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Functions of Family: Essential and Non-essential Functions of Family!
Essential Functions:
(i) Satisfaction of sex need:
This is the first essential function which the family performs. Manu, the Ancient Indian Law-giver, regarded sexual satisfaction as the aim of family. Vatsyayan also looked upon sexual satisfaction as the primary objective of the family. Satisfaction of sex instinct brings the desire for life-long partnership among male and female. The satisfaction of sex instinct makes for normal personality.
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If sex instinct is suppressed, it may produce personality maladjustments and disrupt social relations. According to Havelock “With failure of sexual harmony, the marriage structure rests on shifting sand.” The modern family satisfies this instinct in greater degree than the traditional family.
In the old family the sexual act was combined with reproduction and the fear of pregnancy as a result of intercourse prevented the couple to satisfy their sex urge. But in modern family the task of sexual satisfaction has been eased by the invention of contraceptives and other methods of birth control. The present wife is in a better position to satisfy sex instinct without any fear of conception.
It may be referred that while premarital or extramarital mating is permitted or tolerated in some societies, however, every society places some restrictions on such mating; though these restrictions may vary from culture to culture. No society is entirely promiscuous. It may also be noted that premarital mating is not uncommon in a society which by law as well as custom prohibits all sexual relations except those between husband and wife.
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Many societies regard the idea of virgin marriage as absurd. In such societies, premarital sex experience is viewed as a preparation for marriage, not as a recreational pastime. Its purpose is generally to determine fertility. Most of these societies have not merely allowed premarital sexual behaviour; they have institutionalized it.
(ii) Production and rearing of children:
The inevitable result of sexual satisfaction is procreation. The task of race perpetuation has always been an important function of the family. The Hindu scriptures hold that the religious activities of man cannot be consummated unless he has a son. They permit a second marriage if there is no issue from the first wife.
In the Hindu marriage the groom says to his bride that I accept you in order to obtain good progeny. Though child birth can occur outside the family, but nowhere is illegitimacy approved. Family is an institution par excellence for the production and rearing of children. Some countries, especially Soviet Russia after the Revolution practiced experiments in communal child rearing but they soon abandoned it.
The function of child rearing is better performed today than in the past because now more skill and knowledge are devoted to the care of the unborn and newborn child. The infant death rate has shown a marked decline. In the achievement of this result specialized agencies like nursing, child welfare centers have come to the aid of the family.
Looking at the data collected in the west it is seen that the number of illegitimate children is falling down, the practice of prostitution is vanishing away and the number of marriages is increasing which clearly shows that the function of procreation of race is only performed through family.
It is claimed that with the practice of birth control methods the function of child procreation is now being given up by modern families. A time may come when the very existence of society might be threatened. But this fear is vain because mankind soon learns to adapt itself to changing necessities.
(iii) Provision of a home:
Whatever else he needs, man needs intimate human response. The psychologists hold that probably the greatest single cause of emotional difficulties, behaviour problems is lack of love, that is, lack of a warm, affectionate relationship within a small circle of intimate associates. The family satisfies the need for affection by human beings. Most societies rely almost entirely upon the family for affectionate response.
Man after the hard toil of the day returns home where in the midst of his wife and children he sheds off his fatigue. Though in modern times there are hotels and clubs which also provide recreation to man but the joy that a man feels within the congenial circle of woman, parents and children stands far above the momentary pleasure which is provided by club and hotel. Inspite of these other agencies the home is still the heaven and sanctuary where its members find comfort and affection.
Non-essential Functions:
Economic:
The non-essential functions of a family are various and varied. Firstly, it serves as an economic unit. In the traditional family most of the goods for consumption were made at home. The members of the family were all engaged in the family industry. The ancient Hindu joint family served as a type of mutual insurance society.
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It was a unit of production and the centre of economic activities. Today the importance of family as an economic unit has been lessened as most of the goods for consumption including even the food are purchased ready made from the market. The members of the modern family do not work together as they did in the old family.
They are engaged in different activities outside the home. However the old pattern has not been destroyed, it has been merely changed. In the family one or the other profession is still carried on though of a different sort and in a different atmosphere. There is a clear division of labour between man and woman. The family members help in the economic adjustment of the family. Every family has its own economic capacity.
The members purchase property—movable and immovable for the family. Property is an important economic institution which is protected and maintained by the family. The use and transmission of this property is usually prescribed by rules of the society. The equal distribution of property is an important function of the family.
Religious:
The second non-essential function which the family performs is of a religious character. It is centre for the religious training of the children who learn from their parents various religious virtues. In the old family different religious practices like idol worship, yagya, religious discourses and sermons by pandits were carried on which made the outlook of the children religious. In the Hindu scriptures religious rituals are considered incomplete in the absence of wife. The modern family, however, does not observe religious practices and has become secular in outlook. Family prayers are obsolete.
Educational:
Another function performed in the family is the education of children. The family is an important educational agency. The child learns the first letters under the guidance of parents, though, today, he learns them in a kindergarten. The traditional family was the centre of vocational education because the children from the early childhood were associated with the family task. The modern family has delegated the task of vocational education to technical institutes and colleges.
Health:
Similarly the functions relating to health which were performed in the old family have now been transferred to hospitals and clinics. Formerly a sick man was cared for in the family, by his own kith and kin today he is admitted to a hospital and looked after by nurses. The child is born today not in the comforting fragrance of a home but in the maternity wards of a well equipped but loveless hospital. Instead of ‘The house where I was born’ the phrase ‘The hospital where I was born’ is more relevant to modern conditions.
Recreation:
The old family provided recreation to its members. They used to sing and dance together and visit the family relations. In modern family relation is individual rather than collective. The present forms of recreation such as bridge, tennis, carom, and movies, provide for only individual or couple participation. Moreover, recreation is now had in club or hotel rather than in home.
Civic:
Family is the school of civic virtues. The child learns the first lessons of citizenship in the family. The virtues of love, cooperation, toleration, sacrifice, obedience and discipline are first learnt by the child in the family. These qualities enable him to grow into a good citizen. That is why family has been called the cradle of civic virtues.
Social:
Family imparts the knowledge of social customs, mores etc. to the coming generation. It exercises social control over its members which helps in the maintenance of a well organised society. Family is an important agency of social control. It is also the custodian of culture and serves as “the natural and convenient channel of social continuity.