Most of the world’s population which is considered so called civilized, lives in some form of family unit. Family has shown variations through time across countries of the world and even within a country in terms of varied parameters like composition, relationships, descent, etc. A sociologist looks at the institution both in terms of an ideal type and a reality. In reality a number of types and forms of family are seen. Among the primitive people the family organisation is most commonly of the consanguine type i.e. the conception of marriage is frequently vague and it may not be there. But in modern society the conception of conjugal family is the basis of family organisation in society. The difference between the two lies in the primary of relationships; it is blood in the former and marriage in the later. In this light is important to understand the types of family across time and space. Morgan listed five different and successive forms of family, each being associated with a corresponding and distinctive type of marriage.

The consanguine family consisted of a group, which was founded upon the intermarriage, in a group, of siblings, own and collateral, i.e., of brothers and sisters and of cousins.

The Punaluan family was founded upon the intermarriage of several sisters/ brothers, own and collateral with each other's husbands/ wives, respectively, in a group.  The joint husbands/wives were not necessarily related to each other. However, in actual practice, the husbands as a group, and the wives as a group, must have been kin of each other. 

The Syndyasmian or pairing family was founded upon marriage between single pairs, without giving the right of exclusive cohabitation to any person over another.  Consequently, such a marriage continued during the pleasure of the parties.

The patriarchal family was founded upon the marriage of one man with several wives, each wife being secluded from every other.

The monogamian family was founded upon marriage between single pairs, with the married couple having exclusive cohabitation with one another.

From the perspective of children, the family functions as a family of orientation: the family serves to locate children socially. From the point of view of the parents, the family serves as a family of procreation with the goal of producing, enculturating and socializing children.

Family size varies from society to society and even with in a particular society. Nuclear family consists of husband, wife and their unmarried children. Nuclear families are typically seen by many sociologists as the feature of the modern or industrial society. Talcott Parsons argued that the isolated nuclear family is the typical family form in modern industrial society. It is ‘structurally isolated’ because it does not form an integral part of a wider system of kinship relationships

Similarly, Michael Young and Peter Willmott conducted studies of family life in London from the 1950s to the 1970s. In their book, The Symmetrical Family, they attempt to trace the development of the family from pre-industrial England to the 1970s. In the early 1970s, Young and Willmott reported the existence of what they have termed as “The Symmetrical Family” which is caricaturized by the separation of the immediate, or nuclear family from the extended family. The husband returns to the family circle. Life for this nuclear family is largely home centered, particularly when the children are young. The conjugal bond is strong and relationships between husband and wife are increasingly ‘companionate’. In the home, ‘they shared their work: they shared their time’. The nuclear family has become a largely self-contained, self reliant unit.

In the case of Indian society, Pauline Kolenda, 1987 [1] has discussed additions/modifications in the nuclear family structure. She gives the more compositional categories on the basis of addition of relatives in the nuclear family: for example Supplemented nuclear family indicates a nuclear family plus one or more unmarried, separated, or widowed relatives of the parents other than their unmarried children. Similarly she talks Sub nuclear family, Single person household, and Supplemented sub nuclear family

Whereas, extended family can be viewed as a merger of several nuclear families. Other relatives exist in terms of either horizontal or vertical manner or even the combination of both. Extended families are more common in traditional or agricultural societies. Broadly speaking Extended family in India is known as joint family. In Yugoslavia they are known by the name “Yarduga”. Pauline

Kolenda points out the following types of the joint family in India on the basis of addition or deletion of relatives for example in Collateral Joint Family, two or more married couples between

Whom there is a sibling bond exist. Similarly she talks of Supplemented Collateral Joint Family, Lineal Joint Family, Supplemented Lineal Joint Family, Lineal Collateral Joint Family, and Supplemented Lineal – Collateral Joint Family

There world over instead of a dichotomy of nuclear and extended families, sociologists talk of some intermediate types. Eugene Litwak argues that a new term, “the modified extended family[2]”, should be introduced to describe the typical family in modern industrial society. On the other hand Allan prefers the term “modified elementary family[3]” to ‘modified extended family’, since to him it more accurately describes the range of kin who are important to an individual. On the basis of research carried out in London in the 1980s. Peter Willmott reached broadly similar conclusions to Litwak and Allan. He claims that the dispersed extended family is becoming dominant in Britain. It consists of two or more related families who cooperate with each other even though they live some distance apart.

On the basis of number of spouses, most prevalent form, monogamous family is one in which one man marries one woman at a time. Monogamy takes two forms, strict (one spouse during life time) or serial (one spouse at a time). Hindu religion prescribes strict monogamy for women and serial monogamy for men. Polygamous families are based on marriage between more than one spouses. These are of two types. Polygynous family is based on marriage of one man with several women. Polyandrous family is based on marriage of one woman with several man Modern societies favours monogamous families as the prescribes norm. Modern law sanctions only one wife or one husband at a time. Different cultures give sanctions to different norms, for example among Muslims; polygyny is the normal practice where as among the todas of Nilgiris polyandry is the practice. In 1958, C.M. Abraham has reported that in Central Travancore fraternal polyandry was practised by larger number of groups like the Irava, Kaniyan, the Vellan and the Asari.

On the basis of authority, Patriarchal family is one in which authority is vested in the male member of the family. Modern families most commonly are patriarchal. Matriarchal, in which authority rests with the female member of the family. This type of family is found mainly in tribal societies. In the real sense, women in these families set priorities. In the Khasi tribe of Assam such practices are common. In the tribes of Garo hills we find the prevalence of matriarchal family. According to Mowrer, in filiocentric families, which are a phenomenon in the modern societies, the children play a significant role in decision making.  But globally the trend is towards replacement of matriarchal family by patriarchal family. In the post modern society, even the conception of authority is fast vanishing. Love, affection and commitment is fast replacing the relationships based on authority.

On the basis of ancestry, In Patrilineal family property inheritance and reckoning of decent follow along the line of father. Whereas in Matrilineal family, property inheritance and ancestry follow mother’s line.

Residence is often taken as the basis of defining the type of family. Where the couple lives after marriage is a culturally conditioned  decision. Much also depends on the descent system present in society. In Patrilineal family wife goes to her husband’s house, thus known as patrilocal family. But today in modern western industrial societies, even if Patrilineal system exists the couple generally establish there new household i.e. Neolocal family. Similarly matrilineal families are commonly Matrilocal, where husband goes and lives in his wife’s house, but Avunculocality may also be practiced where the couple goes and lives in maternal uncle’s house.

In this way various types of forms of family can be conceptualized. This is not to say that all these variations exist in every society, there remains a diversity of family forms in different societies across the world. In some areas, such as remote regions in Asia, Africa or the Pacific, traditional family system involving extended families, patriarchal clans and polygamy have altered little. In most Third World countries, however, widespread changes are occurring. In the modern industrial societies particularly western, nuclear, egalitarian, Neolocal families is the trend.

Emerging types of families

One of the most striking features of contemporary societies is the emergence of a range of family variations, from the most traditional, extended families with strict, gender based sex roles to the modern dual career families based on liberal, equal sex roles and to adults cohabiting without marriage. The term “alternative family patterns” suggests family patterns that result from personal circumstances outside one’s control or from socio-economic conditions (male migration, work participation of women). Apart fro these certain ideological view points has also led to establishment of commune type of living as an alternative family system.  Biological limitation has led to growing prevalence and even acceptance of single sex families (gay parent).Let us examine these in detail.

Communes

In the nineteenth century, numerous thinkers proposed that family life can be replaced by more communal forms of living. Oneida Community, of New England in the USA, set up in the middle of the nineteenth century was based on the religious beliefs on John Humphrey Noyes. Every man in the community was married to every woman, and all were supposed to be parents to the community’s children. It endured for about thirty years before breaking up. Many other communes have been founded since then, in Britain as well as many other Western countries. A small number of these are still in existence. The most important current example of communal domestic life is that of the kibbutzim in Israel. A kibbutz is a community of families and individuals which cooperates in the raising of children. Most of the kibbutzim were originally collective farming enterprises, but today many have also moved into industrial production. There are more than 240 kibbutzim in Israel, having nearly 100,000 members in all. Some are small, with no more than 50 members, while others include as many as 2,000 people. Each kibbutz operates as though it were a single household, childcare being treated as the responsibility of the whole community.

Cohabitation (Live in family)

Cohabitation where a couple lives together in a sexual relationship without being married - has become increasingly widespread in most Western societies. In Britain until very recently cohabitation was generally regarded as somewhat scandalous. During the 1980s, however, the number of unmarried men and women sharing a household went up by nearly 300 per cent. Surveys in the United States indicate that about one in four students there lives with a partner with whom they are involved in a sexual relationship at some point during the course of their college careers. Nordic countries have the highest rates of cohabitation today. In Sweden in 1960, for example, only 1 per cent of couples cohabited; today that figure has risen to an estimated 25 per cent. As in other countries in Europe, the majority of cohabiting couples marry after a certain time, or when they have children. Cohabitation has quite often been given a legal status, such that, should a relationship break up, individuals can sue for property settlement and maintenance.

Gay-parent families

Many homosexual men and women now live in stable relationships as couples, and some gay couples have been formally ‘married even if these ceremonies have no standing in law. Relaxation of previously intolerant attitudes towards homosexuality has been accompanied by a growing tendency for courts to allocate custody of children to mothers living in gay relationships. Techniques of artificial insemination mean that gay women may have children. While households consisting of gay partners and one of more children may not be very common, they do exist. This raises the question of whether such households should be regarded as families. Sidney Callahan (1997) argues that such households should still be seen as families. He argues that, if marriage were available, many gay and lesbian couples would marry.

Single parent family

Several factors have combined to increase the numbers of people living alone in modern Western societies. Being single means different things at different periods of the life-cycle. A larger proportion of people in their twenties are unmarried than used to be the case. By their mid-thirties, however, only a small minority of men and women have never been married. The majority of single people aged thirty to fifty are divorced and in between marriages. Most single people over fifty are widowed. But apart from the natural circumstances , trend towards staying single ( with or without children) is increasing particularly in the western countries. According to Giddens , one parent families now make up about a third of families in the UK and in France. Unmarried women with children make up more than 50% of the total in one or two Scandinavian countries.

In the Indian context, most family variations are a result of personal or socioeconomic circumstances. Experimental or chosen lifestyles like living without marrying, and being childless voluntarily are restricted to an extremely small group of people. The following are the most commonly observed family variations in India Single parent families , Female headed households, Dual earner/career families, Childless families, Adoptive families.