ISC Class 12 Sociology Board Exam Question Paper 2017 with Solutions

ISC Class 12 Sociology Board Exam Question Paper with Solutions 2017

PART I (20 Marks)

Question 1. Answer briefly each of the following questions : [10 x 2]

(i) Distinguish between polyandry and polygyny. [2 Marks]

Answer:
Polyandry is the form of marriage in which a woman has two or more than two husbands at a time, whereas polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more than two wives at the same time.

Teacher's Note:
a) Polyandry and polygyny are both sub-types of polygamy, which means multiple marriages.
b) Ensure clear distinction by highlighting the gender having multiple spouses.

(ii) Define Gotra. [2 Marks]

Answer:
Gotra literally means 'clan'. It refers to the people who are descendants of a common ancestor, the ancestor is generally taken to be a male.

Teacher's Note:
a) Gotra is an important exogamous unit in Hindu kinship systems.
b) Mentioning the patrilineal descent aspect is crucial for full marks.

(iii) Explain the term superstition. [2 Marks]

Answer:
Superstitions refers to belief in supernatural causality, without any direct link between the cause and effect relationship. It is contrary to natural science. For example - belief in witchcraft, omens, prophecies, etc.

Teacher's Note:
a) Superstitions lack empirical and scientific validity.
b) Providing a relevant sociological or everyday example adds value to the answer.

(iv) What is meant by barter exchange ? [2 Marks]

Answer:
The barter system of exchange refers to an economic system in which payment in exchange of goods or services is not made through money, but in kind. Barter system can work only when there is double coincidence of wants. For example - the zamindar paying the nai by giving him some wheat.

Teacher's Note:
a) Highlight the absence of money and presence of direct exchange of goods.
b) Mentioning 'double coincidence of wants' is a necessary economic and sociological criterion.

(v) Differentiate between sex and gender. [2 Marks]

Answer:
Sex is a biological term that refers to male or female; while gender is a sociological term that refers to the man or woman and their associated roles in the society.

Teacher's Note:
a) Sex is ascribed and biological, whereas gender is socially constructed.
b) Keep the definitions crisp and focus on the biological versus social distinction.

(vi) What is meant by globalisation ? [2 Marks]

Answer:
Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people, and the dissemination of knowledge.

Teacher's Note:
a) Emphasize global connectivity across economic, cultural, and political dimensions.
b) Quoting institutional frameworks like the IMF demonstrates strong conceptual knowledge.

(vii) What is the basic difference between religion and science ? [2 Marks]

Answer:
The basic difference between religion and science is that religion asks one to surrender before the supernatural without any questioning, purely on faith. While science encourages questioning and tells its adherents not to accept anything on face value. Thus deep scepticism is a virtue in science while it is considered heresy in religion.

Teacher's Note:
a) Contrast faith and dogma against empirical testing and skepticism.
b) Use sociological terminology like 'scepticism' and 'faith' precisely.

(viii) Define racism. [2 Marks]

Answer:
The term 'racism' is an ideology that promotes discriminative practices towards people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems.

Teacher's Note:
a) Highlight that racism involves both belief systems (prejudice) and systemic actions (discrimination).
b) Note that it rests on the false premise of racial superiority.

(ix) Name any two laws that have helped in the empowerment of women. [2 Marks]

Answer:
1. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
2. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

Teacher's Note:
a) Any two legally valid enactments targeting women's rights and protection are acceptable.
b) Mentioning the correct year of legislation adds accuracy.

(x) What is meant by social change ? [2 Marks]

Answer:
The term social change is used to indicate the changes that take place in human interaction and human interrelation. Social change refers to observable difference in any social phenomena observed over a period of time. According to Gillin and Gillin, 'Social changes are variations from the accepted models of life, whether due to alteration in geographical conditions, in cultural equipment, composition of the population or ideologies or brought about by diffusion or inventions within the group.'

Teacher's Note:
a) Social change implies structural and institutional transformations in society over time.
b) Incorporating a standard sociological definition (like Gillin and Gillin) earns full credit.

PART II (50 Marks)
Answer any five questions.

Question 2.
(a) What is meant by kinship usages ? Discuss the kinship usage of avoidance, in detail. [5 Marks]
(b) Define marriage. Discuss its functions in human life. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) The term kinship usage means the rules governing the behavior with different kins. It provides guidelines for interaction among different persons in a social group. It defines proper and acceptable role relationships. Thus, it acts as regulator in social life. According to avoidance in kinship usage, two kins of opposite sex should remain away from each other, i.e., they should avoid each other.
They should avoid even seeing the face of each other. Thus, a father-in-law is supposed to avoid a daughter-in-law. Similarly, a mother-in-law avoids a son-in-law. In some societies, avoidance is also maintained between brothers and sisters. The purdah system of the Indian society illustrates the usage of avoidance. Radcliffe Brown and G.P. Murdock have given functionalist explanation for avoidance. According to them, the purpose of avoidance usage is to forestall further or even more serious trouble between the kins.

(b) Marriage is a social institution through which a man and a woman enters into a family life for the purpose of procreation and upbringing of the children. According to Horton and Hunt, 'Marriage is an approved social pattern whereby two or more persons establish a family.'
The functions of marriage in human life are as follows:
- Formation of the household.
- Legitimate sexual association of the male and female.
- Procreation of the offspring.
- Upbringing and rearing of the children.
- Transmission of culture from one generation to another.
- It is the basis of creating household as an economic unit.
- It creates family as an educational unit for the infant.

Teacher's Note:
a) Clearly distinguish between general kinship rules and specific behavioral prescriptions like avoidance.
b) Enumerate functionalist perspectives and standard sociological definitions for marriage.

Question 3.
(a) Discuss the meaning of family, with respect to matriarchal societies. [5 Marks]
(b) 'Family is a universal institution.' In this context, discuss the reasons for its universal existence. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) Family is a small social group consisting of father, mother and their children. According to Nimkoff, 'Family is more or less a durable association of husband and wife with or without children, or a man or a woman alone, with children.' In matriarchal society, the authority is vested with the mother or the eldest female of the family and the male serves the purpose of subordinate. Following are the features of the family in a matriarchal society:
- The descent is reckoned through the mother and not the father. Hence, it is a matrilineal system.
- Marriage relations are transient where the husband is just a casual visitor.
- The children are brought up in the home of the wife's relation, i.e., it is matrilocal.
- The property is also transferred through the mother and is succeeded by daughters.
- Post marriage (in some matrilineal societies), the bride and groom go to stay at the bride's maternal uncle's house.

(b) 'Family is a universal institution.' It is the foundation of society. It is present in every society and in every age. It forms the basic unit of social organisation and is hard to imagine how society could function without the family.
The reasons for universal existence of families are as follows :
- It is the only unit which fulfills the basic needs of the procreation and upbringing of children.
- It legitimises the sexual union between male and female.
- It fulfills the basic human needs of acceptance and belongingness.
- The family provide the individual with primary socialization, which helps the individual to become accepted into society.
- It helps in transmission of culture from one generation to another.
- It is the basic production and consumption unit.

Teacher's Note:
a) Ensure all key characteristics of matriarchal and matrilineal households are specified.
b) Focus on functional requisites of society to explain why the family is universal.

Question 4.
(a) What is communalism ? How can the problem of communalism be controlled in India ? [5 Marks]
(b) Explain Animism as a theory of religion. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) Communalism refers to blind faith in religion and the act of using religion as an instrument for mobilizing people in the arena of politics. In a country like India with many religious faiths, some politicians have tried to use communalism for provoking people against other religious groups for fulfilling their own selfish motives. The issues related with communalism in India can be curbed by the following measures :
- Abolition of communalist parties, so that religion and politics can be kept separate.
- Imparting secular education in the schools and colleges.
- Developing the attitude of tolerance towards other religions with the help of mass media. For example - advertisements like; ek chidiya anek chidiya.
- Promoting inter-religious marriages, which would help in inter-mingling of people from different religions and sects.
- Proper use of mass media should be done to spread tolerance and secularism.

(b) Animism refers to a belief in soul or ancestral spirits. It is a theory of religion propagated by E.B. Tylor. He believed that religion originated and was maintained on the beliefs of soul, ghosts, ancestral spirits and other things which were imagined and accepted without much real rationality in them. He named this as animism.
Tylor's theory of Animism : For Tylor, belief in spirit beings (or soul) was the minimum definition of religion. Animism has two abiding principles:
1. There is life after death;
2. There are greater and lesser spirits.
It has 2 dimensions: life after death, and hierarchies.
Tylor's theory has two aspects:
1. The argument that soul explains dreams and other psychic states : This has been criticised on the basis that dreams could not provide the emotional state needed for religious experience.
2. The argument that from the idea of soul comes animism, polytheism, and monotheism : This has been criticised because it must assume that primitive man remained unchanged (in his animist belief) for hundreds and thousands of years.

Teacher's Note:
a) Clearly define communalism as political manipulation of religion before listing control measures.
b) Explicitly mention E.B. Tylor and his core principles while explaining animism.

Question 5.
(a) Explain hypergamy as a form of marriage and its effects on the Indian society. [5 Marks]
(b) 'Morality is an informal means of social control.' Discuss. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) Hypergamy refers to the form of marriage in India in which a woman can marry either a man of her own status or higher than her status. As such, she is not allowed to marry a man who belongs to a lower caste than that of her own. A Brahmin man could marry a Kshatriya or Vaishya woman. However, marriage with a Shudra woman was condemned. Children of such a union were referred to as dasiputra. This was done in order to protect the ritual purity associated with the higher castes.

(b) Social control can be exercised either through imposition of formal rules and regulations like policies, religious norms and taboos etc. or it can be practiced informally by inducing moral values. Moral Values can be developed in a person through family, education system and society. Thus, moral values naturally help in regulating the society.
- Morality prescribes good behavior and prohibits undesirable ones.
- Moral values are the most dynamic, creative and important driving force behind human action. Ex - honesty, justice - informal means of social control.
- Influences and changes the course of society - political/social movements.
- Internalization of moral norms by individuals during socialization process - customs, conventions, etc.
- Disobedience brings displeasure of society.
- Sometimes more powerful than laws and legislation's - people may break laws on some ground but not go against dominant moral values.

Teacher's Note:
a) Hypergamy (Anuloma) maintains caste hierarchy and ritual purity rules.
b) Distinguish clearly between formal mechanisms of social control and informal moral internalization.

Question 6.
(a) Write a short note on the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act. [5 Marks]
(b) What is meant by Social Movements ? Discuss the causes of Social Movements. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) The 73rd Constitutional Amendment, 1992 is an endeavour to ensure grass-roots democracy or decentralised governance. The Act provides constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). It is necessary now for local self-government bodies in rural and municipal areas to be elected in every five years. Moreover, the control of local resources is given to the elected local bodies. The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution ensured reservation of one-third of the total seats for women in all elected offices of local bodies in the rural as well as urban areas. Out of these, 17% seats are reserved for women belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes.
The amendment is important as it forms the first-time decision-making powers that are bestowed to the women. One-third of the seats in local bodies, gram panchayats, village panchayats, municipalities, city corporations and district boards are reserved for women. The amendment also prescribes a three-tier system of local self-governance for the entire country, effective since 1992-93, viz. Gram Panchayat (at village level), Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti (at block level), and Zila Parishad (at district level).

(b) A social movement refers to general orientation or approach to bring about a change. It needs a sustained collective action over a period of time. All those who participate in a social movement have a shared objective and common ideologies. Usually, the protest is against the state to bring about a change in a policy or public issue. For example - the social movement for securing the rights of the tribal people to use the forest or right of the displaced people due to construction of dam for settlement and compensation. The social movements can also be against social evils like sati, child marriage, untouchability or dowry system.
The causes of social movements are :
Social Injustice: When people feel that they are facing injustice, they become frustrated. Such feelings of injustice encourage social movements. Social movements arises whenever the social conditions become extremely unfavorable.
Social Disorganisations: Social disorganisations may arise due to inequality of wealth and income and due to rifts between different religions and castes. These situations can arouse social movements.
Cultural Drifts: Our society constantly undergoes changes like lifestyle changes, changes due to encroachment of MNCs leading to new culture, amendments in the traditional belief system etc. All such changes may trigger social movement to implement them properly. For e.g., removal of untouchability, discrimination on the basis of caste, gender and religion and equal opportunities for both the sexes.

Teacher's Note:
a) Emphasize the three-tier structure and women's reservation under the 73rd Amendment.
b) Outline structured causes like social injustice, social disorganisation, and cultural drifts for social movements.

Question 7.
(a) Briefly discuss the Jajmani system. [5 Marks]
(b) Discuss any three gender related issues. Briefly mention the bills and amendments to deal with them. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) Jajmani system refers to an interdependence system in the Indian villages where each caste is supposed to provide standardised services to the other castes. For example - Brahmins are meant to perform rituals and religious ceremonies, Kumhars make earthen pots, nai or barber is supposed to cut hair, Chamar is the shoemaker, darji is supposed to stitch clothes, dhobi's duty is to wash and iron the clothes, gadaria are the herdsmen and bania sells the things of day to day needs.
The jajmani relationships are permanent and hereditary. It helped in providing security of occupation and ensured the economic security as the 'jajman' looked after all the needs of the serving family. The payment of the jajmani system was mostly in kind and the relationship between the jajman and the prajan was more personal than economic.

(b) Gender related issues that society is facing include:
- Gender discrimination.
- Female infanticide/feticide.
- Dowry harassment.
- Violence against women - rape/sexual harassment/honour killing/acid attacks.
- Discrimination in Female education.
Bills and Amendments relating to gender related issues :
- Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929.
- Dowry Prohibition Act, 1959/1961.
- Indecent Representation of Woman (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
- The Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex selection) Act, 1994.
- The Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
- Sexual Harassment Bill, 2012.
- The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013

Teacher's Note:
a) Explain the functional reciprocity and hereditary nature of the Jajmani system.
b) Link specific contemporary gender issues with corresponding legislative acts.

Question 8.
(a) Discuss the role played by education in bringing about a social change. [5 Marks]
(b) Briefly explain the social-economic problems faced by the tribal people in India. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) Education is a powerful instrument for bringing about social changes in the following ways :
It helps in changing the attitude of the people: It motivates people to favour modern ways of life and to fight against prejudice and superstition prevalent in the society.
It helps to fight social drawbacks: It helps people to realize that only through education the downtrodden position can become better and social evils like gambling, drinking, untouchability, dowry and begging can be eliminated from the society.
It helps the people to adapt to the social changes and adjust with them: Social changes occur due to changing lifestyles, changing cultural values, etc. Education helps people in accepting such changes and adjusting accordingly.
It helps in creating social awareness: Education imparts knowledge of right and wrong, and makes people aware of their rights and duties as citizens, consumers, and as social beings.
It helps in improving ideology of people: It is through education that the thoughts and opinions of people can be refined and improved to widen their perspectives and accept different social changes.

(b) The socio-economic problems faced by tribal people in India are :
Land alienation: The land alienation for the tribal people occurred when the British encroached the tribal regions for the resources. Cutting of forests, creation of dams, mines - excavation also led to the displacement of the tribal leaving them homeless and displaced.
Illiteracy and ignorance : Inspite of the attempts of the government to provide free and compulsory education to all, most of the tribal people are deprived of education. The main reason for their low level of illiteracy is their remote location, where teachers don't want to go. Moreover, their superstitions and myths forbids them from acquiring education.
Poverty and unemployment : Most of the tribal people are living below the poverty line. They are mainly unskilled and as such are employed at low rates. Even, they are exploited by the moneylenders and zamindars, who often try to occupy their land in return of loans.
Poor health and nutrition : Infectious diseases are common among the tribal people due to unhygienic conditions. Most of them also suffer from malnutrition due to inadequate food and nutrition.
Cultural problems : Due to coming in contact with the mainstream people, the culture of tribal people is deteriorating, which is leading to degeneration of their dance, music and art forms. Sometimes, in an attempt to learn a mainstream language the tribals may forget their own language. This is termed as the problem of bilingualism.

Teacher's Note:
a) Structure education's role across attitudinal, moral, and adaptive dimensions.
b) Detail both economic challenges (land alienation, poverty) and cultural hurdles faced by tribal groups.

Question 9.
(a) Examine the growth and nature of different classes. [5 Marks]
(b) Briefly discuss Right to Education (RTE) and its implications. [5 Marks]

Answer:
(a) In Indian scenario, traditionally, stratification was based on the caste system. However, during colonization, people began to give up the stratification based on caste system and begin different occupations irrespective of their caste. The idea of hereditary occupation gradually withered away. Now the choice of the occupation became personal choice of people as per their skills and qualifications. The class system nowadays is based on the economic system or accumulation of wealth by people.
The three main classes as per the income of people are upper class, middle class and the lower class, which are further divided into upper-upper class (very prosperous class with inherited property), lower upper class (affluence and accumulation of wealth based on personal efforts), upper middle class (wealth is attained by putting in a lot of efforts hence resources are used judiciously), lower-middle class (little resources acquired through hard work), lower class (lives from hand to mouth by toiling on daily basis). The members of each class try to identify with the class above it.

(b) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, that every child, between the ages of six to fourteen years, has the fundamental right to get full-time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which complies with the essential norms and standards. Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on April 1st, 2010.
Following are the implication of RTE :
- Responsibility of provision of free and compulsory education, without taking fee from the children lies with the government.
- Provision should be made to enroll the non-admitted children to the age-appropriate class.
- The specification regarding the pupil-teacher ratios, building and infrastructure, working days, teacher working days and working hours should be clearly spelled out.
- Competent teachers should be employed for the purpose of imparting quality education to the pupils, and corporal punishment should be strictly prohibited for ensuring healthy development of the children.
- The curriculum should be suitably developed to ensure all round development of the children.

Teacher's Note:
a) Contrast the shift from caste-based stratification to modern economic class stratification.
b) Cite exact constitutional articles (Article 21-A) and implementation year (2010) when discussing the RTE Act.