Research suggests divorce rate is lower in unilineal descen

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Kinship Dynamics
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What is kinship?

• Sense of being related to another person(s)
• Set by rules (sometimes laws)
• Often taken for granted as being natural rather
  than cultural
• Cultures define blood relative differently

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Kinship

• Includes relationships through blood and through
  marriage.
• Functions
• Provides continuity between generations.
• Defines a group on whom a person can rely for aid.

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Descent Groups

• Affiliations between children and parents.
• Functions
• Organize domestic life.
• Enculturate children.
• Allow transfer of property.
• Carry out religious ritual.
• Settle disputes.

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Principles of Classifying Kin

• Generation
• Relative age
• Lineality vs. Collaterality
• Gender
• Consanguineal vs. Affinal kin
• Sex of linking relative
• Side of the family

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KIN TYPES VS. KIN TERMS        KIN TYPES The
basic relationships anthropologists use to
describe the actual contents of kinship
categories. 1. Kin types are supposedly
culture-free (ETIC) elements what WE call
these people. 2.    Kin types are based upon
biological relationships.  KIN TERMS The
labels for categories of kin that contain one or
more kin types (EMIC) In other words.what THEY
call people.    
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KIN TYPES
A kin type is used to designate each individual
relationship e.g. Mother, father, mothers
brother, mothers sister. Each relationship
between kin is described by a sequence of primary
components strung together to indicate biological
relationships.   Mother M Father
F Sister Z Brother B Mothers
Sister MZ Daughter D Mothers Sisters
Daughter MZD Son S Sisters Son
ZS Husband H Wife W
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KIN TERMS

• Kin terms are specific to particular cultures
• Uncle, cousin, grandfather these terms are
  peculiar to English terminology.
• THESE ARE NOT KIN TYPES BECAUSE THEY CAN INCLUDE
  MORE THAN ONE RELATIONSHIPS They are KIN TERMS!
• Kin Categories are not specific to biological
  relations.

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KINDREDS A concept different than that of
Kin. Kindred are those to whom one is related
and who come together for support and for special
social occasions.
KIN VS. KINDREDS
KIN All those individuals who are considered to
be related to you all members of your extended
family.
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COGNATIC and UNILINEAL

• Cognatic descent rules both male and female
  parentage are used to establish relationships
• Bilateral descent The most common cognatic rule
• Bilateral descent takes into account descent
  evenly on both the male and female sides
• Ambilineal Descent rather Ambiguous.
  Depending on the social benefits (such as tracing
  ones lineage to a famous distant ancestor) the
  lineage is a mix of male and female relatives.
• Unilineal Descent rules rules restrict parental
  links exclusively to males or exclusively to
  females.

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Kinship Characteristics
female
male
deceased female
deceased male
female ego of the diagram
male ego of the diagram
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Kinship Relationships
is married to
is cohabiting with
is divorced from
is separated from
adopted-in female
adopted-in male
is descended from
Is the sibling of
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Kinship Symbols  
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Lineal vs. Collateral Kin
 
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Unilineal descent

• Basis of kinship in 60 of worlds cultures
• Most associated with pastoralism, horticulture
  and agricultural systems

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Unilineal Descent

• Descent based on links through paternal or
  maternal line.
• Advantages
• Forms nonoverlapping descent groups that
  perpetuate themselves over time even though
  membership changes.
• Provide clear group membership for everyone in
  the society.

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Matrilateral vs Patrilateral Kin
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Patrilineage

• Descent is traced through male lineage.
• Inheritance moves from father to son, as does
  succession to office.
• Mans position as father and husband is the most
  important source of male authority.
• Example Nuer or Sudan.

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Patrilineal Descent
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Patrilineal Descent, Egocentric, Male Ego
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Matrilineage

• Descent is traced through the female line.
• Children belong to the mothers descent group.
• The inclusion of a husband in the household is
  less important.
• Women usually have higher status.
• Example Hopi.

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Matrilineal Decent

• Found among 15 of all cultures
• Kinship is traced through the female line
• Women control land and products
• Found in the Pacific, Australia, small parts of
  Mediterranean coast
• Declining though capitalism

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Matrilineal Descent, Egocentric, Female Ego
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Matrilineal vs. Patrilineal.


Patrilineal Kin linked through males
Matrilineal Kin linked through femalesal Kin -
linked through females Cross relatives cross
sex linked  
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Counting Cousins
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Bilineal Descent

• Descent is traced equally from both parents
• Married couples live away from their parents
• Inheritance is allocated equally between siblings
• Dominant in foraging and industrial cultures

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Egocentric Bilateral Kindred        
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Dual Descent  
 
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COGNATIC AMBILINEAL DESCENT

•  
• AMBILINEAL DESCENT
• The ambiguities of bilateral descent are not
  useful for establishing fixed obligations,
  inheritance etc.
• In cases where it is important to be linked to an
  ancestor albeit through complex means, ambilineal
  descent rules often occur.
• The establishment of a cognatic ambilineal
  descent rule means that a lineage must be decided
  upon
• COGNATIC LINEAGE
• the group of individuals who claim relation
  through the various combinations of male and
  female relatives. The membership in the lineage
  will look the same for all members.

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FICTIVE KINSHIP

• A series of relationships, culturally
  determined, which are not based upon birth or
  marriage

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LINEAGE SEGMENTATION

•  
• In very large and complex lineages, divisions are
  recognized which indicate degrees of close
  relationship, as well as potential obligations to
  others in the lineage.
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• Maximal Lineage All members distant and near
• Minimal Lineage Only three generations
• CLAN Unilineal descent group descended from a
  real or fixtive ancestor through real or fictive
  relationships.
• Patriclan or Matriclan

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Phratries and Moieties
Some societies group their clans into even
larger-scale unilineal descent groups called
phratries.  As with clans, the actual
genealogical links are not clear and the phratry
ancestors are usually mythical.
Entire societies may be divided into two large
unilineal descent groups that have reciprocal
responsibilities and privileges.  These groups
are known as moieties     (from the French word
for half).  The distinction between phratries and
moieties is not simply a matter of the number of
groupings.  Moieties are intended to produce a
balanced opposition within a society.  The
constantly reinforced social and economic
exchanges between them results in economic
equality and political stability.
Societies with moieties usually consist of a few
thousand people or less.  In contrast, societies
with phratries are often larger.  As in the case
of clans and phratries, moiety members usually
cannot demonstrate all of the descent links back
to their supposed common ancestor. Membership in
unilineages, clans, moieties, and phratries is
inherited and usually continues throughout life. 
As a result, these unilineal descent groups often
function successfully as long-term joint property
owners and economic production teams.
Source Palomar Department of Behavioral
Science http//anthro.palomar.edu/kinship/kinship_
4.htm
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Kinship Classification and Culture

• Outlines rights and obligations.
• Specifies how people act toward each other.
• Determines the types of social groups that are
  formed.
• Regulates the systems of marriage and inheritance.

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Systematic Kinship Terminologies   There are Six
basic classes of kinship systems. All known
kinship patterns are variants of one of these
basic systems.

• Sudanese
• Hawaiian
• Eskimo
• Iroquois
• Omaha
• Crow

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Sudanese Kinship System

• Sudanese Naming System The most descriptive
  system, named after the groups that use them in
  Africa (primarily Ethiopia).
• The Sudanese system is completely descriptive,
  assigning a different kin term to each distinct
  relative
• Eight different cousin terms, and distinguishes
  between F, FB, MB
• There are technically no general categories
• Often associated with societies with distinct
  class divisions

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Eskimo Kinship System

• Inuit (Eskimo) System Typically found among
  hunting-and-gathering people in North America
  and correlated with bilateral descent.
• There is an emphasis on bilateral descent
• No division is made between patrilineal and
  matrilineal kin
• Nuclear family members are assigned unique
  labels not extended to any other relatives.
• More distant collateral relatives are grouped
  together on the basis of distance. This practice
  is called Collateral Merging

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Hawaiian Kinship System 

• Hawaiian Naming System This is the least
  descriptive system.
• Emphasizes distinctions between generations
• Merges together many different relatives into a
  few categories
• Ego differentiates relatives only on the basis
  of sex and generation.
• Reflects the equality between the mothers and
  the fathers sides of the family.
• Traditional Hawaiian society was highly
  stratified in terms of commoners and the royalty.
  Membership in a particular lineage and age was
  important for social standing. Your collateral
  position in the lineage was somewhat less
  important.

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Iroquois Kinship System

• Iroquois Naming System A system common in
  unilineal descent systems where it is important
  to distinguish between Fathers and Mothers Kin.
  
• Based upon the principle of BIFURCATE MERGING
• The same term of reference is used for father
  and father's brother (1) as well as mother and
  mother's sister (2). 
• Parallel cousins from both sides of the family
  are lumped together with siblings but
  distinguished by gender (5 male and 6
  female). 
• All cross cousins are similarly lumped together
  and distinguished by gender (7 male and 8
  female).

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Omaha Kinship System

• Omaha Naming System - found among patrilineal
  peoples including the Native American group of
  that name.
• An example of a bifurcate merging system
• Patrilineally based kin naming system in which
  relatives are lumped together on the basis of
  descent and gender.  
• Siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender
  are given the same term of reference (5 male
  and 6 female). 
• Father and father's brother also have the same
  kin term (1).
• Other people in ego's mother's patrilineage are
  lumped across generations (2 female and 4
  male).
• This system is common in unilineal descent
  systems where it is important to distinguish
  between Fathers and Mothers kin.

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Crow Kinship System

• The Crow Naming System- is named for the Crow
  Indians of North America. It is the matrilineal
  equivalent of the Omaha system.
• Matrilineally based kin naming system in which
  siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender
  are given the same term of reference (5 male
  and 6 female) as are mother and mother's sister
  (2). 
• Other people in ego's father's matrilineage are
  lumped across generations (1 male and 3
  female), reflecting the comparative unimportance
  of the father's side of the family in societies
  using the Crow system.

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Divorce
Bilineal descent cultures have a more fluid
system of joining and breaking up
Research suggests divorce rate is lower in
unilineal descent cultures
Gender affects ability to divorce
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Widowhood and Remarriage

• In some cultures, womens position as a widow is
  often marked symbolically
• modest clothes
• asexual
• little food intake
• Remarriage is dependent on economic factors and
  gender expectations

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Household Forms

• Single-person
• Nuclear
• dominant in foraging and industrial cultures
• Polygamous and Extended
• dominant in horticultural, pastoral societies
• household may contain 50 members
• will decline with industrialization?

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Households as Social Units

• Spouse/Partner relationships
• studies suggest marital satisfaction is strongly
  correlated to sexual activity
• Sibling relationships
• Domestic violence
• Males as perpetrators, women as victims is found
  in all cultures
• More common where men control wealth

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Households in Social Change

• International immigration
• challenges for parents and siblings
• Shrinking households in the US
• Increasing move away from nuclear households
  in industrialized cultures

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• POSTMARITAL LOCALITY PATTERNS RESIDENCE RULES 
•      For the most part where a married couple or
  family resides parallels their general kinship
  pattern
• AMBILOCALITY The couple may stay with either
  the wifes or husbands domestic group
• Relatively permanent resident relations
• Most often associated with cognatic lineages and
  clans
• Sets the stage for more complex permanent
  economic/social groups (Why?)
• BILOCALITY The couple may switch between
  the wifes and husbands group
• Relatively frequent moves between wife and
  husbands sides
• Most often associated with bilateral descent in
  mobil societies
• Makes for wide-spread informal relationships
• NEOLOCALITY The couple does not reside
  with either family group.
• PATRILOCALITY With husbands father
• MATRILOCALITY With wifes mother