Family Structure in a Village of Bangladesh: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

Family structure is the fundamental unit of social structure in any society. Evidences suggest that family structure in every society is influenced and shaped by cultural patterns: values, beliefs, norms, attitude, language, customs etc. as well as modes of production that orient, direct and control human nature and nurture systems, and that organize, arrange and integrate family members into marital and family relationships that help to meet and satisfy their physiological, material, psycho-emotional and social needs for proper human development and adjustment, preserve and continue all human races and their respective cultures that generate new human infants and transmit those cultures from one generation to another for ensuring effective human adaptation to the environment. These features of family structure are quite universal through which the process of human adaptation is being realized. The purpose of this study is to compare family structure between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. It is known that family structure consists of family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction, marital and family relationships. These elements of family structure are quite universal, and may vary from one society to another as well as between the different segments of the same society. Relevant literatures in Bangladesh suggest that Muslim and Santal communities' cultural patterns: ideas, knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, attitudes, customs/traditions, language may influence and shape their respective family structure: family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction, and family relationship that vary between them. Although there have comprehensive differences in family structure viz. family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction and family relationship between Muslim and Santal communities' cultural systems, we have no systematic cross-cultural research work or data through which we may acquire knowledge about similarities and differences on family structure about the communities. So the problem situation needs to be investigated to gather and analyze relevant data on family structure: family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction and family relationship between Muslim and Santal communities in cross-cultural perspective. This study used quasi-experimental design in combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The design used in this study includes descriptive, typological and analytical comparison of both subjective and objective aspects of family structure. In so doing primary data were collected by structural questionnaire method from both the Muslim (70 sampled families) and Santal (30 sampled families) communities. In order to probe and validate the collected data observations were made when the researcher was collecting data from door to door. Examining and comparing the family structure in cross-cultural perspective, this study considers cultural values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, language, and traditions/customs as exogenous variables that Influence and determine family structure: family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction and family relationship as endogenous variables. To measure influences of exogenous variables on endogenous variables, and to make systematic cross-cultural comparison, the study develops and suggests an analytic model that arranges the structural/relational variables in a logical framework that helps to analyze and compare similarities and differences of family structure between the Muslim and Santal communities in Bangladesh. The analyses reveal that variables of family cultural system are differentially viz. positively and negatively related to the variables of family structure: family size and composition, family status and role, family power and authority, family communication and interaction and family relationship. Consequently, the analyses of t test reveal that these elements of family structure vary between Muslim and Santal communities. Especially, family size and composition differs in family formation, ideal and expected family size and composition norms, but it makes similar to actual and usual family size and composition. Family status and role was one of the important components to measure and compare family structure between Muslim and Santal communities. In so doing we classified family status patterns into family status assignment (age, sex, gender and kinship) and family status attainment (marital, educational, occupational, inheritance and economic), and family role distribution into economic, child rearing and caring, household chores and organization and control activities which are significantly similar and different between the communities. We also compared family power and authority patterns, process and outcomes with t test of mean differences that are certainly showed that there are significant differences in family power patterns, sex composition of family head, family decision-making and women subordination. Family communication and interaction was one of the elements of family structure. In order to measure and compare family communication and interaction we classified family communication into autocratic, democratic and egalitarian communication that are significantly different and family interaction pattern (verbal and nonverbal communication) and process (family prescription, evaluation, description, sanction and action) have both similarities and differences between the communities. In order to measure and compare family relationship we included variables of marital bond development, sexual behavior, marriage relation pattern, role and power relationship between husband and wife of the marriage relationship which are significant different except mate selection and marital arrangement for marriage bond development, duration of marital life between husband and wife, sexual behavior, marriage relationship pattern, cooperation, competition and consistency for role relationship and conformity for marital power relationship. In parent-child relationship there are also significant differences in many respects except sex of independence and aggression. However, findings of this study may help behavioral and social scientists and practitioners, especially policy makers, political leaders, lawyers, educationists, religious leaders, social workers and parents who are concerned with and sensitive to family welfare in Bangladesh. The results of this study may also help social workers who are involved in direct social work practice at individual, group and community levels, and enhance social work education and research in Bangladesh.