Introducing Sociology Chapter 3 Understanding Social Institutions

Affinal Relation: Relationship by marriage like husband and wife.

Exogamy: Marriage outside a defined group e.g. gotra, village.

Endogamy : Marriage within a defened group. e.g. kinship, caste.

Hypogamy: Marriage of daughter to a man of lower caste class.

Hypergamy : Marriage of daughter with a man of higher class or caste.

Taboo : Prohibited conduct or behaviours.

Consanguineous Relation: Relationship blood like brother and sister.

Ideology : Shared ideas or beliefs, which serve to justify the interests of dominant groups. Ideologies are found in all societies in which there are systematic and engrained inequalities between groups. The concepts of ideology connects clearly with that of power, since ideological system serve to legitimise the differential power which groups hold.

Legitimacy : The belief that a particular political order in just and valid.

Polygamy : When marriage involves more than one mate at one time.

Polygyny : When more than one woman is married to a man.

Monogamy : When marriage involves one husband and one wife above.

Family : It is a universal institution and has existed thoughout the history of society. Family, basically, is made up of individuals having kinship, relationship among themselves.

Nuclear Family : Family consisting husband, wife and unmarried children.

Joint Family : Family consisting of members of three or more than three generations staying together under a common roof and with a common kitchen.

Kinship: Social relationship based on real, putative or fuctive consanguinity. It is the system of the way in which the relations between individuals in the family and between are organised.

(ii) Matrilineal : Tracing of lineage from the female side, is called matrilineal.

(iii) Patrilineal : Tracing of lineage from the male side.

(iv) Matrilocal : After the marriage bride and groom stay with the bride's family.

(v) Gotra: In Hindus, gotra refers to a group of families which trace their origin from a common mythical ancestor.

(vi) Sapindra : It means that persons of seven generations on the father's side and five on the mother's side cannot inter-marry.

(vii) Fraternal Polyandry : In this type of marriage, the woman is wife to all brothers.

(viii) Non-fraternal Polyandry : In the non-fraternal polyandry, the wife has several husbands who are not brothers.

(ix) Socialisation : It is that process by which every individual learns in her/his family according to the norms and values determined by society.

(x) Extended Family : If other closely related kins than those who form the nuclear or joint family are added to the nuclear family it takes the form of an extended family.

2. Every society from primitive to modern time has had the institution of marriage but its form and nature has varied from time to time, from society to society.

(a) Sexual gratification, which is a biological need.

(b) Legitimation of children born out of such union, which is a social need.

(c) Economic co-operation which is an economic need.

(a) Social position (b) Prestige (c) Fame (d) The physical and material powers and (e) Education, knowledge, ability and excellence.

2. Every religion has its special place of worship and has the concept of haven and hell and sacred and progave.

(a) Education integrates individual with society.

(b) Education maintains society.

(c) Education perpetuates culture.

(d) Education increases efficiency of individuals.

2. The education which is imported in a well-defined institutional setting is formal and which an individual acquires in the course of day-to-day activities in the family and outside in the company of others, is informal system of education.

1. Marriage is allowed by most of the societies between the two particular individuals of opposite sex.

2. In the modern socities, there are certain restrictions on choosing a marriage partner. Under the rules of endogamy, a person should marry only within one's own restricted group such as caste, religion, race etc.

3. Exogamy refers to the rules of avoidance in marital relationship. Every communityu, prohibits its members from having marital relationship with cetain persons. Under this rule, marriage among close relatives especially kins and same clan is prohibited.

4. Incest taboo is perhaps the most prominent feature of exogamic rule of mateselection in almost every society. Marriage of father-daughter, mother-son, brother-sister is unknown the world over.

5. In a society where monogamy (a husband and a wife) prevails, a man or a woman can marry only after the death of the spouse or the dissolution of marriage.

6. In some castes, tribals and muslims polygamy prevails. Polygamy is that arrangement of marriage in which either a woman has more than one husband or a man has more than one wife.

1. Under the impact of industrialisation and corresponding rural urban migration and consequent urbanisation, the kinship systems have undergone a drastic change. As the size of family has become considerably small and the extended family system appears to be on Wane, the number of relatives with whom regular contact is maintained has substantially gone down.

2. The distant relatives and to some extent tertiary relatives are now ignored by the people. This has also happened on account of growing occupational differentiation and spatial mobility, which has compelled the people to neglect not-so-close relatives as the kins persons, are no longer easily available.

3. Due to modern industrialisation, the feeling of individualism has grown greatly. This value has forced people to become self centered and to feel concerned only about their close and primary relatives.

Monogamy restricts the individual to one spouse at a time. A man can have only one wife and woman can have one husband.

In our society individual are allowed to marriage again only after the death of his/her first spouse or after divorse. But they cannot have more than one spouse and one at the same time.

These are some societies and communities in our country to believe in polygamy. Polygamy denotes marriage to more than one mate at one time and takes the form of either; polygyny (one husband with two or more wives) or polyandry (one wife with two or more husband).

Generally where poverty prevails or economic conditions are harsh, polyandry may be over response of society, since in such situations a single male cannot adequately support a wife and children.

In our society matter of arrange marriages are welcomed. Generally parents or eldery relations achively participate in choosing life

partner for their younger children or relations. Caste and cultural considerations are kept in mind.

There are some communities in which people so folk love marriage themselves and they do not follow rule and restriction of their own caste or clawn or community.

(i) Legitimate power is the most important element of state.

State has monopoly in the exercise of legitimate force. The power cannot be unlimited and unqualified. The unqualified power cannot last long.

(ii) In ancient and medieval times the political powers of rulers was relatively unqualified but state, which emerged after Enlightment and Industrial Revolution was endowed with qualified power. State uses that power within a given territory.

(iii) The constitution of a state (country) defines the limits of power of the state and its different organs (Legislature, executive and judiciary). The power is legitimate so long as it presents the general will of the people and is voluntarily accepted by them.

1. There are different forms of the communities of believers such as the church, the rest and the cult. Church is a well established organisation. It has a bureaucratic structure with a hierarchy of office bearers from among the believers. The Catholic and the Protestant are such churches. No other religion is so highly organized.

2. Hinduism has on organized body except that some vital temples of the country have the body of persons entrusted with the responsibility of management of temples. Temples too have priests and other employees to look after the maintenance of the temples and carry out routine

religious functions. The priests are usually selected only onventionally.

3. Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch have made an important distinction between churches and sects. As compared to church sects are smaller in size. They are also not so well-organised. They usually originate as a remonstration against the old established religion. It is initiagited by a few and gradually others join it.

4. The sect rejects the tenets of the conventional religion and attempts to convince people about the weaknesses of the traditional religion. It motivates the people to follow the teachings of the sect. Arya Samaj, Neo-Buddhism and Ram Krishna Mission are the examples of sects of Hinduism.

5. Cult is yet another religious organisation. It is formed around ideology and thinking of a particular individual leader. The like-minded people follow him.

6. A person may follow a cult principle and adhere to any other religion. The cult is still smaller and has a shorter life that sect. Examples of cults in the West as given by Giddens are the groups of believers in spiritualism, astrology or transcendental meditation. The Kabir Panth, Sai Baba, Jai Gurudev are some of the present cults in India.

In India mainly the followers of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Neo-Buddhism, Jainism and Zorastrianism are found.

1. According to Max Weber, state is the most fundamental institutions of a political system.

The state means the institution which exercises the monopoly over the legitimate use of power within a given territory,

2. State can use force to implement its policies. It has sovereignty.

3. There are sub-institutions of the state which are involved in the exercise of political power.

4. The executive, the judiciary and the legislature are the instruments which co-operate in the distribution of power.

5. The essential elements of the state are: (i) a population, (ii) a defined territory, (iii) a government and (iv) Sovereignty.

6. All modern societies are nation-states. Giddens writes that ‘nation-states’ are the states in which the great mass of population are citizens who regard themselves as a part of single nation.

We can make distinction between power and authority, putting the following points :

(i) When a person exercises his influence over the other person or persons irrespective of the will of the latter, this influence is called power. Authority, on the contrary, is an exercise of influence which is voluntarily accepted by the persons on whom it is exercised. The authority is a legitimate power.

(ii) The use of force (power) by a despot or a tyrant may be power, whereas that of the head of the state in modern societies is an authority. The authority, thus, is a socially recognized influence.

(iii) There are several factors which determine the nature of power individually or in combination. These factors have sociological importance. Some of these factors are :

(a) Social position,

(b) Prestige,

(c) Fame

(d) The physical and material prowers; and

(e) Education, knowledge, ability and excellence.

(iv) When the power is legitimatized it becomes authority only then it is accepted by the people voluntarily. Max weber points three bases of legalization of power and classifies three corresponding types of authority. The authorities are : (a) the traditional authority. (6) The charismatic authority and (c) The legal-rational authority.

1. The functionalist sociologists have acknowledged the positive influence of education on society.

2. Emile Durkheim maintains that ‘society can survive only when there exists among its members a sufficient degrees of homogeneity. Education does ensure to perpetuate and reinforce this homogeneity.

3. Emile Durkheim argues that in complex industrial societies, school serves an important function which the family or peer group may not be able to do.

4. In the family or peer group, a person has to interact with his kin or with his friend.

5. In the society at large, one has to interact with a person who is neither a kin nor a friend. School teacher an individual to learn to cooperate with such strangers.

6. Talcott Parsons also maintains that schools socialize young people into the basic values of society. The schools of the modern society educate the young not only to acknowledge and honour these basic values but also prepares to cope with the newly created conditions and circumstances in the wake of industrialization.

7. The functional role of education in society has also been highlighted by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore.

8. Social stratification, according to them, is a mechanism for ensuring allocation of positions in society to suitable persons. Education system serves this purpose and provides competent people to occupy important positions in society.

1. It laid emphasis on promoting National System of Education which implied that upto a given level, all students, irrespective of caste, creed, location or sex have access to education of a comparable quality.

2. The policy proposed Operation Blackboard which envisaged the need of at least : (i) two reasonally large rooms suitable in all weather, (ii) necessary toys and games material, (iii) blackboards and (iv) Maps, charts and other learning material for the primary schools.

3. The National Education Policy, 1986 emphasised the need to provide equal educational opportunities to those who had been a relatively deprived lot earlier on. Women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other educationally backward sections and minorities of Indian society were such groups promised equality of educational opportunity.

4. The policy laid stress particularly on the total development of the child; and it was recognized that along with education, nutrition, health, social, mental, physical moral and emotional development of the child must be ensured. This was called Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which received high priority in the Policy.

5. The Policy laid stress on providing social and moral education to the child to foster national unity and integration to eliminate obscurantism, religious fanaticism, violence, superstitions and fatalism.

1. The modern education as we have today started with the advent of industrial economy

because it is this education system which could cater to the requirements of industrial economy.

2. With the development of economy grows the demand for manpower with specialized knowledge and skill. The present education system is geared to meet this need.

3. The modern education lays a strong stress on all basic principles of democracy such as secularism, equality and liberty. The expansion of modern education makes political processes more and more democratic. This is the reason why every government makes serious attempts to universalize education.

4. Generally modern India education system is called the gift of the British rule. Despite the influence of British missionaries trying to introduce a western system of education in India, some deliberate efforts were made by persons like Raja Ram Mohan Rai, Karve, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishan Gokhle, and Madan Mohan Malviya for introducing specific ‘Indian contents into the education system. These refer to knowledge about Indian philosophical systems, art and culture etc.,

1. Regulation of cohabitation in civilized society is essential so as to grant legitimacy to the children born out of the union.

2. Society puts a legal and moral responsibility on the shoulders of parents to care and bring up the children for the perpetuation of society.

1. Introduction : Every society, primitive or modern, has the institution of division of labour. The division of labour is a system of distribution of work among the people according to their skill and competence.

2. Division of Labour in Primitive Society: In the primitive societies, the division of work was very simple and determined only by sex. The men often did the work which needed hard work such as hunting and cultivation

whereas child-rearing, cooking, water-fetching and food-gathering etc. were the responsibility of women.

3. Division of Labour in Undeveloped Economy: In the undeveloped economy, the jobs and other economic activities were so simple and few that no special training and skill, as such, was needed to carry them out.

4. Division of Labour in Industrial Economy : The Industrial Economy of today is complex and replete with variety of occupations requiring varied levels of training and skills for their execution. Required professional specializations are so large that different persons with different specialized knowledge are needed in the modern economy.

1. Introduction : The wage system,like several other economic institutions has its roots in the past. During the medieval age, traders and merchants used to hire labour for producing handicrafts work.

In the putting out system of manufacturing, the merchants provided the raw material to the labourers and got from them the finished goods.

The workers were paid by the merchants for their labour.

2. Traditional Agrarian Economy and the Wage System: In the traditional agricultural economy as in India, the wages were not paid in cash and the rate of wages was not fixed. Sometimes, rich farmers used to take the services of the workers without making any payment for it. The workers had to same under a customary obligation. It was called begaar (i.e. the forced labour or to take labour without any payment).

3. The Wage System in Industrial Economy : (a) With the advent of industrial economy, the institution of wage became formly established. The wage rate is now fixed; and forms the part of contract between the employee and the employer and is governed by law. This is unlike the traditional wage system in which the relationship between the master and the men was very personal and informal.

(b) In the modern economic system, this relationship is formal and impersonal, and is governed by legal conditionalities on both sides.

(c) The institutions of trade unions for the workers and associations for the employers have emerged for the protection of their interests in these contractual dealings.

1. Harry M. Johnson has defined marriage as a stable relationship in which a man and a woman are socially permitted, without loss of standing in the community, to have children.

2. The sex relationship in human society is highly constrained. Who, when and with whom will have this relationship is determined by society has designed and evolved the institution of Marriage.

3. According to Collins Dictionary of Sociology, marriage is a socially acknowledged and sometimes legally ratified union between an adult male and an adult female. This kind of union is based on two objectives. These are :

(a) Sexual gratification and procreation with socially sanctioned sex-relationship.

(b) Economic cooperation is also the aim of marriage.

4. Marriage grants legitimacy to the offsprings born out of legal sex relationship of two particular individuals.

5. Marriage is an universal institution of human society. Every society from primitive to modern time has had the institution of marriage but its form and nature has been different from time to time; from society to society.

6. Marriage is the basic institution of human society. With the marriage of two persons of opposite sex, the nucleus of the family formed by husband and wife comes into existence.

7. Through marriage, two families enter into kinship bond which expands with the expansion

of family and thus, grows into a complex web or network.

8. Marriage also serves an important economic function since it defines proprietary rights and rights of inheritance which may vary more or less from one ethnic or religious community to another.

There are two broad types of family, the nuclear (or small family) and the joint family (or the large family). The joint families are further sub-divided into two types :

(a) Patrilineal and Patrilocal family (b) Matrilineal and Matrilocal family A third type of family is the extended family which is not a very common form.

Two other types of family are there, which are generally found in tribal societies.

(a) the polygynous family and

(b) the polyandrous family. The former of the two (i.e. the polygynous) is based upon one man having more than one wife, whereas the latter (i.e. polyandrous) is based upon one woman married to more than one husband at the same time.

I. Characteristics of Nuclear Family :

(a) The nuclear family is a group of persons consisting of husband, wife and their unmarried children. This is a basic grouping of mates and their offspring/s.

(b) The kinship relationships in nuclear family are : husband-wife, father-son, father-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter, brother-brother, sister-sister and brother-sister. This is the smallest composite family unit.

(c) There may also be supplemented nuclear family units with a widowed parent of the husband or his younger brothers and sisters as residents.

II. Characteristics of Joint Family

(a) Joint family consists of more than one primary family. All the members are blood relations (except wife and husband) or close kins

and generally share common residence, kitchen and property.

(b) Joint family usually have three or more generations. But two or more colateral families living together in a common residence and sharing a common kitchen and property also form a joint family.

(c) Joint family is the hollmark of traditional Indian society having very deep roots in history. Joint family in its traditional shape is found in our country even today, though it is wanning very fast.

III. Characteristics of Extended Family:

(a) If other closely related kins than those who form the nuclear or joint family are added to the nuclear family, it takes the form of an extended family.

(b) The extended families can be their those to which the nucleus kins or those in which the nucleus is surrounded by distant consanguineous kins or those in which kinship universe is extended still further such as parents-in-law living in their son-in-law's family.

IV. Characteristics of Matrilineal Family:

(a) This is the family in which the husband resides with his wife in her mother’s house. The ancestry in his family is traced to the maternal line.

(b) The matrilineal family is also matriarchal in nature because the authority in this family lies with the mother. She is the head of the family. This is not a common form of family. The Nayars of South India live in matrilocal families.

V. Characteristics of Patrilineal Family:

(a) Most of the families world over are of this kind. In the patrilineal and patrilocal family, ancestry is traced to the paternal line. Unlike matrilocal families, the ancestors in the patrilocal families are men.

(b) The patrilocal family is also patriarchal. The authority lies with the male members and the final authority rests with the eldest male member of the family.

VI. Characteristics of the Polygynous Family : When a man marries more than one

wife, the family organisation with is formed a polygynous type. Most of the tribal families are polygynous.

VII. Characteristics of the Polyandrous Family : This is a family in which a woman has more than one husband. This is made of the fraternal polyandry where several brothers marry one wife.

(ii) In fact no other social institution appear more universal and unchanging as we find family.

(iii) Sociology and social authropology have over many decades conducted field research across cultures to show how the institutions of family, marriage and kinship are important in all societies and yet their character is different in different societies. They have also shown how the family (the private sphere) is linked to the economic, political, cultural, educational ( the public) spheres.

(iv) Due to economic change in the field of industries our joint family system has been disappearing and unclear family is taking its place in Urban area particularyly and in rural area generally.

(v) The family, the household, its structure and norms are closely linked to the west of society and interesting example is that of the unintended consequences of the German Unification.

(vi) During the post unification period 1990s Germany witnessed a rapid declive in marriage because the new German state witdrew all the protection and welfare schemes which were provided to the families prior to the Unification.

(vii) With growing sense of insecurity people responded by refusing to marry.

(viii) family is thus a subject to change and transformation due to macro-economic processes but the direction of change need not always be similar for all countries and regions. Moreover, change does not mean the complete, erosion of previous norms and structure. Change and continuity co-exist.

(ix) Cultural change like language script, literature, music, dance, style, religion, etc. change the membership of family, residence pattern and even the mode of interaction among the members of family. If the members of the family love more individualism and personal libery. The joint form of the family as well as traditional type of discipline day by day disappears from the family. Income of the family, profession of the family, duty hours of the family, political changes of the country or new progressive laws and acts definately effect the pattern of family and even position of the family. The migraturer of members of the family to foreign country effects the total membership of family. Area of residence change even the mode of interaction changes the people who had gone outside the country interact with the other members of the family on telephone or internet or send. e-mail etc.

(b) Many type of work do not confirm to the idea of paid employment. Much of the work done in the informal economy, for instance, is not recorded in any direct way in the official employment, statistics.

(c) The term informal economy refers to transaction outs side the is sphere of regular employment, sometime inhaling the exchange of cash for services provided, but also generally involving the direct exchange of goods or services.

Definition of work: We can defined work, whether paid or unpaid, as the carrying out of task requiring the expenditure of mental and physical efford, which has as its objective the production of goods and services that cater to human needs.

Modern form of work : (a) Work in the field : In pre-modern forms of society most people worked in the field or cased for the line stock.

In the industrially developed soviety only tiny proportion of the population works in the agriculture and forming its self and became industrialised. It is carried on largely by means of machines rather than human hand.

In a country like India, the larger share of the population countries to be rural and agricultural or involved in other rural based occupations.

Service sector : These are other trends in India to, for example and expansion of the service sector. In other words we can say that with the rise of industrialisation, urbanisation, Globalisation and liberalisation more and more work is being provided to people in education, health, transportation, communication, computer, information technology and so on.

Characteristics of Economy:

(a) Division of labour : One of the most important features of the modern economy of contemporary societies is the existence of a highly complex division of labour.

Work has been divided into enormeans (great and many) number of different occupations in which people specialised. In tradition and old societies, non agricultural work and tailed the mastry of craft. Craft skills were learned through a lengthy period of apprenticeshipts. and the worker normally,carriedout all aspect of production process from beginning to end.

(b) Household : Modern society also witnesses a shift in the location of work before industrialisation, most work tookplace at home and was completed collectively by all the member of the house hold.

(c) Birth of factory: Advances in industrial technology, such as machinery operating an electricity and coal, contributed to the separation of work and home factories owned by capitalist enterpreneurs became the focal point of industrial development.

(d) Specialisation of task: People seeking jobs in factories were trained to perform a specialised task and receive a wage for this work. Managers supervised his work, for their task was to enhance worker productivity and discipline.

(e) Expansion of Interdependence : One of the main characteristics of modern society is greatly expansion of economic interdependence are of us are dependent an a more number of other worker–strechting right a cross the universe, for the production and services that effect our day to day lives. With few exceptions, the last majority of people in modern societies due not produce the food they eat, the houses they live in or the material goods they consume.

III. Transformation of work :

(a) Flexible production and decentralisation of work : Over the last decades there has been shift to what is generally called flaxible production and decentralisation of work.

It is argue that in this period of globalisation. It is the growing competition between fins and country that it makes essential for firms to organised production suiting the changing market condition to illustrate how this new system operates and what the implecations may be for the workers. We should no modern industry is essential part of a long supply chain, and a freedom of manufacturers is to that extent extremely limited.

(b) Stages : There are, in reality more than a hundred operations between the designer and the final consumer. It is generally accepted that in this chain (of supply) only 15 are in the hands of the manufacturer. Any serious agitation for a rise in wages would lead manufacturers to shift their operations to other localities, beyond the reach of unionists. Whether it is the payment of the existing minimum wage or its substantial revision upwards, what is important is to enlist the support of the retailer in order to create the necessary pressure upon the government and local agencies for a higher wage structure and its effective implementation. Thus the vision here is the creation of an international ‘opinon forum’.

Kinds of Rights : In our society following kinds of right exist:

(i) Civil Right: Modern citizen get several civil right. These right involve the freedom of individual to line where they choose, freedom of speech and religion, the right to oven proverty; the might to equal justice before the law.

(ii) Political Right : These right include the right to participate in elections and to stand for public office. In most countries goverments were reluctant to admit the principle of Universal franchise. In the early years not only woman, but a large section of the mail population was excluded as holding a certain among of property was an eligibility critarian. Women had to wait longer for the vote.

(iii) Social Right : The third type of citizenship right are-social right. These concerned the prerogative of every individual to enjoy a certain minimum standard of welfare and security.

They include such right as health benefits, unemployment allowance, setting of minimum level of wages.

Wealth fare Right: The modern state are also called welfare state. They believe in broadly of social rights or giving more and more welfare right to their citizens. These rights led to the concept of welfare state. Such type of states were established were western countries since the Second World War. States of the earstwhile socialist countries had for reaching provisions in this sector.

In most developing countries, social rights were virtually non-existant but now a days all over the world most of the social or welfare right are being attacked as liabilities on the state and hindrances to economic growth.

Affect of Right on our life :

(i) Civil right provides us freedom and liberty of expression faith and religion. There right also produce as to have property. This is very important economic right. The right to equal justice establishes equality in society. Freedom and equality are to most powerful pillars of democracy.

(ii) Political right also affect us in representation democracy rights to vote is most important citizens choose their government of own liking after every four or five years. The right to participate election and stand public office provide us chance to reach at the highest office of the country.

(iii) Social right also affect our personality and thinking. Everybody want to enjoy good quality of life. Health, education good wages and right to get employment or unemployment allowance are very important from welfare of the citizens.

(a) One it conducts empirical studies of how religions actually function in society and its relationship to other institution.

(b) Two, it uses a comparatve method.

(c) It investigates religious beliefs, practices and institutions in relation to other aspacts of society and culture.

II. Use of empiricial method by sociologist: The empirical method means that the sociologist does not have a judgemental approach to religious phenomena. The comparative method is important because in a sense it brings all societies on level with each other. It helps to study it without bias and prejudice. The sociological perspective means that religious life can be made intelligible only by relating it to domestic life, economic life and political life.

III. Societies and features of Religion : Religione exists in all known societies, although religion beliefs and practices very from culture to culture. Characteristics that all religious seem to share are : set of symbols, invorking feelings of reverence or a we; ritual or ceremonies; a community of believers.

IV. Rituals association with religion :

(a) The rituals associated with religion are very diverse. Ritual acts may include praying, chanting, singing, eating certain kinds of food (or refraining from doing so on).

(b) Since ritual acts are oriented towards religious symbols, they are usually seen as quite distinct from the habits and procedures of ordinary life. Lighting a candle or diya to honour the divine differs completely in its significance from doing so simply to light a room.

(c) Religions rituals are after carried out by an individual in his/her personal everyday life. But all religious also involve caremonials practised collectively by belives. Regular ceremonies normally occur in special places -Churches, mosque, temples, shirins.

V. Religion and sacred relation: Religion is about the sacred realm. Think of what members of different religions do before entering a sacred scalm. For example covering one's head, or not covering one's head, taking off shoes, or wearing particular kind of clothes, etc. What is common to them all is the feeling of awe, recognition and respect for a sacred placees or situations.

Emile Durkheim and Religion : Sociologist of religion, following Emile Durkheim are interested in understanding this sacred realm which every society distinguishes from the progave. In most cases, the sacred includes an element of the supernatural. Often the sared quality of a tree or a temple amues with the belief that it is sacred precisely because there is some supernatural force behind it. However, it is important to keep in mind that some religious like early buddhism and confucianism had no conception of the supernatural, but did allow sufficient reverence for things and persons which they considered sacred.

VII. Relationship of Religion with other social Institutions : Studying religion sociologically lets us ask questions about the relationship of religion with other social institutions. Religion has had a very close relationship with power and politics. For instance periodically in history there have been religious movements social change, like various anti-casate movements or movements against gender discrimination. Religion is not just a matter of the private belief of an individual but it also has a public character. And it is this public character of religion, which has an important bearing on other institution of society.

VIII. Relationship between Political and religious sphere : We have seen how sociology looks at power in a wide sense. It is look at the relationship between the political and religious sphere.Classical sociologists believed that as societies modernised, religion would because less influential over the various spheres of life. The concept seenlarisation describes this process. Contemporary events suggest a persisting role of religion various aspacts of society.

IX. Max Weber: A pioneering work by web weber (1864-1920) demenstrages how sociology looks at religion in its relationship to other aspects of social and economic behaviour. Weber or gives that caluinism (a branch of protestant Christianity) exerted an important influence on the emergence and growth of capitalism as a mode of economic organisation. The calivinists believed that the world was created for the glory of God, meaning that any work in this world had to be done for his glory, making even mundance work acts or worship. More importantly, however, the calvinists also believed in the concept of predestination, which meant that weather one will go to heaven or hell was pre-or dained.

X. Capitalism : At the heart of capitalism is the concept of investment, which is about investing capital to make more goods, which create more profit, which in term creates more profit, which in term creates more capital.Thus weber was able to agrue that religion, in this caste Calvinism, does have an influence on economic development.

1. Marriage leads to the formation of family.The family is a universal institution and has existed throughout the history of society.

2. As far as defination of a family is concerned we can say that, “Family, basically, is made up to individuals having Kinship relationship among themselves.'

3. The smallest family consists of the husband and wife without children. Such a family is also called a nuclear family.

4. A man with his children or a woman with her can also constitute a family. This is called a single-parent family.

5. A family may even consist of persons of few more generations living together and other relatives forming an extended family. Such an arrangement is also known by the name household.

II. Features of a Family : 1. With the passage of time, family has undergone changes gaining and loosing different forms and features. The present stage of economic development and cultural changes have posed some new challenges to the institution of family leading to radical changes in the structures and functions of family.

2. In western societies, the very existence of family appears to be threatened. However, the institutions of family is surviving and definately will survive for the existence of the society itself. Because the family is a durable group fulfilling the basic duties of sex-relationship, procreation and many other requirements, such as the maintenance (security of infants and basic needs of individuals, food, cloth and shelter etc.) and socialization of children.

The family occupies central position in society. The society would not survive unless the family performs its social functions. These are as follows:

1. Reproductive Function : For its persistence, society requires uninterrupted inflow of new persons. The family fulfils this need by regulating sex relationship between particular members in the family.

By this is fulfilled not only individual's biological need of sex but is also ensured the procreation of children which is essential for the continuance of society and the human race.

2. Maintenance of Family Members : The family takes care of the newborn baby. Human infant takes much longer period of time and care to become independent. Even the mother carrying the baby requires assistance of the other members of the family for some time. This responsibility is discharged by the family.

3. Social Placement of Individuals :

Third important work of family is social placement of its members. The family is a kinship group with a system of defined statuses and roles. It also has a system of division of labour and distribution of responsibilities among its members. Every individual (or kin) in this way, has a social position in the family.

4. Socialization of the young : Family is the first school of everyone. Society is a collectivity of individuals interacting among themselves according to the norms and values determined by society. These norms and values (regard to elders, affection to younger, mutual love and understanding, service, sacrifice, cooperation, etc.) are learnt by individuals in the family through the process of socialisation.

The family plays primary role in socializing the individual to behave according to the expectations of society.

2. The evolutionary theory of Lewis Morgan based on certain rudimentary folkways and social practices concluded that in the earliest form of groupings of people, sex was absolutely unregulated. Consequently the institution of family was not known.

3. Believing that as time passed the human societies had evolved from lower into higher types. Lewis Morgan set forth certain hypothetical stages in the evolution of marriage. Accordingly as he thought from the hypothetical state of promiscuity society must have evolved into group marriage, then polygamy and lastly monogy.

4. Westermark on the other hand, is of the opinon that the history of marriage started with its monogamous form. He concluded this on the basis of his assumption that the male has by nature been an acquisitive and possessive creature.

5. Another anthropologist Robert Briffault claims that at the initial stage of marital relationship, mother had the supreme authority. He rejected patriarchy as claimed by Lewis Morgan and monagmy as claimed by Westmark to be the initial forms of marriage and family.

6. Sociology takes little interest in the origin and the initial forms of marriage. It is more concerned about the nature of marriage in the civilized society and the changes that have taken place in this institution and in the forces responsible for this change.

(i) Education is life long process. School is a place in which the foundation stone of learning process laid down. School helps in providing such environment which is generally very important for all round-mental, physical spiritial and emotional, development.

(ii) Sociology as a discipline and sociologist as a scholar understand need of schooling. This institutions provides occasion and process of transmission, communication of group heritage, common to all society. There is a qualitative distinction between simple society and complex, modern society. In the case of former. There was no need for formal schooling. Children learnt customs and the broader way of life by participating in activities with their adults.

(iii) It is a art fact that most of the modern society are complex society. We saw there is an increasing economic division of labour, separaton of work from home, need for specialised learning and skill attainment, rise of state systems, nations and complex set of symbols and ideas. How do you get educated informally in such a context ? How would parents or other adults informally communicate all that has to be known to the next generation ? Education in such a social context has to be formal and exitlict.

(iv) School in modern society or design to promote uniformity, standardised, espiration and universalistic values. There are many ways of doing this. For example uniform dress for school children is provided for uniformity and some standard and look. Similarity same standard of courses, syllabus method of teaching, labs and libraries and some standard at least to all student of the same school

(v) Academic and training, -reserved minimum for teacher of different levels-primary teacher, secondary teacher, higher secondary or senior school teacher are decided and before there appointment, there suppose to qualify either a selection board or competative examination and interview board also.

(vi) Schooling (or education) should prepare each and every boy and girl for a special occupation, and enable them to internalise the value of society. Because the child of today is future citizen or he/she is father/mother or next genertion to come.

(vii) School education is an important stage for the selection and allocation of the individual in their future role in the society. Education of this stage is also regarded as the ground for providing. One's ability and hence selective agency for different status according to their ability.

(viii) For instance some argue that schooling intensifies the existing divide between the elite and the masses. Children going to privileged schools learn to be confident while children deprived of that may feel the opposite (path at 2002 : 151). How, ever these are many more children who simply cannot attend school or dropout. For instance a study repots :

You are seeing some children in the school now. If you come during the cultivation season you may see almost zero attendance from the SC and ST children. They all take some household responsibilities while the parents are not to work. And the girl children of there communities seldom attend school as they do various kinds of work both domestic and income generating. A 10 year old girl picks dry cow dung to sell for example.

There can be different degrees of distance between the kins. The relationship may be very close, not so close, distant remote and so on. On this basis, Kinship relatives can be classified into the following categories :

1. Primary Kinship Relatives : Primary kinship relatives are those who belong to the same nuclear family as a particular person–the individual's father mother, brother and sister in the family of orientation and husband, wife, son and daughter in the family of procreation.

2. Secondary Kinship Relatives : Some examples of secondary Kinship relatives are : grandfather (father's father) grandmother (father's mother), Aunt (father's sister -(बुआ जी), brother's wife (भाभी जी), sister's husband (जीजा जी) and so on.

3. Tertiary Relatives (or Kinship): Each secondary relative has primary relatives who are neither primary nor secondary relatives of the ego. They are known as tertiary relatives. Some of the examples of this type of relatives are : (i) the great grand parents, (ii) first cousins (iii) spouses of all uncles, (iv) aunts (v) nephews and nieces, and so on.

4. Distant Relatives : (a) All other relatives (except mentioned in the previous three paragraphs) who are remote than tertiary relatives are termed by Murclock as distant relatives.

(b) For all-practical purposes (concern with family or kinship) the relatives upto tertiary degree are normally found in interaction among themselves. Very few might remember remote relatives unless they are remembered for establishing the ancestry.

(c) In modern industrialized societies tertiary relatives are only rarely remembered.

Conclusion : In short, we can say that the most common range of kinship structure today is upto secondary relatives.

(i) Introduction : There are social institutions (in every society) that constrain and control, punish and reward. They could be ‘macro’ ones like the family marriage kinship. They could be micra ones likepolitics, economics,religion and education.

(ii) Meaning : In the broadest sense, an institution is something that works according to rules established or at least acknowledged by or law by custom. And whose regular and continuous operation cannot be understood without taking those rules into account.

(iii) Nature : (a) Social institutions impose constraints on individuals. They also provide him/ her with opportunities.

(b) An institution can also be viewed as an end in itself. Indeed people have viewed the family, religion, state or even education as an end in itself.

Forms of understanding of Social Institutions : These are different forms of understanding of social institutions.

(a) A functionalist view understands social institutions as a complex set of social norms, beliefs, values and role relationship that arise in response to the needs of society. Social institutions exist to satisfy social needs. Accordingly we find informal and formal social institutions in societies. Institutions such as family and religion are examples of informal social institutions while law and formal education are formal social institutions.

(b) A conflict view holds that all individuals are not placed equally in society. All social institutions whether familial, religions political, economic, legal or educational will operate in the interest of the dominant sections of society be it class, caste, tribe or gender.

(c) The dominant social section not only dominates political and economic institutions but also ensures that the ruling class ideas become the ruling ideas of a society. This is very different from the idea that there are general needs of a society.

Family as social institution : (i) No other social institution appears more universal and unchanging as we find family as a social intitution. According to the functionalists the family performs important tasks.

(ii) Which contribute to society's basic needs and helps perpetunate social order. The functionalist perspective argues that modern industrial societies function best if woman look after the family and men earn the family livelihood.

(iii) However, practically we find that the nuclear family is seen as the unit best equipped to handle the demands of industrial society by the functionalists. In such a family one adult can work outside the home while the second adult cares for the home and children.

(iv) In practical terms, this specialisation of roles within the nuclear family involves the husband adopting the ‘Instrumental’ role as bleadustmer and the wife assuming the ‘affective’, emotional role in domestic setting.This vision is questionable not just because it is gender unfeest but because empirical studies across cultures and history show that it is untrue. In modern society, in certain field of economy (such as the garment export), women form a large part of the labour force such a separation also suggests that men are necessarily the heads of households.

The Institution of Marriage :

(i) Historically marriage has been found to exist in a wide variety of forms in different societies. It has also been found to perform different functions. Indeed, the manner in which marriage partners are arranged reveal an astonishing variety of modes and customs.

(ii) We have two forms of marriage namely monogamy and polygamy Monogamy restricts the individual to one spouse at a time. Under this system, at any given time a man can have only one wife and a woman can have only one husband. Even were polygamy is permitted in actual practice, monogamy is more widely prevalent.

(iii) In some societies, the decisions regarding mate selection are made by parents/relatives. In some other societies individuals are relatively free to choose their own mates.

(iv) Forms of marriage based on rules governing eligibility/one ligibility of mates is classified as endogamy and exogamy.

(v) Endogamy requires an individual to marry within a culturally defined group of which he or she is already a member, as for example, caste. Exogamy, the revese of endogamy requires the individual to marry. Outside of his/her own group.

(vi) Endogany and exogamy are in reference to certain kinship units, such as class, caste and racial, ethical or religious groupings.

Kinship as a Social Institution : (i) Kinship ties are connections between individuals, established either through marriage or through the lines of descent that connect blood relatives (mothers, fathers, siblings, offspring, etc.)

Marriage can be defined as a socially acknowledged and approved sexual union between two adult individuals. When two people marry, they become kin to one another. The marriage bond also, however, connects together a wider range of people. Parents, brothers, sisters and other blood relatives become relatives of the partner through marriage.

(ii) The family of birth is called family of orientation and the family in which a person is matured is called the family of procretion.

(iii) The kin who are related through “blood” are called consanguinal kin while the kin who are related through marriage are called afflnes.

Politics as a Social Institutions: Political institutions are concerned with the distribution of power in society. Two concepst, which are critical to the understanding of political institutions are power and authority.

Power is the ability of individuals or groups to carry out their will even when opposed by others. An individual or group does not hold power in isolation, they hold it in relation to others.

This motion of power is fairly inclusive and extands from family elders assigning domestic duties to their children to principals enforcing discipline in school, from the general manager of a factory distributing work among the executives to political leaders regulating programmes of their parties. The principal has power to maintain discipline in school.

But how is power applied to achieve its aims ? Answer to this question could be found with reference to a related concept of ‘authority’. Power is exercised through authority. Authority is that former of power which is accepted as legitimate, that is, us right and just. It is institutional because it is based on legitimacy. People in general accept the power of these in authority as they consider their control to be fair and justified.

(a) The family is a group consisting of close relatives. These relatives are known as kins or kindred.

(b) Kinship system is also seen as a method of organizing marriage relations between groups. A female is recruited as wife, as daughter-in-law and so on through her marriage into another group and a male through his marriage is recruited as husband, son-in-low of his wife's parents, group. The kinship group's alliances, thus, are transacted through marriage.

(c) The members of the family are linked with one another by kinship bonds based on blood relationship with exception of husband and wife who are bound by marriage. The mutual expectations in the family are based on kinship ties.

(d) A kinship system is not an unorganised aggression of individuals. It is a system of the way relations between the individuals in the family and between families are organised.

(e) Kinship bonds are very strong and considerably expanded in tribal societies and also in rural communities.

II. Importance of Kinships in Social Life : 1. Kinship is an important aspect of a family life. People in the family have definite rights and obligations according to their statuses. A kin is more quickly available for help than any other person or agency. It is because the kin has emotional relationship with another kin.

2. Kins provide assistance in economic affairs or other activities which need co-operation from others. When social functions like marriage ceremonies and religious functions take place in the family, kins are necessarily invited and their presence is expectd. It is also obligatory on their part to provide services as and when needed.

3. In the events of crises also, people depend greatly on their relatives for aid and succour. Blood relatives have greater significance as a person feels much closer to them than those who are related by marriage.

4. Different kins have different obligations to carry out on different occasions in the family. For example, in Hindu family the role of the eldest brother is very important. When a person dies, the eldest son of the deceased is supposed to ligh the funeral pyre. It is customary that

the eldest son would be heir after the death of the father and would get the larger share in case the property is divided among the offsprings.

5. The Kinship system assists in maintaining solidarity in the family. However tensions and conflicts among the kins due to discriminatory rights also did exist and even now exist in the traditional Indian joint families especially of the propertied class.

II. The basis of the legitimatising power: When the power is legitimatized it becomes authority. Only then it is accepted by people voluntarily.

Max Webers points out three bases of legitimation of power and classifies three corresponding types of authority.

The authorities are:

(a) the traditional authority

(b) the charismatic authortiy and

(c) the legal-rational authority

(a) Traditional Authority: The traditional authority is that which people obey by habit. They accept the power of someone simply because it has been done so in the past. It has become a tradition.

Example : The tribal chief, the king or feudal lord of the medieval period or the head of the traditional patriarchal family are the example of traditional authority. This kind of authority is personal and irrational.

(b) Charismatic Authority : It is the second basis of power. People also behave willingly under the inluence of a person who possess some extraordinary qualities. They obey the person due to their faith in and respect for him. The charismatic authority is personal and rational in nature.

(c) Legal-rational base : The authority in the modern industrial society is legal rational type. This authority is formal and its privileges are limited and defined by law. The real power lies not in the person who wields it but in the position or the chair he occupies. The administrative staff of the state is an example of this category. This authority is impersonal and rational in nature.

1. In his book, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Emile Durkheim rejects all the existing theories of religion and instead, puts forth a sociological theory of religion.

2. In every religion, Emile Durkheim says, a distinction is made between sacred and profane things.

3. The sacred things are those which are treated as very special and superior and also which are protected and isolated.

4. The profane things are interdicted and kept at distance from the sacred.

5. The sacredness of a thing is not an inherant characteristic but something which it gets from another source and also form its opposition to the profane.

6. ‘Totemism’ according to Emile Durkheim, was the most primitive form of religion. The word, ‘totem’, according to Giddings, first originated among North American Indian tribes but has been widely used to refer to animals or plants believed to have supernatural powers.

7. Totem consists of a series of ideas. One of the ideas is the belief that the people of a social group (clan phratry, moity are such social groups in primitive societies) are related to a common mythological ancestor.

8. Symbols are used to represent the totem. Certain restrictions are applied such as, prohibition of killing and eating of totem.

1. Sociologists and Anthropologists have propounded theories of the origin of religion. The theories are usually evolutionary in nature as they express successive stages in the development of the institutions of religion in society.

2. According to E.B. Tylor, religion emerged from the idea of soul. Dream is the manifestation of that interaction which is felt during sleep between the transmigrated soules with the body soul.

3. According to J.G. Frazer,“religion is the propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life.

4. Max Mullar’s theory of the origin of religion is known as naturism. Like the views of E.B. Tylor, Max Muller’s theory is also based on the intellectual error of the primitive man. To the primitive man, at the first stage, the nature appeared to be most surprising, fearful, marvellous.

5. Emile Durkheim rejects all the existing theories of religion and instead puts forth a sociological theory of relgion. In every religion, Emile Durkheim says, a distinction is made between sacred and profane things. The sacred things are those which are treated as very special and superior and also which are protected and isolated. The profane things are interdicted and kept at distance from the sacred. The sacredness of a thing is not an inherent characteristic but something which it gets from another source and also from its opposition to the profane.

6. Totemism, according to Emile Durkheim, was the most primitive form of religion. The totem is treated sacred because it is a symbol of group life. People respect totem because they respect social values.

1. No doubt, education serves very effectively as an instrument of social change.

2. One scholar has rightly urged that education is nothing but change of behaviour. The modern education changes the outlook of people from dogmatic, conservative, inert, to rational forward looking and achievement-oriented.

3. The change in the outlook and altitude of people leads to changes in social and cultural matrix of society.

4. We can observe radical changes that have taken place in the family, community and caste system of Indian scoiety due to expansion of education facilities.

5. The modern education has contributed greatly to the introduction of new sophisticated and highly efficient technologies in the service of human beings. It has brought about not only economic development particularly in rural areas but has also been instrumental for several changes in social relationships.

6. The modern education has contributed in disturbing the traditional Indian joint family system, particularly the dominating positing of a male member and relatively lower position having by the women in this family system. The position of the women has improved. This has been possible only due to expansion of education. Economically also the women are more independent. This has automatically reduced the magnitude of gender discrimination.

7. In traditional Indian society, interpersonal relations in the community were based on the caste norms. For most of the castes, there were fixed occupations which the people were supposed to adopt. As a result, inter-caste relations were guided by criteria of ‘high’ and ‘low’ and were generally exploitative.The higher landed castes often monopolized political power in rural areas. But, the education now is changing very quickly this traditional setting in the villages very interpersonal relations in the village community are now coming to be based more and more on the principles of democracy and equality. Every individual can now make efforts for his or her economic and political betterment and thus try to rise in the social hierarchy.

Education is an effort of the senior people to transfer their knowledge to the younger members of society. It is, therefore, also an institution which plays a vital role in integrating an individual with his society and in maintaining the perpetuation of culture.

The french sociologist Emile Durkheim defines education as the influence exercised by the adult generation upon those who are not yet ready for adult life.

II. The Organizational Structure of Education :

There are three levels of education and each level has its organisational structure :

1. The elementary and secondary level

2. The college level

3. The university level

We will discuss in brief these levels of the organisational structure of education.

1. The Elementary and secondary Level Education : The elementary level of education has four sub-levels, the primary (for 5 years), the upper primary or the middle classes (for another 3 years) and secondary or high school (for a further 2 years). And the last or the highest level of the elementary level is the Senior Secondary Level (10+2 level) i.e. for another 2 years after the high school level.

A child normally completes the first to sub-levels of elementary education by the age of 14 years. Government of India has made education upto this level (from age 6 to 14 years) free and compulsory.

2. The College Level : In some states, classes XI and XII constitute the college Level education. However, after completing this (i.e. the 10+2 level), the student enters in degree colleges. College education is the threshold-level of education which makes child qualified to take decisions about the future course of one's educational career.

3. The University Level : One may go in for professional education and becomes a skilled professional worker in different fields or may opt for higher studies in conventional theoretical subjects being offered in the universities.

III. Other related points with the Organisational Structure of Education in India : (a) The formal education normally presupposes the availability of at separate building meant for this purpose.

(b) All the levels (from elementary to university level) of education mentioned above must each have a distinct definite organizational set up.

(c) The organizational structure of formal education consists of three main organs: (i) the teachers, (ii) the students, and (iii) the administrative staff members are appointed by a person or a boby of persons having legitimate authority to do so, on the basis of certain prescribed rules and regulations.

(d) In pre-industrial societies, teachers were normally drawn from the higher strata or sections of society. In India, this work was traditionally taken up by Brahamins.

(e) For the students also, a minimum qualification is prescribed for entry into a particular course of education. The student receives education on payment of fees and is bound to abide by the rules laid down by the administration of the educational institution.

(f) The modern formal education is mass education. Nobody is denied admission in schools and colleges on the basis of caste, creed or any such characteristics other than the lack of prescribed minimum educational qualification. This is also guaranteed nearly under all modern constitutions including the Indian Constitution.

(g) In ancient Indian society, education was the privilege of only the higher caste people, the lower caste people were usually denied education. Our Consittution now guarantees education to every section of society under the goal of universal education.

(h) From administrative point of view, some educational institutions are run privately some are controlled by government and some others are semi-governmental. In India, quite a large number of schools and colleges are privately run.

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