UCSP Lesson 6: Kinship

• Kinship

  Relationship between any entities with a common ancestor, whether biologically, culturally, or historically
• Kinship system

  System of social relationships connecting people in a culture who are or are held to be related and defining and regulating their reciprocal obligations
• Kinship Patterns

  • A group of persons linked through marriage, blood, or social practice
  • Kinship is a way for communities to socialize and transfer culture to their children from generation to generation
  • Kinship produces intricate social ties
  • Marriage creates affinity-human familial relationships
• Types of kinship

  • By blood
  • By marriage
  • By ritual
  • By politics
• Unilineal descent

  Descent based on paternal or maternal line connections; generates non-overlapping descent groupings that persist throughout time despite membership changes
• Matrilineal descent

  On the mother's side, relatives provide more assistance, have more influence, and primarily impose their rules on the family
• Patrilineal descent

  On the father's side, relatives provide more assistance, have more influence, and primarily push their values on the family
• Bilateral descent

  On more or less equal terms, family relatives on both the mother's and father's sides provide assistance, exert influence, and impose their norms on the family
• Marriage

  Two individuals involved in a socially approved relationship with intimate, mutual long-term obligations, and fulfilled customary, ceremonial, or legal requirements
• Polygyny

  One man marries more than one woman at a given time
• Polyandry

  One woman marries more than one man
• Monogamy

  One man marries one woman, the most common and acceptable form of marriage
• Group marriage

  Marriage of two or more women with two or more men, where the husbands are common husbands and wives are common wives, and children are regarded as the children of the entire group as a whole
• Kinship by ritual

  A privileged social relationship established by ritual, such as that of godparents or fraternal orders
• Family

  A socially defined kinship structure or group of ties involving at least two persons who are related by birth, marriage, blood, or adoption
• Kinship by politics

  The traditional pattern of bequeathing political power among family members, commonly found in tribal societies
• Functions of Kinship

  Ensures continuity between generations

  Defines a support Āroup on which a person can rely
• Nuclear

  the father and mother, alone with their kid or children, forms up the family.
• Extended

  the nuclear family and its relatives live and work together as a unit as a result of the family's stretched-out arrangement
• Polygynous

  a father, two or more mothers, and their children makes up the family
• Polyndrous

  a mother, two or more fathers, and their children makes up the family.
• Single-Parent

  a single parent family consists of a father or a mother with a kid or children
• Patriarchal

  The father plays the dominant role in having supremacy and predominant influence in managing the family.
• Matriarchal

  The other plays the dominant role in having role in the supremacy and predominant influence over in managing the family
• Egalitarian

  Both father and mother are involved in more or less equal power sharing and exercise of influence in managing the family.
• Neolocal

  the customary practice of living independently from the relatives and whose domicile is fixed away from the extended family
• Patrilocal


  the customary arrangement whereby a married couple is expected to take up residence with relatives of the father’s side
• Matrilocal


  the customary arrangement whereby a married couple is expected to take up residence with relatives of the mother’s side
• Bilocalthe customary arrangement whereby a married couple is free to take up residence with relatives of either the mother or father side
• Bilocal

  the customary arrangement whereby a married couple is free to take up residence with relatives of either the mother or father side
• Sororal Polygyny


  It is a type of marriage in which the wives are invariably the sisters. It is often called sororate.
• Non-Sororal Polygyny

  It is a type of marriage in which the wives are not related as sisters
• Fraternal Polyandry

  When several brothers share the same wife the practice can be called alelphic or fraternal polyandry. This practice of being mate, actual and potential to one's husband brothers is called levirate. It is prevalent among today.
• Non-Fraternal Polyandry

  The husband needs to have any close relationship prior to the marriage. The wife goes to spend some time with each husband.

  So long as a woman lives with one of her husbands; the others have no claim over her.
• Serial Monogamy

  In many societies individuals are permitted to marry again often on the death of the first spouse or after divorce but they cannot have more than one spouse at one and at the same time
• Straight Monogamy


  In this, remarriage is not allowed.
• Political Dynasty

  Lineage of heredity succession to an essentially same position. Family members follow one another to the position.
• Political Alliance

  Referred to as a politi

  An agreement for cooperation between different political parties on common political agenda, often for purposes of contesting an election to mutually benefit by collectively clearing election threshold.

  cal coalition or political block