygamy (plurality of women/men to one men/women) illegal in present scenario. Most of the families (73. 5%) were giving endogamy marriages (marriage within a specified group) (26.
25%), where as exogamy marriages (marriage out of a pecified group) are also increasing in present scenario. According to article (site given below ) Until some time back, marrying a person belonging to some other caste or religions was strictly not permitted by the families. With the modernization of the Indian society and social awareness of the people, inter-caste and inter-religion marriages have become a common sight.
This is primarily due to the acceptance of the concept of love marriage. Nonetheless, people with an orthodox or conservative outlook of life are still firm about marrying within the same caste, community and religion.
Contrary to this thought, people in the present time do believe in solemnizing weddings of two different individuals belonging to different family background and culture. 41. 25% families were in favor of arranged marriages where as 28. 75 % were in favor of arranged love marriages. Only 30. 00% favored for love marriages.
According one research article (site given below )the custom of arranged marriages has been a part of Indian culture since the fourth century. The generation to the other. It is still prevalent in both rural and urban parts of India, former being more inclined towards the system. In fact, arranged marriages are in majority, because not all people have accepted the concept of love marriage. However, with the changing time, people in India have accepted the concept of love marriage, which is otherwise considered against the Indian culture.
People in the rural India are now more liberal, when it comes to love marriages.
Therefore, both arranged and love marriage find equal importance in the wedding scenario of India. 51. 25% families were in favor of marriage after 25 years where as 40. 00% were in favor of marriage between 21-25 years. Only 8. 75% favored for marriage between 18-21 years.
No one avored for marriage before age of 18. All 100. 00% were following marriage rituals of marriage. In 96. 25% families financial exchange during marriage was common only remaining 3. 5% were against of financial exchange.
Kashyap (2004) says Marriage in India is still a socioreligious institution that takes place between two families rather than two individuals. It is still arranged by parents and members and the kinship group with class and caste positions and religion as important considerations. However the youth in India now want to have a say in the choice of marriage partners, though they do not mind their arents arranging their marriage as long as they have a say in it.
In the present times, though patterns of partner selection vary in terms of extent of choice given to the young man or woman, family approval is essential for the marriage to actually take place. Among the urban educated youth, the traditional concept of marriage as a sacrament, a social obligation, and for the perpetuation of the lineage, is slowly being sidelined by the concept of marriage, for love, companionship and individual happiness.
Table: 5- Percentage distribution regarding changing Other Family Practices in urban areaTotal.
