Sociology 203

NAME: KARIUKI STEPHEN NJERU

REG NO: A13/08387/22
LECTURER NAME: SIR KAUMBULU. F. KYALO

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Question: Discuss family, descent and kinship with their relative examples.

FAMILY

The family is a fundamental social institution that plays a crucial role in shaping individuals and societies. It
serves various functions, including socialization, emotional support, and economic cooperation.

Nuclear family: This is the smallest family unit, consisting of parents and their children.it is ego centered
and impermanent.

Extended family: In contrast to the nuclear family, the extended family includes relatives beyond parents
and children. It often involves grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Patriarchal family: The father or the oldest male holds decision making power.

Single parent family: Consists of one parent raising children without a partner.

Blended family: Also known as a stepfamily, it forms when one or both partners have children from the
previous relationships. Blended families navigate the complexities of merging households and creating new
bonds.

Compound family: Compound families involve multiple spouses (polygamous or polyandrous) and their
children.

 Examples:
1. A nuclear family: Parents and their two children living together
2. An extended family: Grandparents, parents, and grandchildren sharing a household.
3. Patriarchal family: Traditional families in some conservative cultures where the father
is the head of the family.
4. Stepfamily: A family where divorced parents remarries, and children from both
previous marriages live together.

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DESCENT

Descent refers to the socially recognized biological relationships between people in the society. It involves
tracing one’s ancestry and understanding how kinship ties connect individuals.

Patrilineal descent: Ancestry is traced through the male line (father’s side)

Matrilineal descent: Ancestry is traced through the female line (mother’s side)

Bilateral descent: Kinship includes relatives from both the mother’s side and father’s side.

Ambilineal descent: Ambilineal descent allows parents to choose whether their children associate with the
kinship of either the mother or the father.

Cognatic descent: Also known as non-unilineal descent , includes both bilateral and ambilineal systems. It
emphasizes flexibility in tracing ancestry through various family members.

 Examples:
1. Patrilineal descent: In some cultures, property inheritance and social status are passed
down through male line.
2. Matrilineal descent: Among the Nayar in India, descent is traced through female line.
3. Bilateral descent: The Himba of Namibia people, every tribe member belongs to two
clans: one through the father and another through the mother.
4. Ambilineal descent: Common in Southeast Asian Countries where many men may
follow their father’s side and women their mother’s side.

Importance of descent

1. Resource access and labor division: Descent determines access to resources within a family or
community. It also shapes how labor is divided among kins.
2. Marriage rules and taboos: Many societies frown upon marriages between close kins (e.g., siblings.
It co or first cousins) due to descent considerations.
3. Society identity and belonging: Descent gives individuals a sense of identity and belonging to a
group it connects people to their lineage, ancestors, and extended family.
4. Inheritance and succession: Descent plays a role in inheritance and succession. Rights to property,
land and other assets.

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KINSHIP

Refers to the social relationships based on blood ties, marriages or adoption. I t defines who is considered
family and how individuals relate to one another.

 Examples:
1. Hawaiian system: Relatives are classified based on generation (siblings, parents,
children) without distinguishing between maternal and paternal sides.
2. Sudanese system: Precisely distinguishes different types of relatives (e.g., mother’s
brother, father’s sister)
3. Eskimo system: Focuses on nuclear family relationships (parents, siblings and
children).
4. Iroquois system: Emphasizes extended family connections (aunts, uncles, cousins).
5. Crow and Omaha systems: Combine features of both Hawaiian and Iroquois
systems.

Types of kinships

 Consanguineal kinship: Based on blood relationships, including parents, children, and

immediate siblings. Universal and fundamental in relationships.
 Affinal kinship: Based on marriage, especially between husband and wife. Forms the basic
kin relations.

Types of kinship

 Primary kinship: Direct relations, such as parents and children or among siblings. Further divided
into primary consanguineal kinship that is direct blood relations (e.g.,
Parents and children). The other is Primary Affinal kinship; Husband and wife relationship.
 Secondary kinship: Refers to the kinship that comes through primary kinship.
1. Secondary consanguineal kinship: Relations like grandparents and grandchildren.
2. Secondary Affinal Kinship: Relations through primary affinal kinship.

Importance of kinship

1. Unity and cooperation: Maintains harmony, unity and cooperations among relationships.
2. Guidelines for interactions: Kinship sets guidelines for communication and interactions among
people.
3. Marital taboos: It determines who can marry whom, creating rules around marriage.

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REFERENCE
Atemie J.D. (1999). “The concept of culture” in Anikpo, M. and Atemie, J.D (eds)
Introduction to Nigerian Socio-cultural Heritage. Port Harcourt: Osia publishing Co.
Beattie, J. (1980). Other cultures: Aims, Methods and Achievements in Social Anthropology. London: Keagan
Paul.
Charles, J.O. (2008). Ethnography of African Societies: Sub-Saharan Region. Lagos: Serenity Publishers.
Goldthorpe, J.E. (1981) Introduction to Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gluckman, M. (1975). Anthropology and Apartheid: The work of South Africa Anthropologists. Studies in
African Social Anthropology,21-54.
Farley, j. (1994): Sociology. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.