MODULE 8

KINSHIP
Kinship
◦Refers to the “web of social relationships”
that humans form as part of a family, which
is the smallest group of society.
◦According to Ferraro and Adreatta (2010)
family is a “social and economic unti that
consists of on or more parents and their
children
 Family
◦A family is a socioeconomic unit
◦A family can have one or more parents
◦A family can have parents who are not
married
◦A family can have parents with the same
gender
◦A family should have atleast one child
 Family
◦To orient the individual of the norms of the
society.
◦To provide physical support as the individual
matures.
 Kinship Diagram
◦commonly used by anthropologists to quickly
draw out relationships as they interview
people and to present a
culture's kinship pattern without showing
specific names.
Kinship Diagram
 ◦This kinship is based on blood—
or birth: the relationship
between parents and children
as well as siblings.

KINSHIP ◦This is the most basic and

universal type of kinship. Also

BY BLOOD known as a primary kinship, it

involves people who are
directly related.
◦This type of kinship links
individuals based on their
genetic relations
Blood Relatives
◦One who is related to another through a
common ancestor, and not merely by
marriage or adoption.
◦Allows an individual to identify another
individual as a family member is through
consanguinity, popularly
Kinship by blood is referred to as descent or the socially
accepted connection between an ancestor.

There are four main descent rules:

o Unilineal Descent
o Bilateral Descent
o Ambilineal Descent - affiliates an individual
with kinsmen through the father's or mother's line

o Double Descent - refers to societies in which both the patrilineal

and matrilineal descent group are recognized
 Unilateral Descent
◦ This allows an individual to be affiliated to the
descent of one sex only – male or female

There are two types of unilineal descent:

• Matrilineal Descent
• Patrilineal Descent
Matrilineal
◦ Leads an individual to trace
kinship relations through
female’s line.
◦ This implies that the surname
and inheritances of a family
are passed on from one
female to the other.
◦ Also referred to as Uterine
Descent
Patrilineal
◦ An individual traces his or her kinship
through the male’s line only.
◦ This promotes a passing down of name
and inheritance to the male offspring
only.
◦ Also referred to as Agnatic Descent
 Clan
◦ This type of kinship is observed among groups of people who
believe that they have unilineal relations based on a common
ancestor.
◦ The difference between clan and earlier descent groups is
that clans cannot specify their actual relations.
◦ Renders the ancestor as a mythical figure.
◦ Totems – ancestors that are often ascribed animal
characteristics
◦ Totem Poles – erected by north American clans as a form of
remembrance of their family’s past.
Phratries
◦ Further expansion of clans into larger descent group
◦ The identity of kinship originator is unknown, rendering his or her as a mythical being.
◦ Composed of two or more clans with common ancestry.

Moiety
◦ It differs from phratry in its function of creating a sustainable systematic balance within
the society.
◦ Descent group that makes up half of the society
Bilateral Descent
◦ Allows an individual to trace kinship ties on both sides of the
family.
◦ An individual can recognize his parent’s relatives as his own
relatives.

Kindred
oThis type of group is often united by a common relative, it risks
of dissolution when connections to the common relative is lost.
 MARRIAGE
o Socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract
between spouses that establishes rights and obligations
between them, their children and their in-laws
o Cultural variation:
In Tsimane of Bolivia, a couple is considered married if
they sleep together under the same roof in a socially
recognized way for more than just a brief period of time.
Several Functions of Marriage
o It regulates mating and reproduction

o It creates a system that allows for sexual division

of labor

o It provides for a family dynamics that ensures the

provision of needs of children

o It perpetuates economic institutions that are

based on family systems
 4 TYPES OF FAMILIES
o PATRIFOCAL AND MATRIFOCAL
- focused on one parent: a father (patrifocal) or a mother
(matrifocal). Patriarchal, the rule of the father and Matriarchal, the
rule of mother.

o MONOGAMOUS
- this type of family consist of a single couple and their child
or children. It is also called as Nuclear Family.
o POLYGAMOUS
- this type of family consist of several parents and their
children.

2 TYPES OF POLYGAMY
1. Polyandry
- marriage pattern wherein a woman is allowed to marry
several men. Fraternal polyandry is allowing to marry several
husbands who are at times brothers.

2. Polygyny
- marriage that allows a man to marry several women. In
some cases, these women are sisters which is called Sororal
Polygyny.
o EXTENDED FAMILY
- this type of family has several married couples and their
children living in one household. The Compadrazgo system that is
popular on Spanish-influenced regions of the world is an example
of this.

o RECONSTITUTED FAMILY
- a growing percentage of household classification in
countries allowing divorce and legal separations. In this type, the
current spouses were previously married and had children.
 Postmartial Residency Rules
◦Patilocal Residence
upon marriage, the woman is expected to
transfer to the residence of her husband’s father.
◦Matrilocal Residence
upon marriage, the man is expected to take
residence with his wife’s mother’s area
 Postmartial Residency Rules
◦Neolocal Residence
This is an arrangement that requires both spouses to
leave their households and create their own at times
even in a different locality.
◦Avunlocal Residence
This is a complex residency pattern as it requires two
residence transfers. The child is raised in the household of
the husband’s father then the brother’s
 Postmartial Residency Rules
◦Natalocal Residence
This arrangement allows both spouses to
remain with their own households after marriage
◦Matrilocal Residence
upon marriage, the man is expected to take
residence with his wife’s mother’s area
 Postmartial Residency Rules
◦Ambilocal Residence
This type of residence pattern allows the
couple to choose to live with the wife’s mother
area or the husband’s father area.
◦Transnational Families
practices alternative forms of residency patterns
that are not based on lineage perpetuation, but
more so on economic reasons such as job and
education.
 Politics of Kinships
o Political Dynasty
- refers to the continuous political rule of one family.

Due to compadrazgo system, poltical alliances are also

created, which is based not on agreed political ideologies or
platforms but more on a pseudokinship basis. For example, the
1987 Philippine Cosntitutions states in Article II Section 26 that “
the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for
public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be
defined by law.”