Indian Children and Their Families

Tradition

The family is India's primary social structure, for it is through the family that Indian culture is reproduced. From their family, children learn the rituals and ideas that will consume the rest of their lives. Two examples are the notions of Karma and rebirth, through which many Indian parents believe their children are gifts from God. Parents believe that children do not need rules, and therefore, they allow children to initiate all of their activities, such as feeding, sleeping, and play. At an early age, however, children are believed to be capable for assisting in their own survival. While in this way children are autonomous, such autonomy is ambiguous because parents also teach their children to be obedient to their culture.

Socialization
Social values dictate children to defer to their extended families and paternalistic society. 'Familism' is a major Indian cultural theme that teaches children to be loyal, obedient, and respectful to their elders.
Children above the age of three rarely receive praise, and they are frequently punished because parents don't want children to think too highly of themselves; rather, they are to perceive themselves in regards to their social role and status. Because of this, children learn not to value their own ideas, but rather, to accept and perpetuate India's trusted cultural traditions, such as religion and 'familism'. Children's voices are suppressed, thus children are not able to interpret, and add new ideas to, their society.

Gender Roles in the Family
There is a clear distinction between the ways that Indian boys and girls are treated in their families. Parents teach their daughters to be passive, dependent, and subservient so that they will grow up to be obedient wives. In contrast, Indian parents prepare their boys to be independent caretakers and providers.
Marriage is the life destination of the Indian girl-child. Most girls are denied education, and they are forced to assist their mothers at home in domestic work. Further, they are often malnourished: parents see boys as more valuable to the household because they are believed to be more capable than girls. Furthermore, girls are a negative financial burden to a family because it will have to pay out a dowry when she is to be married.

Home Labor Education Poverty Health Organizations

The above information was derived from following sources:
Anandalakshmi, S. (1991). The Female Child in a Family Setting. The Indian Journal of Social Work, LII, 29-36.
Burra, N. (1989). Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Working Girls in India. International Labour Review, 128, 5, 651-660.
Karkal, M. (1991). Invisibility of the Girl Child in India. The Indian Journal of Social Work, LII, 5-12.
Mane, P.N. (1991). Socialisation of Hindu Women in Their Childhood: An Analysis of Literature. The Indian Journal of Social Work, LII, 81-95.
Rooparnine, J. (1990). Characteristics of Holding, Patterns of Play, and Social Behaviors Between Parents and Infants in New Dehli, India. Developmental Psychology, 26, 4, 667-673.

This website was created in the Fall of 1999 by Matthew Cardinale, Amanda Gitlin, and Lindsey Hollister, students at Tulane University. Our collaborate effort is part of a class project for Professor April Brayfield's Sociology 119: Children and Society Class. Information about children in other countries can be found at The Children Around the World webpage.