Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Education, Religion, Economy and Polity
What this domain tests
This domain covers the five or six basic institutions - family, marriage, education, religion, economy and polity - through definitions, classifications, functions and the Indian laws that regulate them. Expect matching-type items on types of family and marriage, and short notes on manifest versus latent functions.
Family and marriage
- MacIver defines the family as 'a group defined by sex relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children'.
- Types: nuclear/joint; patrilocal, matrilocal, neolocal; patrilineal and matrilineal (the Khasi and the Nayar are the standard matrilineal examples); monogamy and polygamy (polygyny, polyandry).
- Hindu Marriage Act 1955: monogamy, prohibition of sapinda marriages, minimum age 21 for males and 18 for females after the 1978 amendment, divorce under Section 13.
- Special Marriage Act 1954: civil marriage irrespective of religion; notice to the Marriage Officer and a 30-day period; no religious rites required.
- Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 penalises giving and taking dowry.
Education and religion
- Education's manifest functions are transmission of knowledge, skills and certification; latent functions include childcare, mate selection and social control (Merton).
- Article 21A (86th Amendment, 2002) and the RTE Act 2009 guarantee free and compulsory education for ages 6–14.
- Durkheim: religion is 'a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things'; the sacred/profane divide organises the institution; Malinowski explains magic's role in uncertainty.
- Religious organisations: church, denomination, sect, cult.
Economy and polity
- Durkheim contrasts mechanical solidarity (segmentary societies) with organic solidarity (division of labour).
- Weber's authority types: traditional, charismatic and legal-rational; bureaucracy is his ideal type.
Worked example
An inter-caste couple wants a civil marriage. The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 presupposes a Hindu ceremony, so it does not apply; the Special Marriage Act 1954 applies instead, requiring notice, a 30-day window and registration without rites; succession then follows the Indian Succession Act rather than the Hindu Succession Act.
Traps that cost marks
- Claiming the Hindu Marriage Act governs all Indians.
- Quoting the original 1955 marriage ages instead of the 1978 figures (21 and 18).
- Confusing the RTE Act 2009 with Article 45 or with the 86th Amendment alone.