HAPTER 3 NDERSTANDING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS - NCERT

1 40 INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGYCHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONSIINTRODUCTIONThis book began with a discussionabout the interaction of the individualand society. We saw that each of us asindividuals, occupies a place orlocation in society. Each one of us hasa status and a role or roles, but theseare not simply what we as individualschoose. They are not like roles a filmactor may or may not opt to do. Thereare SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS that constrain andcontrol, punish and reward. They couldbe macro SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS like thestate or micro ones like the in this chapter we are introducedto SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS , and also to howsociology/ SOCIAL anthropology studiesthem. This chapter puts forth a verybrief idea of some of the central areaswhere important SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS arelocated namely: (i) family, marriage andkinship; (ii) politics; (iii) economics;(iv) religion; and (v) the broadest sense, aninstitution is something that worksaccording to rules established or atleast acknowledged by law or bycustom.

2 And whose regular andcontinuous operation cannot beunderstood without taking those rulesinto account. INSTITUTIONS imposeconstraints on individuals. They alsoprovide him/her with institution can also be viewed asan end in itself. Indeed people haveviewed family, religion, state or eveneducation as an end in have already seen that thereare conflicting and differentunderstandings of concepts withinsociology. We have also been introducedto the functionalist and conflictperspective, and seen how differentlythey saw the same thing, for instance,stratification or SOCIAL control. Notsurprisingly, therefore, there aredifferent forms of understanding ofsocial INSTITUTIONS as 1 Think of examples of how peoplesacrifice for family, for religion or forthe 41 UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONSA functionalist view understandssocial INSTITUTIONS as a complex set ofsocial norms, beliefs, values and rolerelationship that arise in response tothe needs of society.

3 SOCIAL institutionsexist to satisfy SOCIAL needs. Accordinglywe find informal and formal socialinstitutions in societies. Institutionssuch as family and religion areexamples of informal SOCIAL institutionswhile law and (formal) education areformal SOCIAL conflict view holds that allindividuals are not placed equally insociety. All SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS whetherfamilial, religious, political, economic,legal or educational will operate in theinterest of the dominant sections ofsociety be it class, caste, tribe or dominant SOCIAL section not onlydominates political and economicinstitutions but also ensures that theruling class ideas become the rulingideas of a society. This is very differentfrom the idea that there are generalneeds of a you go about reading thischapter, see whether you can thinkof examples to show how socialinstitutions constrain and also offeropportunities to individuals.

4 Noticewhether they impact different sectionsof society unequally. For instance, wecould ask, How does the familyconstrain as well provide opportunitiesto men and women? Or How dopolitical or legal INSTITUTIONS affect theprivileged and dispossessed? IIFAMILY, MARRIAGE AND KINSHIPP erhaps no other SOCIAL entity appearsmore natural than the family. Often weare prone to assume that all families arelike the ones we live in. No other socialinstitution appears more universal andunchanging. Sociology and socialanthropology have over many decades,conducted field research acrosscultures to show how the institutionsof family, marriage and kinship areimportant in all societies and yet theircharacter is different in differentsocieties. They have also shown how thefamily (the private sphere) is linked toeconomic, political, cultural andeducational (the public) spheres.

5 Thismay remind you of why there is a needto share and borrow from differentdisciplines, which we have discussed inChapter to the functionalists thefamily performs important tasks, whichcontribute to society s basic needs andhelps perpetuate SOCIAL order. Thefunctionalist perspective argues thatmodern industrial societies functionbest if women look after the family andmen earn the family livelihood. In Indiastudies however suggest that familiesneed not become nuclear in anindustrial pattern of economy (Singh1993: 83). This is but one example toshow how trends based on experiencesof one society cannot necessarily nuclear family is seen as theunit best equipped to handle thedemands of industrial society by the2015-16 42 INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGY functionalists. In such a family oneadult can work outside home while thesecond adult cares for the home andchildren.

6 In practical terms, thisspecialisation of roles within thenuclear family involves the husbandadopting the instrumental role asbreadwinner, and the wife assumingthe affective , emotional role in domesticsettings (Giddens 2001). This vision isquestionable not just because it isgender unjust but because empiricalstudies across cultures and historyshow that it is untrue. Indeed, as youwill see in the discussion on work andeconomy how in contemporaryindustries like the garment export,women form a large part of the labourforce. Such a separation also suggeststhat men are necessarily the heads ofhouseholds. This is not necessarily trueas the box which is given below in Family FormsA central debate in India has beenabout the shift from nuclear family tojoint families. We have already seen howsociology questions common senseimpressions.

7 The fact is that nuclearfamilies have always existed in Indiaparticularly among deprived castes sociologist Shah remarksthat in post-independent India the jointfamily has steadily increased. Thecontributing factor is the increasing lifeexpectancy in India according to him. Ithas increased from yearsfor men and from years forwomen during the period 1941 50to 1981- 85. Consequently, theproportion of aged people (60 years andabove) in the total population hasincreased. We have to ask writes Shah: in what kind of household do theseelderly people live? I submit, mostof them live in joint household (Shah 1998).This again is a broad in the spirit of the sociologicalperspective, it cautions us againstblindly believing a common senseimpression that the joint family is fasteroding. And alerts us to the need forcareful comparative and have shown how diversefamily forms are found in differentFemale headed householdsWhen men migrate to urban areas, women have to plough and manage theagricultural fields.

8 Many a time they become the sole providers of their households are known as female headed households. Widowhood toomight create such familial arrangement. Or it may happen when men getremarried and stop sending remittance to their wives, children and otherdependents. In such a situation, women have to ensure the maintenance of thefamily. Among the Kolams, a tribal community in south-eastern Maharashtraand northern Andhra Pradesh, a female headed household is an accepted 43 UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS societies. With regard to the rule ofresidence, some societies are matrilocalin their marriage and family customswhile others are patrilocal. In the firstcase, the newly married couple stayswith the woman s parents, whereas inthe second case the couple lives withthe man s parents. A patriarchal familystructure exists where the menexercise authority and dominance, andmatriarchy where the women play amajor role in decision-making in thefamily.

9 While matrilineal societies exist,the same cannot be claimed aboutmatriarchal are Linked to other SocialSpheres and Families ChangeOften in our everyday life we look atthe family as distinct and separate fromother spheres such as the economic orpolitical. However, as you will see foryourself the family, the household, itsstructure and norms are closely linkedto the rest of society. An interestingexample is that of the unintendedconsequences of the German uni-fication. During the post-unificationperiod in the 1990s Germanywitnessed a rapid decline in marriageNotice how families and residences are differentWork and Home2015-16 44 INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGY because the new German statewithdrew all the protection and welfareschemes which were provided to thefamilies prior to the unification. Withgrowing sense of economic insecuritypeople responded by refusing to can also be understood as acase of unintended consequence(Chapter 1).

10 Family and kinship are thussubject to change and transformationdue to macro economic processes butthe direction of change need not alwaysbe similar for all countries and , change does not mean thecomplete erosion of previous norms andstructure. Change and gendered is the family?The belief is that the male child willsupport the parents in the old age andthe female child will leave on marriageresults in families investing more in amale child. Despite the biological factthat a female baby has better chancesof survival than a male baby the rate ofinfant mortality among female childrenis higher in comparison to malechildren in lower age group in Institution of MarriageHistorically marriage has been foundto exist in a wide variety of forms inSex Ratio in India between 1901-2001 YearSex Ratio YearSex Ratio1901 972 19519461911 964 19619411921 955 19719301931 950 19819341941 945 19919262001(927)** In 2001 the sex ratio of girls in 0-6 group was enumerated as 927 Activity 2A Telegu expression states: Bringing up a daughter is likewatering a plant in another scourtyard.