FAMILIES & KINSHIP

Variation in Family Form✓Matrifocal✓Nuclear✓Extended✓Patrifocal

Karki Family - Matrifocal

Families, Kinship, and Descent

Families Descent Kinship Calculation Kinship Terminology

Families

Nuclear family – consists of a married couple and their children, normally living together in same household

Extended family – consists of three or more generations

• Understanding kinship system is essential part of anthropology

Families

Family of orientation – family in which one is born and grows up

Family of procreation – formed when one marries and has children In most societies, relations with nuclear family

members take precedence over relations with other kin

Nuclear family widespread, but not universal

• Descent groups – lineages and clans

Families

In many societies, extended families are primary unit of social organization Muslims of western Bosnia – nuclear families within

large extended families called zadrugas Nayars – matrilineal society in which extended

families live in compounds called tarawads

Where nuclear family is important, it is primary arena for sexual, reproductive, economic, and enculturative functions

Industrialism and Family Organization

Neolocality – married couples may live hundreds of miles from parents

Extended family household – expanded family household that includes 3 or more generations

Within stratified nations, value systems and kinship vary from class to class

• Most prevalent residence pattern in U.S. is family of procreation living neolocally.

Changes in Family and Household Organization in the United States: 1970 versus 2004

Sources: From U.S. Census data in J. M. Fields, “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2003,” Current Population Reports, P20-553, November 2004, http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-553.pdf, p. 4; J. M. Fields and L. M. Casper, “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2000,” Current Population Reports, P20-557.pdf; U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006, Tables 55, 56, and 65. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html.

Descent Groups

Patrilineal descent – individuals automatically join father’s descent group when they are born

Unilineal descent – descent rule only uses one line

• Matrilineal descent – individuals automatically join mother’s descent group when they are born

Descent Groups

Clan – descent group who claims common descent from an apical ancestor but cannot demonstrate it (stipulated descent)

• Lineage – descent group who can demonstrate their common descent from apical ancestor

Patrilineal Descent

Matrilineal Descent

Ambilineal Descent

Bilateral Descent

Kin on both sides are important & recognized

Paining by John Holyfield (artist)

Functions of Descent Groups (Clans & Lineages)

Regulate marriage Make economic

decisions Political functions Religious functions

Lineages, Clans, and Residence Rules

Matrilocality – married couple lives with wife’s family; associated with matrilineal descent and less common than patrilocality

• Patrilocality – married couple lives with husband’s family; associated with patrilineal descent and more common than matrilocality

Family versus Descent

Obligations to one may conflict with obligations to the other

Compared to patrilineal systems, matrilineal societies tend to have higher divorce rates and greater female promiscuity

• Many societies have both families and descent groups

Kinship Calculation

Kin terms – labels given in particular culture to different kinds of relatives

Biological kin type – degree of actual genealogical relatedness

Bilateral kinship – people tend to perceive kin links through males and females as being similar or equal

• System by which people in a society reckon kin relationships

Kinship Symbols and Genealogical Kin Type Notation