Arland Thornton and Thomas Fricke - "Social Change and the Family: Comparative Perspectives from the West, China, and South Asia"

This paper addresses the effect of social and economic change on family structure and relationships, through a comparative approach. The authors focus on the influence of industrialization, demographic change, expansion of education, and long-term growth of income. They compare the West, China (primarily Taiwan), and South Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan). "A primary goal of this paper is to identify processes of social change across regions as well as to specify ways in which family change depends upon cultural context (pg. 747).

The authors' perspective on family change is actor-based. They see "transformation as emanating from the behaviors of individuals and families in response to changing cultural and economic constraints and in pursuit of a hierarchy of goals" (pg. 749).

The familial mode of social organization has characterized all three societies at one time or another. "A typical feature of this familial mode of social organization in all three cultural settings is that the household organizes, directs, and manages its internal sources of labor to produce its means of existence" (pg. 750). It is often associated with agrarian society, but not limited to that.

Similarities: senior generation control over young family members's options; disparity in status wealth and power between parents and children so that the transfer of rights to the means of production is an important process; education is primarily a function of socialization within the family; and death and disease has crucial implications for family life.

Cultural variations: Western model is nuclear, young people may live apart but were not independent. Chinese families include a married son's parents and sometimes multiple married brothers with children remaining in the home. South Asian families vary dramatically among regions and castes, "household groups are embedded within larger patrilineal kinship structures with lines of authority on some issues going beyond household boundaries" (pg. 753). Western family's nuclear form meant that young people could not marry until they gathered the resources to create a household. In China's extended family form, children could marry before they were economically independent and South Asia was similar. Marriage decision therefore also differed. Western marriages were primarily about the couple's wishes whereas Chinese and South Asian marriages were determined at the wider family group level. Western young people also probably had more autonomy because of the greater residential separation from the family.

Social and Economic Change

At this point the authors go into the varied ways that the structure of family relationships have been altered by social transformations such as education expansion, nonfamily employment, urbanization and migration, and wage income. They examine each process individually, but acknowledge that their joint occurrence can create changes in the family beyond the sum of each individual effect.

Education - School can reduce the amount of time parents and children spend together, but in the West it also delayed children's leaving home. It can also decrease children's contributions to the family economy, but also reduce the costs of childrearing. It shifts responsibility for children from the parents to a public institution for much of the day and changes children's relationships with their peers. Rapid increase in education creates a generational gap in education level and provide children with more autonomy from their parents. Increased investment in children, however, may increase the children's obligations to the parents. Finally, education provides young people with access to new ideas.

Nonfamily Employment - The separation of family and occupational roles shifts the primary activities out of the household. Like education, it reduces the time family members spend together. Nonfamily employment may also affect residence patterns, especially in rural areas. For ex., when employment opportunities were close to home, the separation of work and home probably increased the proportion of Western children who could live with their families. In Taiwan and South Asia, most children already traditionally lived with their parents so nonfamily employment probably had little effect on residence patterns. It may also have changed traditional marital residence patterns (ex., tradition may say that wives move to husbands villages, but the factory may be closer to the wife's village encouraging the couple to reverse the traditional pattern).

Urbanization and Migration - Young people migrating to the city for employment often lived with relatives or as lodgers. Another housing alternative was the dormitory. These residences probably changed authority patterns by giving young people more independence than they would have at home. The authors also note that migration could be a family strategy in which the whole family moved. Taiwan and S.A. show that migration is "often balanced by continuing economic interdependence and a kinship system stressing lateral extension beyond the household" (pg. 761). In the West, lodging has virtually disappeared in the 20th century and single people are more likely to maintain their own residences.

Wage Income - "Although the long-term effect of wage income for children is diminished control by their parents, in the early stages of change parental control over the output of children remains strong" (pg. 762). In the West, children's control of their income has steadily increased; there is evidence that this is also happening in Taiwan and data for S.A. is unclear. In addition, being free of parental supervision and control can allow children to redefine their values and behavior and expose themselves to new ideas. Parents will also adjust their behavior to fit the new economic relationship. One downside to this autonomy: vulnerability. Children are more removed from parental protection.

Mate Selection and Marriage

The authors suggest that one consequence of children's increased separation from the household is a decrease in the control parents have over their children's marriage decisions. This decline can be seen in the West and in Taiwan, but only very recently in S.A. This freedom is more likely to benefit sons and sons-in laws than daughters, however. Extended schooling can delay marriage, although South Asia is an exception here. Higher income, however, can lead to earlier marriages when it means earlier independence and autonomy, but none of the societies completely fit this pattern. "This analysis suggests that the influence of social change on marriage age depends on parental authority over children" (pg. 767). Studies of S. A. suggest the significance of declining mortality in a society where spouses are traditional far apart in age. It can create a marriage squeeze decreasing the value of women on the marriage market. Finally, increased opportunity for premarital sex and pregnancy can also result from the autonomy and lack of parental supervision of young people.

Summary and Conclusions

The authors feel that this analysis supports the idea that there is a common impact of large-scale economic and social change on families. However, they note,"While the similarities of family change in diverse cultural settings are striking, our review suggests that there is no single developmental sequence or pattern that all societies will experience. Specific aspects of change have varied across settings because of significant pre-existing differences . . . This essay makes the crucial point that changes within the family cannot be understood without considering the family's role in specific cultural and social contexts" (pg. 770).