The present era is flooded with anxiety and anticipation. Everyday there is news is flooded with stories of inhuman , immoral and criminal henious acts. The remarkable rise in the negation is an reflection of the disturbed and distracted social system , resulting in incidences like Nirbhaya , Aarushi suicide , Murder , Molestation& notorious Scandals & scams. The respect and culture for family values and system is the crux and foundation of healthy society. Family is the basic and universal social structure of human society. It fulfils needs and performs functions, which are indispensable for the continuity, integration and change in the social system. The forms and functions of family have undergone adaptive changes in the technological and economic superstructure of present society. The family may be broadly perceived as a unit of two or more persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, adoption or consensual unions. It is considered the basic unit of the society, to meet the needs of individuals and those of other societal institutions. It determines the development of individuals, in that; it is a major source of nurturance, emotional bonding and socialization. In contemporary urban society, families present a peculiar combination of traditional and modern values. The new identities and changing value patterns also affect the attitude of the individual members of the family.
Family Structure & Psycho-Social system-
Family structure is conceptualized as the configuration of role, power and status, and relationships in the family .In India thestructure of family can be seen broadly as of three types. The traditional family is the one living jointly and inclusive of members from different generations. The extended family is one, where married sons and brothers live separately, but they continue to have joint property and share income. The nuclear type of family is the one, in which the group consists of a male, his wife and their children.
In nuclear families the concept is ‘me my wife and my children’ with no place for others is alarming. This disappearance of emotional ethos has affected the socio-psychological environment of the individuals. A person feels alienation . The 0community has disappeared. Modern progress brings individualistic way of thinking; this cause increasing frustration and low tolerance level among the younger generation. These are some common features seen in contemporary urban society in India. There is a gradual change in the family structure of urban India towards a nuclear pattern in which, it can be assumed, that the conjugal pair is the critical unit. The Indian joint family is changing rather than breaking down In other words, under the same canopy many units co-exist . Modernization implies some typical forms of changes in the social structure of societies.
These changes in the system of social relationships contribute to the growth andinstitutionalization of new roles and group structures based on concomitant norms of 0modernization. This process cumulatively leads to structural modernization of society. These processes offer us an example of what is meant by structural changes in society. It implies changes in a whole system of social relationships. Traditional joint family not only function as an agency of procreation and socialization of new members for the society, but also performs duties in other spheres such as occupation, education, leisure and recreation, etc; which have now been taken over by specialized agencies. Structural changes involve similar role differentiations in almost all aspects of social life. Growth in science and technology adds impetus to process and finally accelerates the momentum of change. Change cease to be exceptional phenomena, as in the traditional societies, it becomes a day-to- day fact of life to live with it is not merely tolerated, it is glorified. Under these circumstances there is often a log between cultural and social structural forms of modernizing in these societies. Social scientists also agree that values are very important and serve as guiding principles in people’s lives.
Valuing the Values-
Since,family is base of socialization process and parents are the first teacher’s, it can be said that the values are transferred through verbal or non-verbal interaction and thus the relations is very significant one. Children behave according to their parents. Its truly said that, ‘Don’t worry that child is not listening to you, worry that he is observing you’.
Values are important for understanding various social-psychological phenomenon.There is a clear link between values and behaviour, it is observed that operative values are close to social norms and that the desirable ideal and important values one perhaps the ‘cherished’ values and may have universal structure. Values are a motivational construct that represent broad goals which apply across context and time. relationships, and institutions. However, the latter are subject to change and adjustment while values have a relative permanence and universality. Values are believed to be important for social equilibrium and mantainance of the system. Values play crucial role in determining human behaviour and social relationships as well as maintaining and regulating social structure and interactions on the one hand and giving them cohesion and stability on the other.
Differences in family pattern may bring about differences in social values and
ideologies. In traditional societies like India, the spiritual values as embodied in its religion and philosophy can claim to be the primary and original source of all derived social values. In the Indian] situation, these seem to have been accompanied by social change processes such as urbanization and industrialization.
The nuclear family structure is assumed to favor sharing of roles rather than a
hierarchical structuring of roles, liberal rather than conservative attitudes, role diffusion an overall egalitarian outlook rather than a traditional out look.
It has been seen that social values are drastically affected by urban influence andsubsequent assimilation of western ideas due to the effect of modernization. Traditional values have declined considerably. Even the teaching of civic virtues of love, co-operation, obedience, tolerance, discipline and renouncement, which a child used to learn at home in a joint family and which enabled the child to grow up as good citizen, has been taken over by other social institutions.
It may be stated that values and ideals maintain and regulate the visible social
structures and interactions on the one hand, and impact cohesion and stability to them on the other. Values are believed to be important for social equilibrium and maintenance of the system. Religious and social values were, therefore, seen asdetrimental to the stability of the social structure. All the human functions are governed by the individual & collective values.
Conclusion
Indian families demonstrate firm ties of affection, strikingly different from many Western families. The extended family traditionally provides shelter and support for the elderly, the disabled and the less well off. Children are expected to repay the debt owed to their parents by supporting them in their retirement and old age. An important aspect of Indians family life is the inter-dependence between members. Marriage itself is a broad social and religious obligation, rather than just a relationship between partners. The extended family provides considerable practical and emotional support, as for example when children are born. One advantage is that marriage stability is not inordinately reliant on the state of the couple’s emotional ties.
Despite these possible benefits, social trends indicate that the extended family is becoming less popular, especially outside India.Young couples often value the freedom that the nuclear family off values. Television , Social Media Press & Entertainment is becoming more popular than worship, and is certainly strongly influencing family values.Family values definition consists of ideas passed down from generation to generation. It boils down to the philosophy of how you want to live your family lifeThree traditional basic tasks in life have been described as work, play and love. There are many activities that fall under these categories that define our values. All of them are important and it takes work to balance these tasks. However, we often get caught up in work and other activities and neglect play and love. Often times we work hard because we are invested in our career goals, material things and financial rewards. Yet without a balanced life of incorporating play and having loving relationships, our lives become stressful, overwhelming and unsatisfying as we have seen in disastrous lifestyle and suicide cases of many Rich & Famous celebraties.
Due to the western impact over contemporary Indian social system, tremendous changes affected every walk of life. These changes have influenced the society not only overtly but also have provided alternatives to the existing values and ideas towards the different aspect of society and human behavior. But on the other hand, it is also equally true that Indian traditions are so deeply rooted that these alternatives have not been succeeded in total transformation of the society.
… By Dr.VikramsinghPachlore
{Authorisaneminent Behavioural Scientist,Neuro Analyst,Psychologist,
Socio Political Thinker,Educationist,Psephologist,Scribe&Human Capital Coach}
