State four reasons why the number of family members may change.
Answers
In human society, family (from Latin: familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of families is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideally, families would offer predictability, structure, and safety as members mature and participate in the community. In most societies, it is within families that children acquire socialization for life outside the family, and acts as the primary source of attachment, nurturing, and socialization for humans. Additionally, as the basic unit for meeting the basic needs of its members, it provides a sense of boundaries for performing tasks in a safe environment, ideally builds a person into a functional adult, transmits culture, and ensures continuity of humankind with precedents of knowledge.
Anthropologists generally classify most family organizations as matrifocal (a mother and her children); patrifocal (a father and his children); conjugal (a wife, her husband, and children, also called the nuclear family); avuncular (for example, a grandparent, a brother, his sister, and her children); or extended (parents and children co-reside with other members of one parent's family).
Members of the immediate family may include spouses, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. Members of the extended family may include aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, and siblings-in-law. Sometimes these are also considered members of the immediate family, depending on an individual's specific relationship with them, and the legal definition of "immediate family" varies. Sexual relations with family members are regulated by rules concerning incest such as the incest taboo.
Answer:
Explanation:
Whenever any change takes place, it leaves an impact on other aspects of society as well. And then these become reasons for bringing about change in the family type also. These reasons may be Economic, Social, Political or Philosophical.
Economic Reasons
(a) Industrialization:
The industrial revolution brought about many changes in all types of families. Earlier the family was in real sense a virtuality self-sufficient economic unit. But as a result of industrialization, what was produced in home is now being produced in factories. Thus, the families have changed from producer-consumer entity to only a consumer unit.
(b) Material standard of living:
Previously, man used to think more on spiritual and religious lines and lived a simple and contended life. The attitude and outlook has become more materialistic and the standard of living is gradually becoming more and more materialistic and the things which were considered luxury at one time; have now become a necessity for day-to-day living. To fulfill his materialistic or worldly desires, man marries late and plans less children. He may marry for dowry or do overtime to earn more money to achieve all this.
(c) Economic independence of women:
It all started with industrial revolution. Most household chores became easier and were quickly accomplished through mechanization or were done by outside agencies. Also the girls started getting higher education. As a result of both of these factors, women started going out of house to earn money and became economically independent. This change of economic independence also brought about many changes in the outlook, attitude and form of the family as a unit of society.
Social Reasons
(a) Urbanisation:
The rural families used to be joint, having a common occupation. As they moved to cities their structure had to change because they now have no common occupation but they are compelled to adopt separate occupations for a living and also could not find cheap big houses in cities for all the members of a joint family to live in. This made them to disintegrate into nuclear families with separate status.
(b) Mobility of population:
In order to maintain a good standard of living, people prefer to move to a new place where they get a better and more paying job. This results into mobility of families as well as society.
(c) Education of women:
With the education of girls, their average age of marrying increased. With increased awareness and better personality, they started choosing their life partners. With their education and increased independence, they have a definite and effective say in family matters. Less number of children and increased rate of divorces are also an outcome of independent thinking and attitude of girls.
(d) New direction of recreation:
Most of recreation today is sought outside from agencies like movies, clubs, bars, discos, video houses, etc. For this reason, members of family usually prefer to enjoy outside and devote less time for family members.
Political Reasons
(a) Change in Authority:
In old days father or head of family had a lot of power towards well being of the family, but in modern family the father has much less influence. Now the state has taken over some of the responsibilities of a family like education, health, etc.
(b) Women’s rights:
Now the women have a right to vote on the political front whereas previously they did not have a say even in their own homes. The woman now has a right to inherit father’s property by law besides a right to go to court against any crime against them. These reforms have strengthened the status of women in family, resulting in drastic changes in family patterns.
Philosophical Reasons
(a) In olden times, marriages in our society were thought to be fixed in heaven. One (especially woman) had to adjust with whatever life partner they got in the arrangement made by their elders. Marriage was thought to be a religious binding, releasing the partners from bondage only after death. But today, the attitude and outlook has changed wherein the marriage is considered to be a contract which if and when unsuitable, may be broken by either of the partner.
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