Depressive Disorders and Family Constellation1

The joint family forms an important and distinguishing characteristic ol' the Indian society. Desal (1964) says "H indus understood only one type of family and that was the joint family. The normat ive patterns of their actions was characterised by the orientation to this g roup" . Over the past two decades social scientists have expressed concern over the fate of the jo in t family when viewed in context of the rapid industrialization and urbanizat ion that India is undergoing (Sethi and Manchanda , 1978). Some assert that this once-stable institution is undergoing fragmentation (Sethi, 1968; Sethi et al., 1974) whereas others opine tha t "a l though structurally the traditional family appears to break down, functionally it is not so , " and go on to add that the jo in t family is not disintegrating in order to function as independent units (nuclear) bu t adopt ing to new patterns which have the same degree of jointness (Kaldate, 1962; Kapad ia 1966; Desai. 1956, 1964). Needless to say this controversy has proved to be a fertile ground for investigative research whereby at tempts a re being made to determine an association between family type, a change in its pat tern and a possible impact on individuals in terms of psychiatric disorders.