5414A Sociological Study Of The Emerging Changes In The Long-Age Joint Family System In India

Abstract

Family is the greatest and most effective agency of socialization of the individual. It is only through the family that the children are brought closer to the various types of socio-cultural and family values that result into the personality development, socio-cultural awareness and successful community life. India is the home of the joint family system and it has been enjoying a successful existence since times immemorial. A joint family is constituted by the physical presence and living together of the members of the three generations. A socially approved family system, the joint family system in India has always provided a healthy socio-cultural and religious environment to the people that helped them live in perfect harmony with one another. On the contrary, a nuclear family is constituted by the husband and the wife, and their children. With the introduction of the family planning system and other population-density issues, the magnitude of the families is becoming less and less to the extent that the various types of kinsmen that would once play a dominant role in the regulation of the family system and in keeping the family members disciplined have started being extinct horribly. The joint family system is confined now with its changed patterns only to the Indian villages. Once a set of family members with a rigid hierarchy of status and role, the modern joint family system has set aside the interference of others in the family. The worst thing has been caused by the social media and the use of smart phones that have limited even the members of the joint family to a world which is all full of illusion and which is far from reality. At present, the joint family system of India is passing through hard times and witnesses such changes in several fields as cannot be said to be good for it. The research paper, designed on the use of the personal observations of the emerging changes in the Indian family system, particularly in the joint family system as well as on the secondary data collected from the reliable sources, is a piece of qualitative descriptive research. The findings of the reveal that the joint family system in India is going away from its root-values and is suffering from the several horrible changes that might prove a curse to the family system. The study suggests to develop a strong faith in the joint family system and in the revival of the joint family values for the sake of the real enjoyment of life in terms of happiness, personality development and community life and discipline.