Family

A social and economic unit

consisting minimally of one or more
parents and their children
 Purpose of family
• Learning environment for children
• Children have to learn a repertoire of beliefs
and habits in order to become functional
adults in society
• Biological/physical support for the
maturing individual. The mammalian case
 Characteristics of a Family
• Reciprocal rights and obligations
• Presence of one household
• Residence is not a defining feature
• May be focus on the mother or the father:
matrifocal/ patrifocal
 Types of family
• Matrifocal family- one parent, the mother,
and children
• Monogamous- single-couple with children
(nuclear family)
• Polygamous- several parents and children
• Extended- married couple, and married
children
 residence
• Matrilocal- residence situated on the wife’s
parents’ area
• Patrilocal- residence situated on the husband’s
parents’ area
• Neolocal- residence situated in a new area
• Avuncolocal- residence situated in husband’s
Mother’s Brother’s area
• Bilocal- residence situated near the husband’s or
the wife’s parents
 Lineage
• Matrilineal- kinship traced through the
female’s line
• Patrilineal- kinship traced through the
male’s line
• Ambilineal-lineage traced alternately
through the male and female’s line
 Kinship diagram
1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15

legend- female
1. How is 1 related to 13?
male
2. How is 13 related to 15?
3. Using matrilineal kinship, who are entitled to
have 2’s surname?
4. Using patrilineal kinship, who are entitled to have
4’s surname?