Kinship by Marriage

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 Marriage
Is defined as the “socially or ritually recognized union of
legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations
between them and their children, and between them and their in-
laws”. Is believed that all societies have a form of marriage that
makes a cultural universe.
 Functions of Marriage
• Regulates mating and reproduction
• Creates system that allows for sexual division of labor
• Provides for a family dynamics that ensures the provisions of
needs of children
• Perpetuates economic institution that are based on family systems
 4 Types of Families
(based on Marriage systems)

1. Patrifocal & Matrifocal Family

2. Monogamous Family
3. Polygamous Family
4. Extended Family
 Patrifocal and Matrifocal Family
• This type of family is focused on one (1) Parent: a father
(Patrifocal) or a mother (Matrifocal).
• This type of family is often associated with the terms of
‘patriarchal’, the rule of the father and ‘Matriarchal’, the rule of the
mother.
• Does not solely imply that there is only one (1) parent.
 Monogamous Family
• This type of family consists of a single couple and their child or
children.
• This is also referred to as the “nuclear family”
Nuclear Family- a family that consist only of a Father,
Mother and their Child/Children
• Serial monogamy occurs in societies where remarriage is allowed
after a divorce or death of the other spouse
 Polygamous Family
• This type of family consist of several parents and their children
• Consist of two (2) types: Polyandry and Polygyny
Polyandry
• It is a marriage pattern wherein a woman is allowed to marry
several men.
Fraternal Polyandry- a form of polyandry in which a woman
is married to two or more men who are the one another's brothers.
• The primary reason for allowing this practice is the need to
preserve land ownership through generations
Polygyny
• It is a marriage practice that allows a man to marry several
women.
Sororal Polygyny- A custom whereby a man enters into a
marital relations with several women who are sisters or cousins.
• This is sometimes preferred to facilitate a less competitive
environment in the home.
 Extended Family
• This type of family has several married couples and their children
living in one (1) household.
Compadrazgo System- a fictive or ingenuine kinship found in
a latin American culture, meaning literally co-parents but referring to
co-grandparenthood or joint sponsorship of a godchild or ritual object
• Individuals in this situation is not originally part of the family
are made extended family members by being godparents of a
child of one of the actual family members
 Reconstituted Family
• Are a growing percentage of household classification in countries
allowing divorce and legal separation.
• Being remarried and created a new family by bringing their
children from their past marriages and often birthing their own.
• Stepfather/ mothers, half brother/ sister, stepbrothers/ sisters are
all part of the reconstituted families