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Types of families as per Pa k

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types of families Pakistan sociology classification nuclear joint extended

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I have everything needed. Here is the complete answer from Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine ("Park's"):

Types of Families as per Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine

Family units throughout the world are not the same. Industrialization, urbanization, democratization, and acculturation have all affected family structure and life. Social scientists have described three main types of families:

1. Nuclear Family

  • Also called the elementary family; it is universal in all human societies.
  • Consists of the married couple and their children (who are still regarded as dependents), all sharing the same dwelling space.
  • The husband usually plays a dominant role in the household.
  • The absence of grandparents, uncles, aunts, and near relatives places a greater burden on the nuclear family for child-rearing responsibilities.
  • The husband-wife relationship tends to be more intimate than in the joint family.
  • The term "new families" is applied to those under 10 years duration, consisting of parents and children. This concept is important in family planning studies.

2. Joint Family (Extended Family)

  • Also called the extended family; common in India, Africa, the Far East, and the Middle East.
  • More common in agricultural areas than in urban areas. The orthodox Hindu family is a classic example.
  • Urbanization, industrialization, and education have led to a decline in the joint family system.
Main characteristics:
  1. Consists of a number of married couples and their children living together in the same household. All men are related by blood; women are their wives, unmarried girls, and widows of family kinsmen.
  2. All property is held in common - a common family purse handles all income and expenditure.
  3. All authority is vested in the senior male member of the family, who controls internal and external affairs. The senior female member shares power over women of the family.
  4. Familial relations take primacy over marital relations - early and arranged marriages are advocated.
Merits: Based on the motto "union is strength." It provides greater economic and social security - supporting the old, helpless, and unemployed - and pools income for education, marriage, and commercial ventures.

3. Three-Generation Family

  • Often confused with the joint family but distinct from it.
  • Fairly common in the West.
  • A household where representatives of three generations (related by direct descent) live together.
  • Usually occurs when young couples are unable to find separate housing and continue to live with their parents after having their own children.
  • The key difference from the joint family is that it is based on direct descent (vertical lineage), not on the broader kinship network of the joint family.
Source: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, p. 780
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