Kinship,

Marriage
and The
Household
KINSHIP
OThe bond of blood or marriage which binds
people together in group.

OAccording 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
OAffinal Kinship
- Relationships based upon marriage or
cohabitation between collaterals (people treated
as the same generation)

OConsanguineous 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. 
OIn 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
OThis 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
OBoth 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
OThe 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
OWhen both patrilineal and matrilineal
descent principles are combined
Kinship
by
Marriage
OMarriage
- is an institution that admits men and women
to family life.

- 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 (Edward Westermarck)
 - defined as a relatively permanent bond
between permissible mates. (Lowie)

- defined as a contract for the production

and maintenance of children. (Malinowski)

- consists of the rules and regulations that

define the rights, duties and privileges of
husband and wife with respect to each other.
(According to Lundberg)
 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
Ois 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.
OEx: Tiwi (North Australia)
 Two different types of
Polygamy:
1. Polygyny is the practice of one man having
more than one wife or sexual partner at a
time.
Ex: Mormonism

2. 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
Ritualkinship 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
OA family consisting of a
married man & woman and
their biological children.
O 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
OA 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
OA 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
OThese 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 among 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!