Thursday, October 2, 2008

Nuclear Family

Since the dawn of the mankind, humans have been living together as families which are the driving force of the society. The shape and the size of the family have gradually changed due to various changes in history. In early days, relatives of the same family used to live together in large numbers consisting of members from several generations and this trend was visible in both western and eastern countries and it is referred as extended family.

The industrial revolution, which happened between the period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, made a huge impact on agriculture, manufacturing, culture, economy, and transportation in Britain and its affects were later stretched out all over the world. This influence made a terrific impact on the stability of the historical extended family and society. The extended family was losing its popularity and being replaced with a new contender called nuclear family, which consists of father, mother and their children.

The simple and self supporting lifestyle supported the extended family to thrive during its era. But the world became more industrialized dragging all its inhabitants towards a complex lifestyle and the new advancement of science and technology further departed families from their natural life they used to have. Families became smaller and those nuclear families became just a part of massive industrial process.

Theses changes could be evident in eastern countries like Sri Lanka and India which have strong cultural and religious background. The families which were bound together by deep moral values couldn’t withstand against this new influence. Most of the children leave their family when they reach the age of 18 in search for employment, education and partners. Some of them even migrate to overseas countries for similar reasons.

A high concentration of people are gathered around commercial cities where the work departing them from their families. The globalization, a process which the people of the world are unified into a single society, has increase the rate of neutralization of families and has made the world even smaller. Therefore nuclear families are becoming more popular as it contains the core values needed to stay being part of the growth.

Even though theses influences have increased the living standard of people, it has made a significant blow on cultural and religious values of society. The families are loosing its connections with society and within it and people are becoming more restless. Unfortunately it is children who suffer most due to theses drastic changes. In fact, families can’t be in both extremes simultaneously. But they can achieve moderate success in both areas by choosing an intermediate path. It will keep their nuclear families extended marinating their cultural and religious values and with an acceptable success in modern society.

First Anaconda from sri lanka Anuradapura