Genre: Short Essay Author: Stephen L. Nock
About the author: Stephen L. Nock was born on March 11, 1950 and died on 26 January, 2008. He was a researcher, author and a Commonwealth Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia. He wrote several articles on the role of marriage in society. He had also written about the causes and consequences of change in the American family. He investigated issues of privacy, unmarried fatherhood, cohabitation, commitment, divorce and marriage. In 1999, his book Marriage in Men’s Lives won the William J. Good Book award from the American Sociological Association for the most outstanding contribution to family scholarship.
About the essay: In this essay, the author has pointed out the programs that have strengthened marital relationships, lower divorce rates, reduce out-of-wedlock births and encouraging responsible fatherhood. According to him, marriage is the sum of two spouses which is defined by legal, moral and conventional assumptions (traditional beliefs).
Nock, has discussed about the advantages and disadvantages of living together (cohabitation) of a young boy and girl of different families, without marrying or after their marriage. The author is found supportive to the normative types of marriage. He says, ‘Marriage as a Social Institution’.
Institution is an organization that has established law, practice and pattern. Institution is important for a society. It helps to make our life more comfortable. Institution has its own system, rules and values. For example: school, politics, mass media, law, marriage, law etc. People who come under an institution must follow all the norms of it.
According to Nock, ‘Marriage is a social institution. Marriage is a social phenomenon. It is the union of two young people of different sexes. After marriage, they are legally, morally and culturally related to each other and create several soft boundaries. It is also a universal phenomenon. After marriage, the couple must follow the social norms and regulations defined by society. Certain rights and freedom is provided to the married couple after their marriage. It is a legally and socially accepted union of two young people of different genders. Under this institution, the married couple is an active partner in economic activities, personal relationships, the formation of the nuclear family, the breeding of children, the fulfillment of sexual needs, residential cohabitation etc. Marriage is an institution that has been approved by society and provides the discipline to establish a family. After marriage, the young couple has to start a new life, being restricted by social norms and values of society. They can enjoy their freedom to make their life fruitful and important enjoying the following certain norms and values of society, therefore, it is defined as an institution.
Different types of marriages:
Monogamy – single wife, single husband
Polygamy – more than one wives
Serial monogamy ( a person marries another after the divorce or death of a spouse), Polyandry (a single wife has many husbands, in Manang Mustang )
Polygyny ( one husband, many wives i.e in muslim community), common in the past.
Endogamy ( marriage within a group i.e. in Raute community),
Exogamy (marriage out of their community or the group.
In general the most important form of marriage is arrange marriage in our society. Besides this love marriage and court marriage is also common these days. Marriage is a global phenomenon. According to the differences in culture and religion, the form of marriages are also different.
Six dimensions of Normative marriage
Normative marriage refers to the normal type or traditional marriage. In this type of marriage, one has to follow the boundaries and freedom made by society. In the United States, there are six dimensions of marriage. They are:
– They must be young and matured. They have the right to choose for their life partner.
– Heterosexual relationship (relationship with different sexes i.e. male and female)
– Husband is the head of the family and primary earner, who earns for his family.
– Both of them must be sexually faithful to each other.
– They can be legitimate parents so that they can plan for their children.
– They can create and follow soft boundaries and their relationship is well protected by religion, law, society, custom etc.
According to Emile Durkheim, marriage matters a lot to a man. This is because it provides a way to their lives and organizes their ambitions. After his marriage, he is more responsible than before. His wishes and necessities are related to the wishes and necessities of the family members. He has to work hard for the well-being, comfort, luxury and prestige of the whole family. Marriage makes a man be more responsible and honest in his life. Marriage gives men a direction in life and helps them achieve their goals. Marriage also to some extent reduces the suicide rate in men.
In the current United States, people prefer an unmarried life. They want freedom. Cohabitation is being more popular these days. Despite of this, cohabitation is an illicit relationship between a man and a woman who live together or share a room for their convenience. But according to the theory of marriage, cohabitation is not accepted by society. For example, it is easy to a married couple to introduce each other by saying ‘he is my husband and she is my wife’ but it is not easy for those people who are cohabiting, to introduce themselves. Their relation is difficult to bring out. These types of people cannot give birth to a child as society names the child as an illegitimate child and the child is not accepted by the society.
According to the author, marriage also promotes social capital. After marriage, two people from two families are united. New relations are developed in their life. There is a vast network of people who are connected together through the marital status of their spouses. This develops trustworthiness among them. This helps to solve any kind of social or financial difficulties in the life of the couple and the family they live in therefore marriage becomes a new strength in a person’s life so it is also called social capital.Why is marriage called social institution? Marriage is an institution that admits man and woman to family life. The normative marriage has certain norms and patterns regarding the union of two your people of different sexes from different families. It establishes a stable relationship in which a man and a woman are socially permitted to live together without losing their status in the community. Marriage is not merely concerned with the couple; rather it affects the whole society and future generations
