The present study of a small town in rural West Bengal, India, reveals a number of "love-marriages" involving individuals from castes of distinctly different ranks in the local caste hierarchy. Despite the prevailing rule of caste endogamy, inter-caste couples appear to face little difficulty. (Author)

This paper critically examines hypothesized trends towards the conjugal family in India. Trends which have been interpreted as supporting movements towards the Western model of the conjugal family have been critically examined. (Author)

The theories of Bott (1971) and Kapferer (1973) which relate the pattern of conjugal roles to the structure of social networks are discussed in light of a study of an urban lower caste community in India. The two theories are related to different aspects of the conjugal "role." (Author)

Tested four hypotheses. Two hypotheses were: (a) The levels of knowledge and adoption of family planning are positively related to the frequency of husband-wife communication regarding birth control; (b) interspouse communication increases with level of education. The findings indicate a marked absence of husband-wife communication. (Author)