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HOW SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED AND

KINSHIP, MARRIAGE, AND THE HOUSEHOLD

1. People as social animals have behavior and personalities shaped by GROUPS .

2. According to famous poet JOHN DONNE as quoted, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a
part of the continent, a part of the main.”

3. A GROUP is a unit of people who interact with some regularity and identify themselves as a unit.

4. In an AGGREGATE people do not interact and do not feel any shared sense of belonging.

5. A PRIMARY GROUP is a type of group where members have direct access and interaction with each other.

6. OUT-GROUPS are groups where an individual is not a member.

7. REFERENCE GROUPS are groups that provide a person with a set of standards to check against and to know
if one is doing well or where he or she needs improvement.

8. NETWORK This is the entirety of social connections an individual takes part in for whatever purpose
(economic, political, etc.) and through whatever means (face-to-face interaction, virtual, indirect, etc.)

9. FAMILY is the most important social unit in which socialization takes place.

10. KINSHIP is a network of relatives within which an individual possesses certain mutual rights and
obligations.

11. In a PATRILINEAL descent, children are automatically made members of the father’s group only.

12. In a MATRILINEAL descent, children are automatically made members of the mother’s group only.

13. In a BILATERAL descent, children can interact with both the members of his or her parents’ families.

14. Polygyny is often practiced in societies where WOMEN outnumber MEN in the population. It often occurs
in societies with a high incidence of war and violence.

15. POLYANDRY refers to the condition when a woman is married to more than one man simultaneously. It is
defined as a bond of one woman to more than one man. This is often practiced so that there may be
enough labor for the household that engages in farming, herding, and trading that are simultaneously
done. It happens when two men are socially recognized as sires (king or lord) and provide some
investment to the same woman and her child.

16. POLYGAMY occurs when one individual has multiple spouses.

17. The godparenthood complex. COMPANDRINAZGO

18. Ritual linkage between godparents and godchildren. PADRINAZGO

19. Ritual ties binding adults in godparenthood. COMPADRAZGO

20. Usual purpose of godparenting. To establish connection to their godchild/children.