The significance of old family system: A psychological perspective

We find that the early men who were tribes and uncivilized had stayed together with their families. The fauna, birds, and creatures of the underwater kingdom also live in a family unit. We often see on infotainment channels how lion and lioness keep their little cubs safe and teach them how to catch their prey and life-surviving techniques. When a baby dog is killed by a car, then the whole dog family shouts out at each other as well as at others, especially at those who don’t relate to the Animalia kingdom i.e., humans. It shows how the animal world has some similarities to the human beings. They have instincts, motivation, and emotions like us on which they live.

The great late human civilizations of Mesopotamia, Greece, and Egypt showed us the way of living. Our great Indus Valley civilization which is still alive has taught us the way of life. If we gaze into our Indian history, we find the importance of family in the development of a person. People used to stay together to support each other, to develop each other, to love each other, and to understand each other. Family plays a crucial role in everyone’s life. Here we get that warmth and acceptance that a person looks for.

During hard times all members come together to help the member and curb out the problem. Not only physical support but they also provide a great amount of psychological support as well. Family members share their life moments and experiences to take or give guidance or to teach the younger ones the art of living. Many times, the younger generation teaches the older one. The elderly people, the grandfather and grandmother are the base of the family who always work to tie all the members in the bond of love, respect, trust, and care. All of them accept each other’s flaws and fine points to grow together. They work on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Personality takes shape in this unit. Changes are suggested or stated by the family members if they are required. Such a beautiful helping unit filled with empathy and support it is.

In older times, there were fewer cases of mental health issues which we are currently facing. The understanding of the importance of family has dropped in the last few decades. In Eastern culture as well as Western culture, there is a disruption in this social order. Now in the name of privacy, we are disordering the social order that was set by our ancestors. But when we see the countryside people the family institution is still luckily alive. That is why this is one of the reasons for major mental health issues are more visible in the urban population. In India, due to the huge rise in population, people and the government are promoting the concept of the nuclear family. Undoubtedly, this decision is the need of the hour. But our focus should be on building such old family values even in a nuclear family which used to enhance our personality.

From a psychological perspective, we need to understand the significance of family institutions to learn and promote value-based personality development. There is a need for some old school systems to be applied in this fast-forward world, but why, because “old is gold”. So let us all try to rebuild and redefine that ideal family system again. 

Article by Ms. Shruti Tiwari