This book, first published in 1974, seeks to answer the questions whether the nuclear family tends to be an isolated unit relatively cut off from its extended kin network; whether the patterns and effects of urbanization in the developing nations follow exactly the same lines as in the industrialised nations; and whether the transition from pre-urban to urban living necessarily involves stresses and strains, conflict and sociocultural maladjustments. It illuminates the specific case of a middle-sized city in India on the basis of empirical research carried out with the cross-cultural comparative approach and at the same time contributes to the understanding of the global problems of modernisation.