Forms of Marriage

♦ Marriage - the legal, socially recognized union between a man and

a woman.

Marriage has two forms:

 Monogamy- this form of marriage only allows for one person to

have only one husband or wife at the same time. In other
words, only one man is allowed to be married to one woman.

 Polygamy- this form of marriage is different from monogamy

in that it allows for an individual to have more than one
husband or wife at the same time.

Terms Associated with Authority in the Family

 Patriarchal - the father is the head of a family or tribe. The

father is therefore vested with authority.

 Patrifocal - the father is the head of the household.

 Matriarchal - the mother is the head of a family or tribe.

  Matrifocal - the mother is the head of the household. For
example, during the slavery period, the homes were occupied
mainly by the women and children. Plantation owners
discouraged families and only allowed men to occupy the
homes for breeding purposes.

 Egalitarian - this connotes equal sharing of authority between

mother and father in the family or tribe.

Terms Associated with Family Types

 Extended Family - made up of members which extend

beyond two or more generations. This type of family usually
includes married siblings, their spouses and children,
grandparents, cousins and other relatives.

 Nuclear Family - made up of married or unmarried couple

and their children (own or adopted) living under the same roof.

 Sibling Family - made up of brothers and sisters or sister and

sisters or brothers and brothers. In this setting, both parents
are absent from the home through migration, imprisonment or
death.

Tracing Kinship

 Matrilineal - this is where the special privileges or duties

follow the female line in the family.

 Patrilineal - Special privileges or duties follow the male line.

Terms Associated with marriage and Divorce

 Bigamy - the offensive act of marrying someone while already

married to another person in a society that practices
monogamy.
  Incest - sexual relation between people who are closely
related. This type of act is deemed unlawful.

 Divorce - the legal end to a legally contracted marriage.

 Legal Separation - the separation of married partners by a

court order.

 Annulment - the cancellation of a marriage on the grounds

that it is not legal.

 Alimony - this term is used to describe the money that the

court orders a partner (whether man or woman) in a marriage
to pay to the other partner as maintenance after divorce.

♦ Inheritance - the property or money which has been passed

from a dead person to his or her beneficiary.
♦ Status - a social position occupies by an individual
♦ Kinship - family relation that is close.

Family: A group of persons sharing the same domestic unit

(household) related by blood, marriage, adoption or some other
factors.
It must also be noted that the family is subjected to support and
maintain each other emotionally, socially, and economically. You
would then agree that not all households can be described as a
family because they experience the lack thereof.
The family is the first institution that enrolls us after birth, as such;
its importance cannot be overemphasized. In order for the society
to function smoothly, the family needs to perform certain basic
functions.
Functions of the family in Contemporary society
The family carries out unique functions that ensure continuity of the
human kind . The following are functions undertaken by the family,
bear in mind, not all families carry out these functions.

Explanations of the varying functions of the family

1) Provides Economic Maintenance The family is responsible for
satisfying and supplying the
basic needs of its members. It
is usually the parents who
work and pool their resources
together in an effort to ensure
that food, clothes and shelter
is present.
2) Emotional Support The family attends to its
members emotional and
psychological needs through
providing an oasis of love,
attention, security and a sense
of identity.
3) Reproduction/Procreation The family plays a crucial role
in populating the society with
human species.
4) Socialization The family is an agent of
socialization in that it teaches
the young accepted behaviors
of the society, their roles,
responsibilities and basic skills
needed for survival.
5) Controls sexual behavior The family controls the
sexual behavior of its
members. There is a
prohibition of sexual intimacy
between its members.
6) Educational Maintenance A child's education begins at
home. Even before entering
the formal educational
systems, parents contribute to
the informal education of their
child. This is usually
demonstrated through the
teaching of the alphabet,
learning of a few numbers,
spelling of the name. The
school however,in later years
take over the responsibilities
for formal education.
Throughout these years of
formal education, the family
continues to play its part by
offering assistance, attending
important school meetings,
supervising course works, and
offering encouragement.

This family consists of only one parent living with his/her children.
Such a family is very common in the Caribbean homes, seeing most
time being headed by a woman. The circumstances that give rise to
the formation of this family type include:
♦ Divorce or separation
♦ Death of one of the partners
♦ By deliberate choice
♦ Desertion or abandonment
 Family Unions in the Caribbean
There are several different family unions that exist in the Caribbean
community. Most of these unions are as a result of our strong
historical past, but there are few that were birthed out of current
happenings in our society.

1. The Legal Marriage - In the Caribbean, this union exist where a

man and a woman are legally united, usually in the presence of a
Christian priest, Hindu priest, A Muslim priest, Justice of the Peace
or any person who is duly authorized to conduct this religious or
legal ceremony. One enters into a legal union either through
reaching the age of eighteen or if younger, through parental
consent. Both parties involve in this union share a common
residence and a socially approved sexual relationship.
2. Common-Law or Consensual Union - This union exists
between a man and a woman who are not legally married but
shares a sexual union and a common residence by mutual
agreement. This type of family union is becoming increasingly
popular in the Caribbean, however, it is widely viewed that this
relationship gives birth to ‘illegitimate' children and lacks the
binding strength needed to keep the relationship alive during
stressful and hard times.

Visiting Relationship - In this type of union, the man and woman

are not married and do not share common residence. They visit
each other at times for the purposes of sexual intercourse. The
sexual relationship shared by both partners may lead to the birth of
children, often times classified as ‘illegitimate' children because of
the circumstances under which they were born.
Maintaining a healthy relationship between family members can
prove to be an overwhelming task, however, it is not an impossible
fate. The following factors contribute to a breakdown in relationship
among family members:
→ Family size and spacing of children
→ Financial difficulties
→ Sudden change in the composition of the family ( arrival of a
new baby, new family member etc)
→ Inability to carry out one's role

Changes in Caribbean Family

The Caribbean family has undergone many changes as it relates to
the roles and responsibilities of its members. The feminine role is
not just that of a housewife but also an income earner. Let us
explore these changing roles of family members in Contemporary
Caribbean society.

Traditional Roles of Men and Women in Caribbean Families

Traditional Roles of Men Traditional
roles ofWomen

 Decision Maker Decision Taker

 Breadwinner Home Maker /

 housekeeper

Disciplined the children Socialize the children

 Work outside the home Work with children

and

 Protector Counsellor / religious leader

 Preparation for Parenthood
Parenting is a very serious undertaking. It is advised that one do
not become a parent before he/she has acquired some of the basic
pre-requisite skills needed to make them good parents.
The following factors should be considered in preparation for
responsible parenthood:

1. Be knowledgeable on family planning techniques - through family

planning, one will be better able to cater to the needs of the family
members. Family planning dictates to the number of children, the
spacing between them and how they will be provided for.
2. Build Emotional and Psychological strength - the presence of a
new baby affects the psychology of the family. Child rearing
requires a lot of patience to deal with the emotional and
psychological challenges. A child goes through different phases of its
life and it requires much understanding on part of the parents to
attend to the demands of these different phases.
3. Adequate financial resources - couples are encouraged to acquire
skills or education that will secure them a stable job. This will
guarantee that they are financially prepared to provide the basic
needs of the child.
4. Physical development - The development of a baby inside a
female's body carries many health risks. Hence, the female body
should be sufficiently developed to go through the nine months of
pregnancy, if not; there could be serious implications for the child
as well as the mother.
5. Be knowledgeable about first aid technique - this will make
parents better able to deal with emergencies as they arise.
6. Communication skills - the ability y to be able to talk to and
listen to their children
7. Socialization skills - to be able to teach the child/children the
values, norms and mores of the society in which they live.
8. Disciplinarian skills - the ability to be able to deal with
inappropriate behaviours

The family and social issues

The family is heavily affected by the social issues. Every individual

who is involved in the social ills of the society are apart of a family
which therefore means that a family will be affected. The following
are common effects on the family:
1. The family relationship will be affected - the issue may cause
conflict between family members as they grapple to deal with it.
2. Alienation by other members of the society - if a member of the
family suffers from a communicable disease, society might assume
that the entire family is suffering from like disease and alienate
them. This act of alienation leads to devaluing of oneself

3. Some families may lose important members such as parents

(bread winners), big brother/sister etc. through the hands of crime,
desertion, imprisonment or even death.
4. Family may be forced into financial depression because of excess
money spent on trying to rehabilitate one of its member
5. Younger Family members may model the behavior of those
senior members who enroll themselves in undesirable behaviors

Laws Relating to the Family

The laws serve to protect the interests of family members, primarily the
children and those who were once considered as illegitimate members. It is
with such knowledge that Caribbean governments have implemented family
laws to ensure equal status for inheritance.
Children and the Law
Children have been neglected for a long period until their well being
came under threat in recent times. The attacks on children have
captured the attention of the Caribbean government who have
moved swiftly to implement the Child care and Protection Act. This
act provides definitions of child abuse and neglect, procedures for
responding to allegations and judicial remedies. In essence, the
child care protection act speaks to the welfare of the child.

Laws relating to inheritance

Inheritance - the property or money which has been passed from a
dead person to his or her beneficiary.

The Succession Act deals with matters relating to inheritance. In

the past, there had been a legal discrimination against common-law
wives and children born out of wedlock. In recent time, changes
have been made to this act abolishing any legal distinction between
children born in wedlock and those born out of wedlock and giving
equal status for inheritance to surviving common-law wives.
The following outlines the circumstances surrounding inheritance of
property and rights to claim:
1. Where the deceased persons does not leave a will:

 The surviving spouse is entitled to the entire property if there

is no child/children or next of kin

 The surviving spouse is entitled to two-thirds of the property if

the deceased leave behind a child, who would receive the
remainder of the property

 If there are more than one child, the spouse will receive one-
third of the property and the remainder divided equally
amongst the children

Laws relating to marriage and divorce

 The ground for divorce was usually based on common acts

such as infidelity, abuse, desertion, among other things.
 Recent amendments have abolished these grounds and allow
for partners to show evidence in court that the marriage is
broken down and irretrievable.

 A divorce will be granted if the partners provide proof to the

court that they have been living separate lives for a continuous
period of not less than twelve months before the date of filing
the application for the divorce

 The court will not listen to cases that profile partners who have
been married for less than two years and have not made
extensive use of marriage counselling in an attempt to
reconcile differences.

Divorce signals the separation of a union. However, the separation

does not mean that all ties between both parties will disappear.
There are instances where one party may not be able to fully
support him/herself for varying reasons; therefore, the other party
will have to maintain that party.
The following reasons give credence to maintenance by one party:

 One partner may not be able to engage in meaningful work

because of physical, psychological or mental conditions

 One party may have to take care of children born in the

marriage

Alimony - this term is used to describe the money that the court
orders a partner (whether man or woman) in a marriage to pay to
the other partner as maintenance after divorce.

LEGAL SEPARATION
Many married couples "separate" when contemplating a permanent split or
working toward eventual reconciliation. "Legal separation," however, specifically
refers to a court approved separation which defines legally enforceable rights
and obligations, but does not permanently end the marriage. Legal separation
differs from more informal separation because a court must approve and order
legal separation. It also differs from divorce because the marriage continues to
exist after a legal separation.
Benefits of Legal Separation
Legal separation appeals to couples who do not wish to divorce, but who will live
separately and want matters such as child support, child custody and property
division clarified legally. Legal separation typically applies to couples who foresee
permanent separation, rather than a temporary trial separation. Common
reasons a couple might wish to legally separate, rather than divorce, include the
financial benefits of remaining married (such as tax incentives) and religious
beliefs which may conflict with divorce.

What is Domestic Violence Law?

Domestic violence law provides the criminal rules for punishing those
who cause emotional or physical harm to others with whom they share
a family or other close relationship. It also deals with the civil
protections available to victims of this type of harm. Federal legislation
has been enacted making domestic violence a crime, most notably the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). However, the vast majority of
domestic violence offenses are prosecuted under state law.