Family tradition, also called family culture, is defined as an aggregate of
attitudes,
idea
In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...
s and
ideals, and
environment, which a person inherits from their parents and
ancestors
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...
.
Modern studies of family traditions
The study of family tradition and personality has attracted the attention of social scientists. Ernest W. Burgess, Professor of
Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, has defined the term in these words:
Sometimes, family traditions are associated with practices and beliefs which are handed over from one
generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
to the next, and during this process of transmission they acquire an
aura of
spirituality. Transmission of any set of such family traditions, acquiring
spiritual significance, is largely an
intuitive phenomenon, and the flow of family traditions continue without any intention, and the same continue to move on from one generation to another. Family traditions for most families remain largely confined to family members, but sometimes, outsiders may also be associated with a particular family's family traditions.
Functioning of family traditions
Halbwachs in his book ''On Collective Meare revealed only to its members. But these memories, as in the religious traditions of the family of antiquity, consist not only of a series of individual images of the past. They are at the same time models, examples, and elements of teaching. They express the general attitude of the group; they not only reproduce its history but also define its nature and its qualities and weaknesses".
Antiquity of family traditions
Family traditions have their roots in distant past, to
pre-historic
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
times, when the concept and system of family as a unit of society was crystallized. In all ages and in all
civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
...
s, since the ancient time to the present day, families have taken pride in their traditions. Before
nuclear family systems became the order of the day, there used to be
joint family
An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem a ...
system, consisting of all the family members of two or even three generations, living together.
Then, as also now, several families like to identify a particular person as the 'keeper of the family traditions'' and assign a particular name to the keeper. Thus, a particular family, residing in the modern
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
may assign a catchy name like "''Keeper of the Flame''" to the identified family member, entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring observance of that particular family’s family traditions. On the other side of the
globe
A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...
, in a country like
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the society has assigned a common nomenclature for the head of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), a form of joint family. Head of such a family is called "''Karta''" (literal meaning ‘One who does’), and for all practical purposes, "Karta" was entrusted with responsibilities, among other things, to ensure observance of family traditions. Even, modern India's
legal system recognizes the concept of "''Karta''" as the head of a Hindu joint family.
Classic examples of family traditions
One of the classic examples of family traditions of the modern era is the family traditions of the present
royal family of Great Britain. One of such family traditions enjoin upon male members of the present British royal family to serve in the armed forces. A
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...
in 1979. Prince Harry’s other uncle,
in 1983. Prince Harry’s father, the
. Harry’s grandfather, the
.
Meaningful family traditions have always been a valuable tool for parents and elders to carry out the responsibility of raising children and inculcating into them
s and ethos. Family traditions ensure that the warmth and closeness of family bondage grow. In the modern context, maintenance of and developing family traditions continue to be as significant as they were at the earliest times. Active family traditions and meaningful participation in them help families to avoid
. In
means the tendency of the physical system to lose energy and coherence over a period of time, like a gas dissipating until it is all but gone. An "entropic family" is one that loses its sense of
closeness because members neglect the family’s inner life and community ties.
Social scientists now agree that effective family traditions promote a sense of identity and a feeling of closeness, a sense of security and assurance in today’s fast, hectic, and ever-changing world. William Doherty, a social scientist has explained in his book "''The Intentional Family''" that as family bonds are weakened by busy
s, families can stay connected only by being intentional about maintaining important rituals and traditions.