Families, Kinship, and Descent

The Basic Building Blocks of Society

Group Exercise
Interviewing a peer about his/her family
Key Questions:
Who do you consider to be in your immediate family?
How many people lived in your house growing up?
Are they related to you? If yes, how?
How many generations lived in your household?
What is the cultural background of your family?

mother/father, grandparents
One interesting family fact

Family, Kinship, Descent

The way in which

people behave toward

one another is based
on how they perceive
their role; this role in
most societies is
defined by whom one
is related to.
As we shall see, many
aspects of kinship and
descent are socially
constructed, as is
race.

What types of factors

shape ones role in the
family?

Terminology Review
Affinals: relatives by marriage.
Consanguinal: relatives by blood
Matrilineal descent: kin reckoned through

the mothers lineage.

Patrilineal descent: kin reckoned through the
fathers lineage.
Bilateral descent: kin reckoned through both
sides of the family.
Matrilocal: marriage residence at the
mothers family house.
Patrilocal: marriage residence at the fathers
family house.

Whats so special about family?

A family is the basic

unit of the social

group.
Anthropologists are

interested in looking at
families and how they
define kin since kin
behavior has specific
rules in each culture.

Types of families
Nuclear family (husband,

wife, offspring).
Extended family (family
consisting of three or
more generations).
Other descent groups
include:
Lineages (the family
line/tree)
Clans (groups assuming
common ancestry).

Types of nuclear families

Families of orientation (family you are born into

and raised with).

Family of procreation (formed when one marries

and has children).

Nuclear family organization is widespread but
not universal; other descent groups and
extended families sometimes fill the role of the
nuclear family.
Which type of societies might we find nuclear
families?

Industrial Nuclear Families: The New

Hunter/Gatherers?
Offspring, once grown, leave the family of

orientation to begin their own family of

procreation.
The new families are highly mobile, selling their

labor rather than their crops. Postmarital

residence is neolocal.
Their mobility and emphasis on small,

economically self-sufficient family units make

industrial nuclear families similar to foragers.

II. Extended Family

a family which extends beyond the nuclear family to
include relatives living close by (AskOxford.com)
Consists of 3 or more generations
Dont have to live together, but may
a family that includes in one household near
relatives in addition to a nuclear family
Which relationships are most critical depends on culture
Which type of societies might we find extended families?

Zadruga,
Western Bosnia

The ZADRUGA
Extended family household of the western

Bosnia
Large family structure; ~70-100 people living

together
Headed by male household head and his

wife
Includes married sons and their wives and

children, and unmarried sons and daughters

Each nuclear family: has a sleeping room
Possessions shared by the Zadruga

Muslims of Western Bosnia

Patrilineal, Patrilocal, Patriarchal
Patrilineal: Lineage traced through fathers line only
Patrilocal: Each couple resides in the husbands

fathers household after marriage

Patriarchal: head male makes major decisions for

the entire group

Zadruga
Strengths of this family model?
Potential weaknesses?
How would the role of an individual compare and

contrast in an nuclear family versus an extended

family such as the Zadruga?

The Nayar of Southwest India

A large and power caste that lives in large,

extended matrilineal families.

The matrilineal compounds are called tarawads.
Each tarawad is headed up by a senior woman.
Marriage is a formality; men would return to
their mothers tarawad a few days after marriage.
Nayar women frequently have multiple sexual
partners; biological fathers are not significant in
this particular kin system.

Changes in American Kinship

Nuclear families important

unit for several groups.

Expanded households
(becoming more or less
popular?)
Number of alternative
household organizations
are becoming more
commonplace (singleparent families, singles,
childless couples, etc.).

Descent Groups
Descent groups are permanent social units

whose members believe they have ancestors

in common.
Descent groups are frequently exogamous.
Unilineal descent is kin reckoning through one

side of the family (matrilineal or patrilineal).

Bilateral descent reckons through both

lineages.

Lineages and Clans

Common to both types of descent groups is the

belief in an apical ancestor(s) (among

Christians, this would be Adam and Eve).
Lineages differ from clans in that lineages use

demonstrated descent (the actual genealogy

can be cited).
Clans have stipulated descent (they just say

they are related because they want to be!).

(possibly fictive kinship)

Apical Ancestors
Apical clan

ancestors are
commonly
nonhuman, and may
be an animal or plant
(a totem).
Common clans of
Northwest Coast
Indian groups include
Raven and Wolf.

Kinship Calculation
Ego refers to the reader.
MBS = mothers brothers

son.
MBD = mothers brothers
daughter.
MZS = mothers sisters
son.
MZD = mothers sisters
daughter.
FBS = fathers brothers
son.
FBD= fathers brothers
daughter.
FZS = fathers sisters
son.

Kinship Terminology
Kinship
Terminology

Kin Group

Residence Rule

Economy

Lineal

Nuclear family

Neolocal

Industrialism,
foraging

Bifurcate merging

Unilineal descent
group patrilineal
or matrilineal

Patrilocal or
matrilocal

Horticulture,
pastoralism,
agriculture

Generational

Ambilineal
descent group,
band
Varies

Ambilocal

Agriculture,
horticulture,
foraging
Varies

Bifurcate
collateral

Varies

Lineals, Collaterals, and Affinals

Lineal Kinship Terminology (what we

use)

Bifurcate Merging Kinship

Generational Terminology (parents

and siblings have the same terms)

Bifurcate Collateral Terminology

(Everyone gets their own term!)