Extended Family Systems

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Extended Family Systems Advantages
2
Structure

• What is a Family?
• Joint Family Concepts
• Did Joint Family system exist throughout the
  World? Why it has Disintegrated?
• Benefits of Joint Family
• Nuclear Family and its Disadvantages

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What is a Family?

• Family is a social institution
• People descended from a common ancestor
• Primary social group

4
Concepts

• Extended Family Multiple generations living
  under one roof with one kitchen.
• Other names
• Joint Family
• Nuclear Family disintegrated Extended Family.

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Extended Family Concepts

• Membership Father and mother sons and wives
  daughters until married grandsons and wives
  granddaughters until married great grandsons and
  wives great granddaughters until married.
• Head of the family Father with support of
  mother. In the absence of the father, the most
  capable elder son with guidance of his mother and
  support of spouse. In the absence of the elder
  brother, a competent younger brother takes over.

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Extended Family Concepts

• Distribution of duties The head of the family
  assigns members according to their abilities and
  availability. The mother is responsible for
  nurturance, clothing, household activities, gift
  giving and acceptance of gifts. She consults her
  daughters-in-law and wives of younger brothers
  and educates them for proper decision-making in
  her absence.

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Extended Family Concepts

• Religious ceremonies The eldest son is to
  perform all these duties. His spouse joins him.
  Others share and cooperate as they are able.
• Basic principles
• Every member sees that others get the best and
  most of resources. Each person himself asks for
  the least, and last.
• All are willing to endure to relieve the others'
  burdens.
• No one owns anything. Each is a trustee for the
  joint family, extended family, society and the
  nation.

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Extended Family Concepts

• Everyone's voice and opinion has value and
  importance.
• Everyone's conduct is such that intentions can
  never be questioned. This includes honoring the
  traditions and fulfilling spoken and unspoken
  expectations of the extended family, society at
  large and the venerable principles of Sanatana
  Dharma.

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Did Joint Family System exist throughout the
World?
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Households by Size, 17902004
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2007 in US

• 1 out of 6 children in America lives with only
  one parent, and the number of such households may
  well increase in the future.
• Under the circumstances, it is only fitting that
  a number of thoughtful men and women should
  continue to search for more stable, "new and
  improved" family models.

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Why it has disintegrated?

• According to Dr. Tripathi, the value of
  traditional value system and status of women got
  badly affected with the passage of time because
  of reasons like political and cultural invasions,
  urbanization, industrialization, changed
  socio-economic conditions, etc.

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Why it has disintegrated?

• These factors are ever growing industrialization,
  city based living and to a great extent modern
  education and construct of the contemporary
  social thinking itself.

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Why it has disintegrated?

• kula-kñaye praëaçyanti
• kula-dharmäù sanätanäù
• dharme nañöe kulaà kåtsnam
• adharmo'bhibhavaty uta
• With the destruction of the dynasty, the eternal
  family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest
  of the family becomes involved in irreligion.

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Why it has disintegrated?

• In the system of the varëäçrama institution there
  are many principles of religious traditions to
  help members of the family grow properly and
  attain spiritual values. The elder members are
  responsible for such purifying processes in the
  family, beginning from birth to death. But on the
  death of the elder members, such family
  traditions of purification may stop, and the
  remaining younger family members may develop
  irreligious habits and thereby lose their chance
  for spiritual salvation. Therefore, for no
  purpose should the elder members of the family be
  slain.

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Is it Possible?

• "Most joint families disintegrate when the elders
  lose moral authority," says Mr. A.V. Subba Rao,
  an advocate.
• Kali Yuga is the age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy

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Benefits of Extended Family

• Economical
• Ecological and Environmental
• Social
• Psychological
• Cultural
• Health
• Spiritual

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Extended Family

• Joint families are like microcosms of an entire
  world. They are the first training grounds, where
  people learn interpersonal skills. People in
  joint families learn lessons of patience,
  tolerance, cooperation and adjustment. They also
  learn what it means to take collective
  responsibility. One for all and all for one.

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Economical
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Economical

• Speaking in support of the joint family system,
  Dr. Mona Khaitan, a professor of business in
  MassBay Community College, presented data
  suggesting the joint family system fares better
  economically. According to the National Family
  Health Survey of 1998-1999, while joint families
  form only 35 of the low income households, they
  form 53 of the high income households.

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Economical

• Dr. Khaitan explained the better economic success
  of the joint family as it "enjoys the economies
  of scale the costs are lower than if two or
  three households were to be maintained, making
  for increased income."
• In addition to the economic advantage, Professor
  Khaitan advanced the idea of 'relational wealth',
  original proposed by late Professor Romesh Diwan
  of Rensselaer Polytechnic College in Troy, NY.
  This is intangible wealth amassed that promotes
  physical, emotional, intellectual, and psychic
  wellbeing of each individual.

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Ecological Environmental

• Joint Families May Be More Environmentally Sound
  Source http//timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dl
  l/html/comp/ LONDON, ENGLAND, January 14, 2003
  Living with mom and dad, rather than venturing
  out on your own may actually contribute to saving
  the planet.

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Ecological Environmental

• From an environmental stance, as the number of
  households with one, two, or three occupants
  increase, proportionately so too will energy
  consumption, land and water use and construction
  materials. Other experts, such as sociologists,
  agree that more households means more energy use.
  
• Liu calls the study a Wake-up Call!

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Social

• High divorce rates
• Working mothers Cannot spend time with Kids
• Security, education and Welfare of Children are
  not met properly.
• Raise in Oldage homes corresponds to raise in
  Nuclear families and Divorce rates

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Social

• The ageing India combined with a declining joint
  family system faces a crisis in social security
  for elderly. The government pension system has
  been converted from a defined benefit system to a
  Defined Contribution one. The mandatory schemes
  like Employees' Provident Funds Schemes cover a
  relatively small segment of the total work force.
  In all, more than 80 of the work force is not
  covered by any mandatory retirement/social
  security schemes.
• Prof. Vaidynathan
• IIM, Bangalore
• (Declining Joint Family Emerging crisis in
  Old Age)

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Social

• It is required for India to think of innovative
  products and systems to deal with the issues.
  Reverse mortgage on housing stock and converting
  huge stock of gold held by households by single
  premium pension products may help to some extent.
  But, it is equally important to stress on family
  values and savings based life style to face the
  long-term implications of the emerging crisis in
  the social security scene.

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Psychological

• School shoot-outs in US
• School violence in India
• Juvenile delinquency due to poor family structure
• Psychological effects of single child (no
  sibling) and Nuclear Family
• Crime rate connected with Nuclear Family system

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Health

• State expenditure on the Family insurance on
  Health

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Spiritual

• Concept of Varna Sankara
• By the evil deeds of those who destroy the family
  tradition and thus give rise to unwanted
  children, all kinds of community projects and
  family welfare activities are devastated. --B.g
  1.42

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Spiritual

• Devayäné wished to marry him, but at first he
  refused to accept her because of her being a
  daughter of a brähmaëa. According to çästras, a
  brähmaëa could marry the daughter of a kñatriya
  but a kñatriya could not marry the daughter of a
  brähmaëa. They were very much cautious about
  varëa-saìkara population in the world.

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Spiritual

• This Vedic social organization is very good in
  that it stops the promulgation of illicit sex
  life, or varëa-saìkara, which appears under
  different names in this present day.
  Unfortunately in this age although the father and
  mother are anxious to get their children married,
  the children refuse to get married by the
  arrangement of the parents. Consequently, the
  number of varëa-saìkara has increased throughout
  the world under different names.

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Nuclear Family Disadvantages

• Nuclear family system has its own advantages,
  which exactly are not advantages but the ways out
  to the problems in joint family. The core
  strength of the nuclear family system lies in
  Fewer the members, lesser the problems.

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Nuclear Family Disadvantages

• The problems commonly found in joint family
  system are automatically eradicated because there
  is no one to produce those problems, in case of
  nuclear families. This solution is achieved but
  at the cost of an ironic set of factors that do
  count.

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Nuclear Family Disadvantages

• This set of factors and the results of those
  factors include
• Loneliness and Depression
• Sharing Joys and Grieves
• Development of Children

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Solution

• Radical transformation of society as a whole.
  They believe that a "new man" and a "new woman"
  have to be created before a better family system
  can be devised.
• The prevailing social order preconditions
  everyone against achieving true happiness. They
  find human nature itself deformed by our present
  unhealthy civilization and therefore demand a
  "fresh start"

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MAKE VRNDAVAN VILLAGES

• The Conclusion should be clear
• MAKE VRNDAVAN VILLAGES
• -H.H.Bhakti Raghava Maharaj

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Varnasrama Research Team
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Varnasrama Research Team
Daivi Varnasrama Farm Community
Temples and Congregation
Varnasrama Research Team
Varnasrama College
Varnasrama Preaching Wing
Collaboration Wing (with external Bodies)
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Varnasrama Research Team
Core Researchers
Core Writers
Allied Services
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Core Researchers
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Core Researchers
Varnasrama Lab
Bhaktivedanta Library
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Core Researchers
Bhaktivedanta Library
Virtual Library
Physical Library
Periodicals
Books
Web Bank
Digital Library
Video/ Audio/ Documents
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Core Researchers
Varnasrama Lab
Martial Arts
Agricultural Wing
Cow-Protection Wing
Art Wing
Fine-Art
Home Science
Music
Drama
Dance
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Core Writers
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Core Writers
Editors
Compilers
Language
Content
Proof Readers
Translators
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Allied Services
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Allied Services
Layout Designers
Website Updation wing
Publishers
Communications Wing
Distributors
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Varnasrama Research Team
Daivi Varnasrama Farm Community
Temples and Congregation
Varnasrama Research Team
Varnasrama College
Varnasrama Preaching Wing
Collaboration Wing (with external Bodies)