Families, Kinship and

Marriage

Mr. R. Care
Families

l The nuclear family (parents and children) is

one kind of kin group that is widespread in
human societies. Other kin groups include
extended families (families consisting of
three or more generations) and descent
groups – lineages and clans
l A nuclear family is impermanent; it lasts only
as long as the parents and children remain
together
l Most people belong to at least two
nuclear families at different times in
their lives.
l Since most societies permit divorce,
some people establish more than one
family through marriage
l Family of orientation (the family in
which one is born and grows up) vs.
family of procreation (formed when
one marries and has children)
l From the individual’s point of view, the
critical relationships are with parents and
siblings in the family of orientation and with
spouse and children in the family of
orientation.
l In few societies, such as the classic
Nayars of southern India, nuclear families
are rare or nonexistent.
Industrialism and Family
Orientation
l For many Americans and Canadians, the
nuclear family is the only well-defined kin
group. Family isolation arises from
geographic mobility, which is associated with
industrialism, so that nuclear family focus is
characteristics of many modern nations.
Many married couples live hundreds of miles
from their parents. Their jobs determined
where they live.
 Descent
l A descent group is a permanent social unit
whose members claim common ancestors.
Descent group members believe they all
descend from common ancestors. The group
endures even though its membership
changes, as members are born and die, more
in and move out. Often, descent-group
membership is determined at birth and is life-
long. In this case, it is an ascribed status.
l Descent groups may be lineages or clans.
Common to both is the belief that members
descend from same apical ancestor, the
person who stands at the apex, or top, of the
common genealogy. For example, Adam and
Eve are the apical ancestors of the biblical
Jews.
l How do lineages and clans differ?
A lineage uses demonstrated descent.
Members recite the names of their forebears
from the apical ancestor through the present.
l Unlike lineages, clans use stipulated descent.
Clan members merely say they descend from
apical ancestor, without trying to trace the
actual genealogical links.
l Residence rule
l Patrilocal – upon marriage, the couple moves to
the husband’s community.
l Matrilocal – wife’s community
l Neolocal – married couples are expected to
established a new place of residence – “a home of
their own”.
l Bilocal – both sides
Marriage

l The universality of marriage does not mean

that everyone in every society gets married.
It means only that most people in every
society get married at least once in their
lifetimes. Marriage and family customs are
not the same in all societies. The only
cultural universal about marriage is that no
society permits people to marry parents,
brothers or sisters.
 Marriage in anthropological context
l Marriage means a socially approved sexual
and economic union between a woman and a
man that is presumed to be more or less
permanent, and that subsumes reciprocal
rights and obligations between two spouses
and between the spouses and their children.
l A family is a social and economic unit
consisting minimally of one or more parents
and their children. Members of a family always
have certain reciprocal rights and obligations
toward each other, particularly economic ones.
l No definition of marriage is broad enough to
apply easily to all societies and situations.
There are societies which recognizes plural
marriages and various kinds of same-sex
marriages.
l Incest – refers to sexual relations with a
relative. All cultures have taboos against it.
Although taboo and incest do happens.
l Exogamy – the practice of seeking a mate
outside one’s own group, has adaptive value
because it links people into a wider social
network that nurtures, helps, and protects
them in times of need.
l Endogamy – dictates mating or marriage
within a group to which one belongs.
l An extreme example of endogamy is India’s
caste system, which was abolished in 1949.
Castes are stratified groups in which
membership is ascribed at birth and is lifelong.
l Dowry – is a marital exchange in which the
wife’s group provides substantial gifts to the
husband’s family.
l Bridewealth – a customary gift before at, or
after the marriage from the husband and his
kin to the wife and her kin.
Plural Marriages
l Many societies permit plural marriages. The
two kinds of polygamy are polygyny and
polyandry. The former involves multiple
wives; the latter, multiply husbands. Polygyny
is much more common than polyandry.
l Polyandry is rare and is practiced under very
specific conditions. Most polyandry are found
in South Asia – Tibet, Nepal, India and Sri
Lanka.