Kinship
Adrian Aldric L. Borres
Objectives
♥ Trace kinship ties and social networks.
♥ Compare different types of kinship based on lineage.
♥ Discuss the functions of family and marriage.
♥ Identify the different types of families based on the number
of spouses and residential patterns.
What is Kinship?
Meaning of
Kinship
Kinship refers to the “web of social relationships”
that humans form as part of a family, which is the
smallest unit of society.
- Ferraro and Andreatta (2010)
There are several points that
you can learn from this
First definition:
01 A family is a
socioeconomic unit.
Second Fourth
02 A family can have one or
more parents.
04 A family can have parents
with same gender.
Third
03 A family can have parents who
are not married. 05 Fifth
A family should have at
least one child.
1. A family is a
socioeconomic
unit.
What makes a group of
individuals a family is their
dependency on one another with
regard to their social and
economic activities.
2. A family can have one
or more parents.
♥ In the society that you grow up in, a family
usually consists of two parents—a father and a
mother.
♥ However, this is not the norm for other
societies who would have one parent, a mother
or a father, or multiple parents due to multiple
marriages.
3. A family can have parents
who are not married.
Although the marriage of parents is
important in religious countries such as
the Philippines, it is not a prerequisite in
other societies. Hence, as long as
individuals are socially and economically
interdependent, they can be considered a
family.
4. A family can have
parents with same
gender.
♥ Although same sex marriage is
illegal in most countries, including
the Philippines, some societies allow
for the marriage of individuals with
the same sex.
5. A family should
have at least one
child.
One of the most crucial elements
of a family is the existence of
children. Without a child, a
couple remains to be a couple and
not a family.
Kinship by
Marriage
Kinship
by
marriage
Marriage is defined as the “socially or
ritually recognized union or legal
contract between spouses that
establishes rights and obligations
between them, between them and
their children, and between them and
their in-laws”
Other
forms of
Kinship
Monogam
ous
This type of family consists of
a single couple and their child
or children. This is also referred
to as the nuclear family. Most
societies in the world have this
type of family.
Polygam
•
ous
This type of family consists of several
parents and their children.
• There are two types of polygamy:
Polyandry
Polygyny
• Polyandry is a marriage pattern wherein a
woman is allowed to marry several men.
• Polygyny is a marriage practice that allows a
man to marry several women. Most Islamic
societies allow this practice.
Extended
Family
This type of family has several
married couples and their
children living in one
household. This can consist of
the married parents and their
married children living in one
house.
Patrilocal
Residence
Upon marriage, the woman is
expected to transfer to the residence of
her husband’s father. Her children will
be raised by her husband’s family and
be integrated to their lineage, allowing
for the creation of a patrilineal
Matrilocal
descent.
Residence
Upon marriage, the man is expected to
take residence with his wife’s
mother’s area, where they are
expected to raise their children and
integrate them to the maternal line,
creating a matrilineal descent.
Neolocal
Residence
This is an arrangement that requires
both spouses to leave their households
Avunculocal
and create their own at times even in a
different locality. This supports the
creation of nuclear households and is
Residence
• This is a complex residency pattern as it requires two
commonly experienced in developed residence transfers. Upon marriage, the couple
and industrialized societies. A nuclear practices a form of virilocality and raises their
family essentially consists of a parent children in the household of the husband’s father.
However, upon reaching adulthood, these children
and a child. will have to be relocated with their mother’s brother
and live with him and his household which may
consist of his wife and young children and the other
adult male offspring of his sisters. This practice
allows for the creation of a patrilineage.
Natalocal
Residence
This arrangement allows both spouses
to remain with their own households
after marriage. The couple will have to
arrange for meetings as the two are
not living under one household.
Matrifocal
Residence
This type of residency rule arises
when the father is economically and
physically unable to provide support
for the family, thereby ascribing the
role of sole provider and caregiver to
the woman.
Ambilocal
Residence
This type of residence pattern allows Transnational
the couple to choose to live either with
the wife’s mother’s area or the
husband’s father’s area. This often Families
Due to globalization and transnational
movements of people, families tend to
creates an extended family, as several
married children and married couples practice alternative forms of residency
may cohabit in one household. patterns that are not based on lineage
perpetuation, but more so on
economic reasons such as job offers,
educational advancement, and job
placements.
This creates transnational families or
families whose members reside
separately across territories.
Politics of
Kinship
Kinship does not only create social
ties among individuals. In some cases,
politics and kinship are interrelated,
allowing for the creation of political
alliances and dynasties.
A political dynasty refers to the
continuous political rule of one
family. This can be in the form of the
succession of rule or in the occupancy
of several political positions by one
family.
