1.
KINSHIP

2.
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) defined family as “a social and economic
unit that consists of one or more parents and their
chidren.” There are several points that you can learn
from this definition
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3.
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. This implies that the family acts as the
primary support group for its members as they
participate in the social processes within a society.
For this reason, an individual is often disposed to
consult with family members during social and
economics crises.
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4.
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.

5.
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. This puts into perspective the concept of common
law marriage, which is informal union of at least two individuals who
present themselves as a couple. In popular context, this is also
referred to as cohabitating couples or domestic partners.
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6.
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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. The United States now allows same sex
marriages, which create families with either both
female or both male.

7.
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.

8.
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fig 8.1. Symbols in kinship diagrams

9.
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fig 8.2. families of procreation and orientation

10.
Kinship by Blood
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• One factor that allows an individual to identify another
individual as a family member is through consanguinity,
popularly called as blood relatives. This type of kinship links
individuals based on their genetic realtions (i.e., their
bloodline). This is referred to as descent or the socially accepted
connection between an ancestor and its succeeding generation.
• kinship connections are perceived to be of great importance in
in some societies. Due to this, descent rules are created and
followed. In anthropology, there are four main descent rules
that are recognized.

11.
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Unilineal Descent
This allows an individual to be affiliated to the descent of
one sex group only – either the male or the female. There
are two types of unilineal descents: matrilineal and
patrilineal. Matrilineal descent leads an individual to trace
kinship relations through the female’s line. This implies that
the surname and inheritances of a family are passed on from
one female to the other.

12.
Fig 8.4. Young Minangkabau women attending a high-status wedding
Fig 8.3. Matrilineal descent group

13.
In patrilineal descent, an individual
traces his or her kinship through the
male’s line only. This promotes a
passing down of name and inheritance
to the male offspring only, whiole
allowing the female offspring to be
part of another family through
marriage. This is also referred to as
agnatic descent. A lot of societies in
Asia are partrilineal. The most popular
are the Chinese who are highly
partrilineal, enforcing a strict kinship
relations traced through the male’s
line.
Fig 8.5. Traditional Chinese Family
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14.
Figure 8.6 shows
that the darker color
is passed down to all
offspring by the
males.
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Fig 8.6. Partrilineal
descent

15.
An expansion of unilineal descent groups creates a
kinship group called the clan. This type of kinship is
observed among groups of people who believe that
they have unilineal relationship based on a common
ancestor. The primary difference between a clan and
the earlier unilineal descent groups is that
individuals from the former cannot specify their
actual relations.

16.
This commonly members the
ancestor as a mythical figure.
Among Native Americans, ancestors
are often ascribed animal
characteristics. These clan originates
are labelled in anthropology as
totems. Hence, clan members use
animal symbols to represent their
group. In North America, totem
poles are erected by Native
American clans as a form of
remembrance of their family’s past.
Fig 8.7. Totem Pole in Canada

17.
Fig 8.8. Seal of the Lenape
The final type of unilineal
descent group is called moiety.
Although similar with phratries in
having multiple clans within it, a
moiety differs from a phratry in
its function of creating a
sustainable systemic balance
within a society. A society can be
divided into two distinct moieties
that perform reciprocal
responsibilities with one another.
This characteristics ensures
equality of access to economic
and political values. The kariera
of the Austrialian aborigines
practices a kinship system that
allows for the intermarriage
between moieties, ensuring a
stronger bond between the two
groups.

18.
• Unlike the unilineal descent that tends to focus on one line of a
kinship, bilateral descent allows an individual to trace kinship
ties on both sides of the family. This means that an individual
can recognize both his or her parents’ relatives as his or her own
relatives. In this type of kinship, everyone knows how he or she
is connected to everyone. This provides a limit on the extent by
which kinship ties can be recognized. Hence, unlike in a unilineal
descent that can trace relations to several generations from the
point person (Ego), bilateral descent can only trace Ego’s
immediate family.

19.
In some cases, ties with the nuclear family can be
extended to family members of the spouses. This
kinship grouping is called kindred. As this type of
group is often united by a common relative, it risks
of dissolution when connections to the common
relative is lost. For example, if a spouse dies, the
connection between the living spouse and the
deceased family may be served, which results in the
dissolution of the kindred group. Most families in
the Philippines practice bilateral descent grouping.

20.
Fig 8.9. Kinship diagram of a bilateral descent group

21.
• Marriage is defined as the “socially or ritually
recognized union or legal contract between spouses
that establishes right and obligations between
them,between them and their children, and between
them and their in-laws” (Haviland et al., 2011). It is
believed that all societies have a form of marriage that
makes it a cultural universal.
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22.
• cultural variation produces differing
perspectives and practices of relating to
marriage. The Tsimane of Bolivia practices an
alternative perspective wherein “a couple is
considered married if they sleep together
under the same roof in a socially recognized
way for more than just a brief period of time”
(Winking, 2005).
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23.
Using a functionalist perspective, marriage
serves several functions. First, it regulates mating
and reproduction. Second,it creates a system that
allows for sexual division of labor. Third, it
provides for a family dynamics that ensures the
provision of needs of the children. Last, it
perpetuates economic institutions that are based
on family systems.
There are four types of families based on
marriage systems: patrifocal and matrifocal,
monogamous, polygamous and extended.
Fig 8.10. A Tsimane husband with his two
wives and children
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24.
PATRIFOCAL AND MATRIFOCAL
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• This type of family is focused on one parent; a father(
patrifocal ) or a mother( matrifocal ). This type of family is
often associated with the terms patriarchal, the rule of the
father, and matriarchal, the rule of the mother. It doesn’t
solely imply that there is only one parent. In some
situations, one parent is deemed more important than the
other due to the economic or political positions he or she
holds in the family and in society.

25.
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This type of the 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.
Serial monogamy occurs in societies
where remarriage is allowed after
divorced or death of the other
spouse.
POLYGAMOUS
This type of family consists of several
parents and their children. This is also
referred to as the nuclear family. There
are two types of polygamy: polyandry
and pologyny. Polyandry is a marriage
pattern wherein a woman is allowed to
marry several men. In Tibet, women are
allowed to marry several husbands who
are at times brothers.This practice is
called fraternal polyandry. The primary
reason for allowing this practice is the
need to preserve land ownership through
generation.
MONOGAMOUS

26.
Polygyny is a marriage practice that allows a man to
marry several women. Most Islamic societies allow
this practice. In some cases, these women are
sisters, making it a sororal polygyny. This is
sometimes preferred to facilitate a less competitive
environment in the home, as sisters would normally
be more supportive as co-wives than women coming
from different families.
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27.
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.
Filipinos and other Asian societies
are known to practice extended
family arrangements as a form of
securing care for the elderly
members of the family.
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28.
•In some cases, rituals allow for the inclusion of
individuals into a family. The compadrazgo system that is
popular in Spanish-influenced regions of the world is an
example of this. In this situation, individuals not originally
part of the family are made extended family members by
being godparents of a child of one of the actual family
members. In the Philippines, this is practiced in our
concept of having ninong and ninang for occasions such
as baptism, confirmation, and marriage.

29.
RECONSTITUTED FAMILY
Though not part of the traditional categories of families, reconstituted families
are a growing percentage of household classification in countries allowing divorce
and legal separations. Such families consist of spouses and children whom the
spouses may have had prior to their marriage or union.
In this type of family, the current spouses were previously married and had
children. Upon the dissolution of their previous marriages, these individuals
remarried ad created a new family by bringing in their children from their past
marriages and often birthing their own.
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30.
POSTMARITAL
RESIDENCY
RULES

31.
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One of the biggest questions that newlyweds have to
answer is where to live and build a family after
marriage. Every society has its own rules and
traditions on post-marital residency. Anthropology has
identified seven major residency patterns; patrilocal,
matrilocal, avunculocal, neolocal, natalocal,
matrifocal, and andambilocal.

32.
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 careation of a patrilineal
descent. Virilocal residence is a subset of this practice that focuses only
on the transfer for the woman from her parent’s residence to that of her
husband’s without consideration for the creation of a patrilineage.

33.
Matrilocal Residence
upon marriage, the woman 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.
Uxorilocal residence is a less complex rule that merely requires the
husband to move in to his wife’s mother’s household without
consideration for the creation of a matrilineage.

34.
Neolocal Residence
This is an arrangement that requires both spouses to leave
their households and create their own at times even in a
different locality. This supports the creation of nuclear
households and is commonly experienced in developed and
industrialized societies. A nuclear family essentially consists of
a parent and a child.

35.
Avuncolocal Residence
This is a complex residency pattern as it requires two
residence transfers. Upon marriage, the couple practices a
form of virilocality and raises their children in the household of
the husband’s father. However, upon reaching adulthood, these
children will have to be relocated

36.
•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
patrilineage.

37.
Natalocal Residency
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. Their children are allowed to choose which household they
would join. Should they choose to join their father’s household, they will be
integrated in a patrilineal descent. However, if they decide to join their mother’s
household, they will be made part of a matrilineal descent.

38.
Matrifocal Residency
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. In this situation,
all of the children reside with their mother who is part of her mother’s
household. This is different from the concept of uxorilocality or even
matrilocality, as both patterns allow for the cohabitation of the
husband and the wife.

39.
Ambilocal Residency
This type of residence pattern allows the couple to choose to
live either with the wife’s mother’s area of the husband’s
father’s area. This often creates an extended family, as several
married children and married couples may cohabit in one
household.

40.
Transnational Families
Due to globalization and transnational movements of people, families
tend to practice alternative forms of residency 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. The overseas Filipino worker(OFW)
phenomenon experienced by a considerable

41.
•Number of Filipinos contribute to the growing
number of transnational families as Filipino
parents reside outside the country to work
while their children remain in the home
country to study.

42.
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 dynastics. A political dysnasty 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.