Chapter 9 Marriage and the Family

Key Terms

ambilocal (bilocal) residenceThe practice of a newly married couple taking up residence with either the husband’s or the wife’s parents.

arranged marriageAny marriage in which the selection of the spouse is outside the control of the bride and groom.

avunculocal residenceThe practice of a newly married couple taking up residence with or near the husband’s mother’s brother.

bride serviceWork or service performed for the bride’s family by the groom for a specified period of time either before or after the marriage.

bridewealthThe transfer of goods from the groom’s lineage to the bride’s lineage to legitimize marriage.

cross cousinsChildren of one’s mother’s brother or father’s sister.

divorceDissolution of a marriage.

dowry The transfer of goods or money from the bride’s family to the groom or groom’s family in order to legalize or legitimize a marriage.

endogamyA rule requiring marriage within a specified social or kinship group.

exogamyA rule requiring marriage outside of one’s own social or kinship group.

extended familyA family form that includes two or more related nuclear families.

incest tabooThe prohibition of sexual intimacy between people defined as close relatives.

kibbutz A communal farm or settlement in Israel.

levirateThe practice of a man marrying the widow of a deceased brother.

matrilocal residenceThe practice of a newly married couple living with the wife’s family.

monogamyThe marital practice of having only one wife at a time.

neolocal residenceThe practice of a newly wedded couple taking up their residence in a place independent from both the husband’s and the wife’s family.

nuclear familyThe most basic family unit composed of wife, husband, and children.

parallel cousinsChildren of one’s mother’s sister or father’s brother.

patrilocal residenceThe practice of a newly married couple living with the husband’s family.

polyandryThe marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time.

polygynyThe marriage of a man to two or more women at the same time.

postpartum sexual abstinence tabooA husband and wife abstaining from any sexual activity for a length of time after the birth of a child.

preferential cousin marriage A preferred form of marriage between either parallel or cross cousins.

reciprocal exchangeThe equal exchange of gifts between the families of both the bride and groom to legitimize marriage.

serial monogamy The practice of having a succession of marriage partners but only one at a time.

sororateThe practice of a woman marrying the husband of her deceased sister.