What is the two components of conjugal family?

The three forms of family on the basis of structure and marriage are as follows: 1. Nuclear Family 2. Extended Family 3. Families Based on Descent, Inheritance and Residence.

Families throughout the world vary in many different ways. There are tremendous variations in family structures around the world. Variations in family structures include variations in accepted modes of mate selection (endogamy and exogamy), forms of marriage (monogamy, polygamy), rules of authority (patriarchal or matriarchal), rules of descent and inheritance (patrilineal or matrilineal and sometime bilateral), rules of residence (patrilocal, matrilocal or neolocal) as we find in modem society. We here explain the important forms of family based on structure and marriage.

1. Nuclear Family:

It is a unit generally composed of married couple (in the statuses of husband and wife) in the role of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ or ‘parent’ and their unmarried dependent children, either natural or adopted, living together. It is called nuclear as it serves as the core or nucleus upon which larger family groups are built. It is also sometimes referred to as ‘conjugal family’.

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Such type of family is relatively independent of the wider kinship network because the social emphasis is placed primarily on the marital relationships. William Goode (1959) observed that spouses in the nuclear family have to rely heavily on each other for the companionship and support that might be provided by other relatives in an extended (joint) family system.

The term ‘nuclear family’ is sometimes used for such families also which may and may not include husband and wife. They consist of any two or more persons related to one another by blood, marriage or adoption who share a common residence.

Thus, a brother and sister or a single parent and child would be nuclear families but not strictly speaking conjugal families. In conjugal family the emphasis is primarily on conjugal bound, i.e., marital relationship. In virtually all societies we can identify this type of family.

In most tradi­tional societies, including India, the nuclear family was part of a larger kinship network of some type. Anthropologist G.P. Murdock (1949) asserts that it is a ‘universal human grouping’. However, there are several categories of evidence against this position. Family units comprising step parents as a consequence of divorce or remarriage is known as ‘reconstituted family’. It is a form of nuclear family in which one or both parents have had children from a previous relationship.

2. Extended Family:

When nucleus of the conjugal family is extended by the addition of other closely related kin (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, brothers and their wives, cousins, sisters, etc.), it is called an extended family. Giddens (1997) writes: ‘When close relatives other than a married couple and their children live in the same household or in close and continuous relationship with one another, we speak of extended family.’

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As stated above, an extended family may include grandparents, brothers and their wives and children, sisters and their husbands, aunts and nephews. The term refers to a family system in which several generations live in one household. It consists of several related individual families by blood or marital ties.

In most traditional societies, the extended family is the norms which go beyond the nuclear family unit. But, the old structure of extended family is crumbling and fast changing every­where and in its place a modified extended family is gradually coming up.

The form of extended family differs from society to society. Indian joint family is also one of the forms of extended family. It is an extended form of consanguine family in which many blood relatives together with their mates and children reside. It is different from conjugal family which has a married couple as its core, surrounded by a fringe of blood relatives, whereas the consanguine family has a group of brothers and sisters at its core surrounded by a fringe of husbands and wives.

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Generally, it is defined as, when two or more lineal or collateral nuclear families live together in one household, it is called joint family (in reality, ‘joint families are an amalgam of what have otherwise been several families of origin and procreation’) (Majumdar 1956).

Families formed on the basis of marriage are of two types: monogamous family, in which one man marries one woman at a time, while polyg­amous family is formed by the concurrent marriage of one sex to two or more members of the opposite sex.

Polygamous family is of two types:

(a) polygynous family, in which a man may be married to more than one woman at the same time, and

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(b) polyandrous family in which a woman may have two or more husbands simultaneously. This type of family is much less common.

3. Families Based on Descent, Inheritance and Residence:

Norms of descent, inheritance, authority patterns and residence also decide the forms of family. The most common norm of descent is patrilineal. In this type of descent, lineage is traced through father’s kin: offspring owe a special allegiance and loyalty to father and his kin.

It indicates that only the father’s relatives are important in matters of property, inheritance and the estab­lishment of emotional ties. Conversely, in societies which favour matrilineal descent, the mother’s relatives assume the important role among offspring.

This pattern of descent is not common, but they do exist as we find in Khasi and Garo tribes of North-East India. When both sides of a person’s family are regarded important, this system is referred to as bilateral descent. In this system, kinship lines are traced equally through the biological relatives of both the mother and the father and inheritance is passed on in equal proportions to children regardless of sex.

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Now, the question arises: Who rules? Who has the power to make a decision? Societies vary the way the power within the family is distributed. Most societies are patriarchal, i.e., the men have the power and authority and are dominant. They dominate in all family decision-making.

Women hold low status in such societies. By contrast, in matriarchal societies, the authority rests with the females, especially wives and mothers. This system is rare and even in such societies male members are seen exercising power through female members.

The least common pattern of authority is the egalitarian model in which spouses are regarded as equals and decisions are equally taken by husband and wife. In modern times, the egalitarian family has begun to replace the patriarchal family as the social norm.

Norms of residence are very many. When a married couple chooses its own place of residence or decides to establish a separate household, it is known as neolocal family. This type of residence pattern seems to be linked most closely with norms of monogamy and individualism.

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In many societies, the bride and groom live either with groom’s parents (the patrilocal family) or with bride’s parents (the matrilocal family). In such cultures it is felt that the new couples need the emotional support and especially the economic support of kinsfolk. Usually it is seen that the young couple begin their married life not as an independent household (neolocal residence) but with parents of either spouse and later on after sometime they set up an independent household of their own.

Sociologists also distinguish families of orientation and families of procreation. The family (usually nuclear) in which one is born and reared is termed as family of orientation. This is the family in which the most basic early childhood socialization occurs.

Contrary to this, when a person marries, a new nuclear (or conjugal) family is formed, it is known as family of procreation. It is a family in which the person procreates after being married. This family consists of oneself and one’s spouse and children. Thus, a person becomes member of two different but overlapping nuclear families. Marriage is a dividing line between family of orientation and family of procreation in terms of the nature of roles one performs in two families.

What does a conjugal family consist of?

Which is known as the conjugal family or family of procreation?

Which of the following classification of the family is the conjugal family?

What is a conjugal relationship Why is it traditionally the basis of family?