THE
ECONOMIC
WEEKLY
December 9, 1961
The Joint Family: A Case Study
Savitri Shahani
There has been no systematic research into the structure of the family in the field whether in rural
or urban areas, and the most serious writers on the subject hare relied on general observations.
The present study is un attempt at a depth analysis of the family although the data on which it is
based is not entirely adequate for the purpose, representing as it does a very small part of an urban community,
and being based entirely on the results of a questionnaire survey.
However, by using some of the concepts and methods of social anthropology, this data can be interpreted to give an indication of the dynamics of the joint family.
MUCH has been said
and
written
about the H i n d u j o i n t f a m i l y .
Sociologists,
social
philosophers,
and social
reformers
have been
greatly exercised over the break-up
of the j o i n t f a m i l y and even p o l i t i cal parties have taken it up as a
slogan.
T h e general feeling is that
modern
life
w i t h its
increasing
u r b a n i s a t i o n and the recent legal
reforms make the d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of
the j o i n t f a m i l y inevitable.
Occasionally statistics are shown to prove
the p o i n t ,
for
almost
invariably
both joint
and nuclear
types are
f o u n d in any factual study of the
family.
A n d the incidence of nuclear f a m i l i e s is taken as p r o o f that
the j o i n t f a m i l y is b r e a k i n g up.
The t r a d i t i o n a l assumption b e h i n d
such
a deduction
is
that
every
H i n d u f a m i l y is n o r m a l l y a
joint
family.
Such
an
a s s u m p t i o n has
been encouraged by the study of
H i n d u law and scriptures where the
n o r m a t i v e H i n d u f a m i l y is always
joint.
Rut they deal only w i t h a
n o r m a n d not the r e a l i t y .
B o t h the
Dayabhaga
and
the
Mitakshara
w i t h its several regional f o r m s provide in detail
for the r i g h t - and
duties of the various members of the
joint
family.
The
nuclear
units
that c o n s t i t u t e the j o i n t f a m i l y are
recognised
in the rules laid d o w n
for the
p a r t i t i o n i n g of
property.
but this unit must again grow to
the
normative
type
of the
joint
family.
I n a n article o n the j o i n t f a m i l y
in The Economic Weekly of F e b r u a r y
20, 1960 F G Bailey "says that the
f a m i l y can be
studied at three
levels.
F i r s t , a static analysis of
the s t r u c t u r a l f o r m can be made.
Each f a m i l y goes t h r o u g h a cycle
of development; p r o v i d i n g a repetitive e q u i l i b r i u m f o r the i n s t i t u t i o n .
T h i s is the f a m i l y in its d y n a m i c
aspect.
A t h i r d level of study is
possible where such conditions arise
that the d y n a m i c process does not
repeat
itself
but
shows
definite
changes w h i c h w i l l lead to changes
in the very s t r u c t u r e of the f a m i l y .
This k i n d of analysis introduces the
time factor i n t o the study of structure.
A n o t h e r w r i t e r on the f a m i l y ,
H a y m o n d Smithy ( " N e g r o F a m i l y i n
B r i t i s h G u i a n a ; ' L o n d o n 1956) applied the concept of a developmental cycle to his data a n d f o u n d t h a t
the two
types of
families
which
appeared in his figures were actually
stages
in
the n o r m a l
family
cycle.
As his study was l i m i t e d to
a period
of some months
and he
could not rely on the memories of
i l l i t e r a t e villagers to t e l l h i m exactlv w h o had been the members of
the f a m i l y at various times in the
past, he
resorted to the ingenious
method of
a r r a n g i n g the
families
according to the age of the head of
the household. T h i s method w i l l be
a p p l i e d to the present data.
The Data
The figures on w h i c h the present
discussion is based were collected
as part of a questionnaire survey
covering the two final year classes in
the h i g h schools of Baroda.
Students w i r e asked how many of the
f o l l o w i n g k i n lived in their househ o l d — f a t h e r ' s father,
f a t h e r ' s mother, father, mother,
father's brothers, their wives,
their
children.
brothers, brothers" wives, brothers"
children, sisters, sisters" c h i l d r e n ,
any others'. F r o m their answers, two
m a i n types of f a m i l i e s c o u l d be discerned
the j o i n t f a m i l y and
the
nuclear f a m i l y .
If
there were any
k i n , whether
by blood or by marriage,
other
than
the s t u d e n t s
parents and s i b l i n g s , so long as
these were not the mother's relatives or a
widowed sister
w i t h her
c h i l d r e n , the f a m i l y was regarded
as j o i n t .
1823
The
joint
f a m i l y took
many
forms.
T a k i n g the student as our
perspective, there were two types of
j o i n t families.
One was j o i n t in the
father's generation, that is, the add i t i o n a l members were the father's
parents, his
brothers, and
their
wives and c h i l d r e n , or any one of
these.
The other type was j o i n t in
the student's own
generation and
consisted i n v a r i a b l y of his m a r r i e d
brothers one of w h o m may even be
the head of the f a m i l y if the father
is dead.
The first type
of joint
f a m i l y shows a m u c h greater variety
of f o r m s , as we shall see later, because it has a greater tendency to
split and is very often an incomplete
joint
family.
Sometimes SUCh a
family
continues to share
in the
common property
of the
original
joint f a m i l y .
Sometimes, the property has been d i v i d e d but some
members of the joint f a m i l y continue to live
together.
The classic
type of j o i n t f a m i l y is also to be
f o u n d w i t h all the father's brothers,
m a r r i e d and u n m a r r i e d , l i v i n g together,
w i t h the grandparents if
they are alive, and the property
u n d i v i d e d . The j o i n t f a m i l y consisti n g of the student's m a r r i e d brothers
is almost always self-contained in
the matter of property h a v i n g no
share in some other p r o p e r t y nor
d i v i d i n g its o w n ,
Limited Sample
The sample is a d m i t t e d l y a l i m i t ed one.
It is not claimed here that
the f o l l o w i n g analysis applies to the
general
p o p u l a t i o n of Baroda.
It
does no! even properly apply to the
three m a j o r castes that
make up
about
three-fourths of the
high
school student p o p u l a t i o n of Baroda, as the sample excludes the
possibly considerable number of less
educated
families in these castes.
As these castes are, however. known
to be the most advanced education-
December 9, 1961
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
December 9, 1961
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ECONOMIC
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ECONOMIC
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a l l y , the present sample m a y be
taken as i n d i c a t i v e if not t y p i c a l of
the entire caste c o m m u n i t y . The
several m i n o r castes w h i c h make up
the remainder of the student popul a t i o n are here excluded f r o m the
analysis because they are obviously
not t y p i c a l and even unusual f o r
their respective communities.
A caution may here be sounded
that in l o o k i n g at the f a m i l y as a
d y n a m i c i n s t i t u t i o n , it must be remembered that the cycle may not be
repetitive, and that some at least of
the families may be undergoing
s t r u c t u r a l and not cyclical changes.
Correlations w i t h other social concomitants,
such as
occupational
changes, education and so on would
make possible an assessment of how
much of the cyclical process is
actually social change, but this lies
beyond the scope of a b r i e f paper
and the data w i l l be regarded as
g i v i n g a simple cycle of development.
Heads of Families
In the f o l l o w i n g figures fathers
include also father's brothers where
these are mentioned as guardians of
the student. Mothers, and
other
r e l a t i v e ^ if they are the guardians,
are excluded. Table 1 combines data
for the three castes in the sample,
the Brahmins, the Banias and the
Patidars.
Most of the heads of households
of 35 years and less are brothers of
the students.
These brothers are
most of them m a r r i e d , heading a
household
consisting of all the
brothers.
In some cases the brothers are l i v i n g w i t h some other
relatives in a j o i n t f a m i l y arrangement, w h i l e some are not m a r r i e d
and head a nuclear f a m i l y . It may
be assumed t h a t a brother is regarded as head of the household only
when the father is dead. Of the
fathers who belong to
this age
group very few head a nuclear
f a m i l y , more o f them residing w i t h
their relatives.
December 9, 1 9 6 1
are staying w i t h them. Nuclear
families also predominate in the 41
to 45 age group and in the 46 to 50
age group. They d i m i n i s h appreciably in the 51 to 55 age group, and
in the oldest category of 50 years
and above, are replaced in i m p o r t ance by famines where the father is
l i v i n g w i t h his m a r r i e d sons.
The Picture That Emerges
Families
j o i n t in the father's
generation are most common in the
41 to 45 age group and secondarily
in the 36 to 40 age group. In the
older groups they show a steady
decrease in numbers as the age of
the head increases. At the same
t i m e , the number of heads of f a m i lies who live w i t h their m a r r i e d
sons shows a slight
increase w i t h
the age of the head, f r o m this we
may deduce that a man w i t h young
sons of his own is quite likely to
he l i v i n g w i t h his own parents and
brothers. But where the sons are
grown-up and m a r r i e d he is less
likely to be l i v i n g with any of his
k i n . The separation f r o m his own
f a m i l y is finally made when his own
sons marry and a new j o i n t f a m i l y
comes into being. There are very
few instances in the present mater i a l of a f a m i l y where the m a r r i e d
brothers of the head as well as his
married
sons live
together, and
most of these are to be found among
the agricultural Patidars.
The
picture of the f a m i l y that
emerges from Table 1 is that
of a young man, married and
caring for his younger brothers il
the father is dead, and occasionally.
l i v i n g w i t h his father's relatives. As
In the next age group of 36 to
40 years, there is an almost total
absence of brothers as heads. As
nuclear families predominate in this
group, it may be concluded that at
this age a m a n is most l i k e l y to head
his o w n nuclear f a m i l y , though a
f a i r number of these fathers l i v e w i t h
t h e i r parents or brothers or both.
O n l y t w o of these relatively young
fathers have m a r r i e d sons and these
1825
he grows older, he separates to f o r m
a new f a m i l y w i t h his wife and
children. These children, grow up
and m a r r y and the sons go on living w i t h h i m constituting a j o i n t
f a m i l y . Sometimes these sons separate after a few years, and sometimes they continue to live w i t h the
parents u n t i l their o w n children get
married when they again separate.
The likelihood its that they separate
before the c h i l d r e n are actually
married.
The number of
nuclear families
is large: over one half of the total
number. It is possible that some of
these are not merely a stage in the
development of the j o i n t f a m i l y but
are
self-perpetuating. They never
develop into a j o i n t f a m i l y . On the
other hand, as the number of j o i n t
families is not inconsiderable, it is
likely
that most families pass
through a stage of jointness though
thin may be only
atrophied
and
never developing to the full form
of the j o i n t family.
lncidence of the Two Types
Simple statistics show a variation
in the incidence of the two types
of families in the different castes.
Thus Patidars h a w the most j o i n t
families and Banias the least. The
cycle of development is also likely
to vary. We first consider
the
Brahmins (Table 2 ) .
Well over a half of the Brahmin
families
are
nuclear. Some
of
these may be
perpetual
nuclear
families. The developmental pattern, as shown in the figures fur
j o i n t families, is similar to the
general pattern. The tendency to
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live
w i t h his relatives
diminishes
after the f a t h e r reaches the age of
45.
Even before
his c h i l d r e n are
old enough to m a r r y , he separates
to f o r m a nuclear
f a m i l y , and in
the 46 to 50 age g r o u p , there an
h a r d l y any
j o i n t families al all.
w h i l e the incidence of nuclear f a m i lies is q u i t e h i g h .
A f t e r the age of
50 a g a i n , the head is l i v i n g w i t h his
married
sons, a l t h o u g h some of
these
o l d e r families are
nuclear,
which
w o u l d mean that
married
sons have separated.
The p a t t e r n f o r the Manias is
rather
different.
There are more
nuclear f a m i l i e s than in the case of
the B r a h m i n s .
The
percentage of
nuclear f a m i l i e s among the B r a h m i n s
is 56.5 whereas f o r the Manias it
is 62.7. ( T a b l e 3)
N o t only are there more n u c l e a r
families among the Manias but also
they definitely occur more
often
among
the
younger age
groups.
Very few of the younger fathers
are
living
with
their
relatives.
In
accordance
with
the
general
pattern
the
number
living
with
relatives
further
diminishes
as
the
age
of
the head
increase's.
Also, relatively fewer of the
older
families develop i n t o a j o i n t f a m i l y
where the grown sons are now married and still l i v i n g w i t h the f a m i l y .
In no age g r o u p does the number of
j o i n t families exceed the number of
nuclear families.
T h i s w o u l d point
to a s i t u a t i o n of social change, for
the Manias are a h i g h H i n d u caste
and t h e i r
extensive t r a d i n g a c t i v i ties in the past have been conducive
to the m a i n t a i n i n g of a j o i n t f a m i l y .
In the same survey, it was f o u n d
that
the
Bania students in the
sample came f r o m a r a p i d l y changing sector of the caste and that they
were g i v i n g up trade in f a v o u r of
jobs — a process
that
required
education of some sort or other. In
the case of the Bania caste we seem
to have a rather special
situation
and the above f i n d i n g s may apply
only to a section of the Manias and
not to alb
But the change is a
clear one.
The
Patidars,
traditionally
a
r u r a l a n d an a g r i c u l t u r a l caste unlike the others, and the students of
w h i c h caste are d e r i v e d f r o m r u r a l
agricultural
families to a considerable extent, have a large number of
joint families.
O n l y 34.7 of Patidar f a m i l i e s are nuclear. We
may
expect to f i n d the j o i n t f a m i l y in a
more crystallised f o r m in this caste
because of its continued a g r i c u l t u r a l
m o o r i n g s . (Table 1.)
There is little v a r i a t i o n by age. in
the Patidar nuclear families, unlike
in the Bania ones. The variations in
the joint families follow the pattern
of the total sample.
The younger
the g u a r d i a n the more l i k e l y it is
that he is head of a household consisting of his brothels.
A f t e r the
age of 36. upto 45, he is found living w i t h his relatives, and f r o m 11
onwards, he may be l i v i n g w i t h
m a r r i e d sons.
As the age of the
head
increases, he lives less and
less w i t h his relatives and more and
more his f a m i l y expands to include
m a r r i e d sons except for an inexplicable d r o p in the age group of
51 to 55 years.
Among" the Banias and the Patidars, there is a f a i r number of
families where the brother is head
u n l i k e the B r a h m i n s where this type
of f a m i l y is relatively absent.
The Individual Forms
We w i l l now go on to consider
the i n d i v i d u a l
f o r m s of the j o i n t
family.
The f a m i l y that is j o i n t in
the student's generation has a consistent structure of the faher and his
m a r r i e d sons l i v i n g together.
The
only variant of this arises when the
father is dead and one of the brothers becomes the
head.
Families
j o i n t in the father's generation, however, show a much greater variety in
their c o m p o s i t i o n .
The number of
these families is not large, but a
study of their
structure w i l l give
some
idea
of
caste
variations.
Because the data is f a i r l y consistent
for each caste it
may be taken
tentatively as
the general p a t t e r n
for each caste.
O f the t h i r t y B r a h m i n j o i n t f a m i lies, twelve are j o i n t in the father's
generation.
Six of these, have one
or other or both the paternal grandparents only and two have an unm a r r i e d father's brother only.
Of
the remaining four, one has the
head's father and his m a r r i e d sons
and three have the father's m a r r i e d
brothers as well as his father or
both parents. These f o u r alone may
be clashed as real j o i n t families. The
inclusion of an aged g r a n d p a r e n t or
of an u n m a r r i e d uncle is
actually
like g i v i n g shelter to a social dependent
and not real
jointness.
These may be considered as incomplete or a t r o p h i e d j o i n t families.
The
Banias
have the
greatest
deviation f r o m the t r a d i t i o n a l f a m i l y
pattern in terms of numbers.
But
they show a better development of
the joint f a m i l y than the B r a h m i n s .
Of the
thirty-eight j o i n t families.
only
fourteen are
joint in
the
father's generation.
But none of
these is the atrophied type found
among the Brahmins, consisting of
an u n m a r r i e d uncle.
Nor is there
the residual type that we find among
Patidars where the p a r t i t i o n i n g of
p r o p e r t y is followed by a breakup
into smaller units- that may 'not be
nuclear. We have data on the internal structure of eleven of these
f a m i l i e s . Three of these families, include m a r r i e d father's brothers only.
Three include
grandparents only.
Four have both.
One f a m i l y consists of both married uncles and
m a r r i e d brothers.
Of these eleven
familes
therefore, only the three
w i t h grandparents may be considered as incomplete. The others show
a high
degree of jointness.
They
are better developed than B r a h m i n
families in terms of jointness.
THE
December 9, 1961
Role of Property
The j o i n t f a m i l y shows the greatest development among the Patidars
b o t h in terms of numbers and the
structure
of individual
families.
Property
especially p l a y s a
very
clear role.
There are
fifty-seven
j o i n t f a m i l i e s o f w h i c h twenty-six
are j o i n t in the father's generation.
O f the
t w e n t y - f o u r families f o r
w h i c h data is available,
seventeen
are bound
together by
common
p r o p e r t y and seven have d i v i d e d the
p r o p e r t y but some of the o r i g i n a l
members of the j o i n t f a m i l y are s t i l l
l i v i n g together and may be called
'residual j o i n t f a m i l y . '
Where the p r o p e r t y has not been
d i v i d e d , there is a m a r k e d tendency
f o r the j o i n t f a m i l y to hold together.
Thus in eleven of the seventeen
f a m i l i e s the f a t h e r s m a r r i e d brothers are l i v i n g together and nine
of these have in a d d i t i o n one or other
or b o t h the grandparents.
F o u r of
these three-generation f a m i l i e s also
contain the students' m a r r i e d brothers. These may be regarded as
the j o i n t f a m i l y at the height of its
development.
No Brahmin family
included both m a r r i e d uncles and
m a r r i e d brothers, and the one Bania
f a m i l y that d i d so had no g r a n d parent. The other six families where
p r o p e r t y is s t i l l j o i n t are of the
incomplete type.
F o u r have only
grandparents
and two of
these
state specifically that the m a r r i e d
uncles in the one and
married
b r o t h e r s hi the other are separated.
One f a m i l y includes an u n m a r r i e d
uncle and one includes grandparents
and m a r r i e d brothers.
In the case of seven f a m i l i e s the
p r o p e r t y has been d i v i d e d and the
father's m a r r i e d b r o t h e r s have in all
these cases separated.
B u t a residual j o i n t f a m i l y has persisted w i t h
the continued inclusion of one or
b o t h grandparents.
One of
these
families includes m a r r i e d brothers.
A n o t h e r is
headed by a
married
b r o t h e r and one is headed by an
u n m a r r i e d brother. B u t they are all
the end result of a p a r t i t i o n i n g of
property.
T h e comparison o f the f a m i l y
structure in the three castes shows
t h a t there are very clear v a r i a t i o n s
in each.
T h i s does not mean t h a t
there are
f a m i l y types f o r
each
caste b u t rather t h a t there is a
range of variations f o r all the castes
w i t h a tendency f o r one caste to
v a r y in a p a r t i c u l a r d i r e c t i o n .
A final p o i n t to note is t h a t alt h o u g h f r o m the p o i n t o f v i e w
o f the student j o i n t f a m i l i e s have
been classified i n t o
t w o types, in
actual f a c t at all ages the j o i n t
f a m i l y consists of a head of the
household and his m a r r i e d sons w i t h
t h e i r c h i l d r e n and as the c h i l d r e n
grow up the tendency is to separate.
If the student is an older c h i l d , his
f a t h e r w i l l s t i l l b e l i v i n g w i t h his
f a t h e r and brothers.
If he is a
younger c h i l d , his o w n brothers are
ECONOMIC
WEEKLY
p r o b a b l y m a r r i e d a n d the separation
f r o m the f a t h e r ' s f a m i l y has already
been made.
Rarely
does a j o i n t
f a m i l y i n c l u d e t w o generations o f
m a r r i e d men.
In conclusion, it may be said that
the present analysis is g i v e n m o r e
in the s p i r i t of the possibilities of a
new m e t h o d of study t h a n of the
actual content of the subject because
of the l i m i t a t i o n s of
the k i n d of
data available.