Family is the biggest unit of society.Family influences all walks of human life.In olden days there was no family in this world.Men and women were free to mate uncontrolled by any social or moral barriers.Man was not much different from animal,then.There are some sociologists who argue that family is a result of male possessiveness and jealousy. The dominant male claimed his monopolistic rights over the women he mated.Gradually he became a custom and resulted in the formation of families.
A survey of familial institutions categories families as follows:-
1.Monogamous and polygamous families
2. Endogamous and exogamous system
3. Patrilocal and matrilocal families.
4.Patriarchal and the matriarchal families.
5. Patrilineal and matrilineal families.
6.Nuclear and Joint families
When a family comprises of the spouses and their unwedded children it is regarded as a conjugal or a nuclear family.A joint family comes to the existence when the married children continue to live with their respective spouses under the same roof with the parents.
