Structural Changes and Interaction among Family Members – An Observational Study from Rural Areas in Punjab

Socio-Cultural transformation in the rural society emerging due to many factors is yielding lot of changes in various socio-economic institutions. Rural society of Punjab is facing many changes in last few decades. Introduction of interaction in society is the base of any social system.  It keeps society alive.  Family is the one of the prime sources of interaction.  Indian societies also give sufficient importance to family life and it is the family in which the minds of humanity are shaved. Till last quarter of 20th century family interaction was quite intensive among family members.  But in the last about 40 years profound changes have occurred among other interaction pattern. Punjab has also experienced a lot of changes in last 3-4 decades and family is also experiencing lot of changes generating a variety of consequences. In this paper an effort is made to highlight changes occurring in the interactional and structural pattern of family.  The present study was conducted in the rural areas of Punjab. Sample of 320 respondents were selected. The study showed that there is an increase in the socio-economic status of rural people from year 1990 to 2015. There is increase in material possession and change in type of family from joint to nuclear from year 1990 to 2015. Many functional changes have also taken place like change in marriage rituals, religious changes, change in authoritative aspect, interactional changes among family members, change in death rituals, changed occupational preference.