Kinship, Marriage

and The
Household
KINSHIP
The bond of blood or marriage which binds people
together in group.
According to the Dictionary of Anthropology,
kinship system includes socially recognized
relationships based on supposed as well as actual
genealogical ties. These relationships are the result
of social interaction and recognized by society.
 Types of Kinship

Affinal Kinship
Relationships based upon marriage or cohabitation
between collaterals (people treated as the same generation)

Consanguineous Kinship
Connections between people that are traced by blood
Kinship by Blood
Descent Systems
Kinship is reckoned in a number of different ways around the
world, resulting in a variety of types of descent patterns and kin
groups. Anthropologists frequently use diagrams to illustrate
kinship relationships to make them more understandable.
In kinship diagrams, one individual is usually labeled
as ego. This is the person to whom all kinship
relationships are referred. In the case below on the
right, ego has a brother (Br), sister (Si), father (Fa),
and mother (Mo). Note also that ego is shown as
being gender nonspecific--that is, either male or
female.
Unilineal Descent

This traces descent only through a single line of

ancestors, male or female. Both males and females
are members of a unilineal family, but descent links
are only recognized through relatives of one
gender. The two basic forms of unilineal descent
are referred to as patrilineal and matrilineal.
Patrilineal Descent
 Both males and females belong to their father's kin group but
not their mother's. However, only males pass on their family
identity to their children. A woman's children are members of
her husband's patrilineal line. The red people in the diagram
below are related to each other patrilineally.
Matrilineal Descent
 The form of unilineal descent that follows a female line. When
using this pattern, individuals are relatives if they can trace
descent through females to the same female ancestor. While
both male and female children are members of their mother's
matrilineal descent group, only daughters can pass on the family
line to their offspring. The green people below are related to
each other matrilineally.
Bilineal Descent

 When both patrilineal and matrilineal descent principles are combined

Kinship by Marriage
Marriage is an institution that admits men and
women to family life. Edward Westermarck defined
marriage as the more or less durable connection
between male and female lasting beyond the mere
act of propagation till after the birth of offspring.
Lowie defined it as a relatively permanent bond
between permissible mates. Malinowski defined
marriage as a contract for the production and
maintenance of children. According to Lundberg
Marriage consists of the rules and regulations that
define the rights, duties and privileges of husband
and wife with respect to each other.
 MONOGAMY
 Monogamy is the practice of having only one spouse at one time. In
some cases, monogamy means having only one spouse for an entire life
span. Out of the different types of marriages, monogamy is the only one
that is legal in the United States and in most industrial nations.
 Social monogamy: Two persons/creatures that live together, have sex
with one another, and cooperate in acquiring basic resources such as
food, clothes, and money.
 Sexual monogamy: Two persons/creatures that remain sexually exclusive
with one another and have no outside sex partners.
 Genetic monogamy: Two partners that only have offspring with one
another.
 Marital monogamy: Marriages of only two people.
 Serial monogamy: A series of relationships. One person has only one
partner at a time, and then moves on to another partner after severing
the relationship with the first.
 Polygamy
 is a Greek word meaning "The practice of multiple Marriage". It is a marriage
pattern in which an individual is married to more than one person at a time.
Ex: Tiwi (North Australia)
Two different types of Polygamy:
 Polygyny is the practice of one man having more than one wife or sexual
partner at a time.
Ex: Mormonism
 Polyandry involves one woman having multiple husbands, within Polyandry
there are many variations on the marriage style.
fraternal polyandry (Ex: Tibet and Nepal)
 secondary marriage (Ex: Northern Nigeria and Northern Cameroon)
Residence Pattern
Four major residence patterns:
 Neolocal Residence is most common with North American couples. This is where
the couple finds their own house, independent from all family members.
 Patrilocal Residence is most commonly used with herding and farming societies.
It’s where the married couple lives with the husband’s father’s family. By living with
the husband’s family, it lets all the men, (the father, brothers, and sons) continue
to work together on the land.
 Matrilocal Residence is most familiar among horticultural groups. It’s where the
couple moves to live where the wife grew up; usually found with matrilineal
kinship systems.
 Avunculocal Residence is also related in matrilineal societies however in this case
the couple moves to live with the husband’s mother’s brother. They live with the
most significant man, his uncle, because it’s who they will later inherit everything
from.
Ritual Kinship
Compadrazgo
 Ritual kinship in the form of godparenthood
 Parents selected godparents for a child at his or her baptism,
confirmation, and marriage. The godparents were then tied
to the parents as coparents.
 Ideally co-parents should be a married couple; they were
preferred because their unions were typically more stable
and they were more likely to be able to provide a home for
the child should the need arise. In most communities,
however, there were not enough couples to serve as
godparents for all children, so single women of good
reputation were frequently chosen. It was important that the
person asked should be of proper character and good
standing in the community.
Family and The Household
 Nuclear Family
 A family consisting of a
married man & woman and
their biological children.
 The main issue for children is
to help them under- stand that
their two-parent, heterosexual
family is a fine family, and is
one kind among many other
kinds of families
Extended Family
A family where
Grandparents or Aunts and
Uncles play major roles in
the children’s upbringing.
This may or may not include
those relatives living with
the children. These family
members may be in addition
to the child’s parents or
instead of the child’s
parents.
 Conditionally Separated Families

 A family member is separated from the rest of the family. This

may be due to employment far away; military service;
incarceration; hospitalization. They remain significant
members of the family.
 Transnational family
 These families live in more than one country. They may
spend part of each year in their country of origin returning
to the U.S. on a regular basis. The child may spend time
being cared for by different family members in each country
Politics of Kinship
 Kinship politics is commonly found in tribal societies
across the world where kin genealogy is applied to
determine the system of communal leadership. It is the
traditional pattern of bequeathing political power
family members.
 Kinship politics is built based on the classic political
principle: blood is thicker than water. It asserts that
power should be distributed among family members.
 For the sake of family security, power should not be
seized from those who have kinship connections and
must be circulated only among those who are tied by
blood.
Political dynasties have long been present in the
Philippine political structure.
Political dynasties started emerging after the
Philippine Revolution when the First Republic of the
Philippines was established. Over the years, newer
dynasties emerged as some of the initial ones
became inactive. Majority of the positions in the
Philippine government are currently held by
members of political dynasties. Notable Philippine
political dynasties include the Aquino and Marcos
families.
 Thank You!

Prepared by: Ms. Rizel A. Malanday