Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lesson 1: THE FAMILY, MARRIAGE AND KINSHIP

Introduction

If there is no family, there is no society.

The Catholic institution is extreme bold on this issue, due to her stand on family
planning in all societies. Pope Leo XIII is quite clear on these matters. "The family," he
writes in SapientiaeChristianae (1890), "may be regarded as the cradle of civil society,
and it is in great measure within the circle of family life that the destiny of the State is
fostered." Why should this be so? It is not, in Catholic thought, simply becausefamilies
produce children. It is rather dependent upon the nature and meaningof the marital act
itself.

The family as an institution in every society and the very foundation of any society, is a
very important subject of study for sociologists, anthropologists as well as political
scientists. In this topic, we will try to define family and kinship, and we discuss different
patterns of residency and systems of family lineage.

Lesson 2: THE FAMILY AS SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The family, as a social, cultural and political institution, is a part of all societies. It is
even considered the most basic of all social institutions by most social scientists. The
family is studied extensively in social science and is considered very important because
it provides tor some of the most basic human needs, including love and emotional
security.

Family may seem like a very simple concept, but there is no simpledefinition of family.
However, let us stick to the most basic definition of the family as a group of people who
share a legal bond or a blood bond.

Traditionally family is simply understood as the composition of a father,mother and

sons or daughters or the mix of both but of course this definition wil1not pass for the
Filipinos due to complexities of Filipino family composition orstructure.

Nonetheless, families are legally bound through marriages, adoptions,and

guardianships, including the rights, duties, and obligations of those legalcontracts.
Legal bonds can be changed, expanded, or dissolved to changethe composition of a
family. While blood bonds connote individuals who aredirectly related through a
common ancestor are part of a family. This includesboth close and distant relatives
such as siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts,uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Researching a family tree or genealogicalrecords can reveal familial blood bonds.

Despite the apparent simplicity of this definition of family, the idea offamily goes far
beyond just legal or blood relationships for many people, bycontextualizing it.

Lesson 3: HOW TO DEFINE OUR FAMILY?

The family forms the basic unit of social organization and itis difficult to imagine how
humansociety could function without it. The family has been seen as a universal social
institution an inevitable part ofhuman society.

While the direct legal and genetic relationships we share with others can help us create
our definition of family, there is more to family relationships than these basic concepts.
A true family providesits members with emotional andspiritual kinship through:

1. Shared values, beliefs, and traditions

2. Common experiences and activities

3. Unconditional, non-judgmental support

In many ways, different individuals relate to groups of people whoprovide them with
emotional and spiritual connection as family, even if theyshare no legal or genetic
bonds. For example, a church "family" has spiritualConnections and shared values,
even though its members are not formallyrelated. In fact, in the Philippines, church
members are calling "brothers andsisters to each other. Similarly, a work family
has common experiences through share activities in long-term relationships without
formal bonds. College fraternities and sororities often share familial bonds through
experiences and consider one another brothers and sisters without formal relationships.
With social networking technology, many people are even creating online or virtual
families of individuals who share their beliefs, hobbies, and values even if they have
never met in person.
The definition of family is constantly evolving, and every person with can people
define family in a different way to encompass the relationships she shares with people
in her life. Over time one’s family will change as one’s life changes-socially, politically
and culturally, even economically, and the importance of family values and rituals
deepen or weaken. Every member who is truly family willhelp make it richer or weaker.

According to Ernest Watson Burgess and Harvey James Locke (1953) the family  is a

group of persons united by ties of marriage, blood or adoption constituting a single
household interacting with each other in their respective social role of husband and
wife, mother and father, brother and sister creating acommon culture.

George Peter Murdock (1949), American Anthropologist, defines thefamily as a social

group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It
includes adults of both sexes at least twoor whom maintain a socially approved sexual
relationship and one or morechildren own or adopted of the sexually co-habiting adults.

Meyer Francis Nimkoff (1964), sociologist, says that family is a moreor less durable

association of husband and wife with or without child or of aman or woman alone with
children. According to Robert Morrison Maclver(1934) family is a group defined by sex
relationships sufficiently preciseand enduring to provide for the procreation and
upbringing of children.Kingsley Davis (2005) describes family as a group of persons
whose relationsto one another are based upon consanguinity and who are therefore kin
to oneanother. Bronisław Malinowski (1913) opined that the family is the
institutionwithin which the cultural traditions of a society is handed over to a
newergeneration. This indispensable function could not be filled unless the relationsto
parents and children were relations reciprocally of authority and respect.According
to Talcott Parsons (and Bales, 1998) families are factories which

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILY

1. Universality. There is no human society in which some form of thefamily does not
appear. Bronisław Malinowski (1913), an anthropologistand father of functionalist
school of anthropology, writes the typicalfamily a group consisting of mother, father and
their progeny is found inall communities, savage, barbarians and civilized. The
irresistible sexneed, the urge for reproduction and the common economic needs
havecontributed to this universality.

2. Emotionalbasis. The family is grounded in emotions and sentiments. It is based on

our impulses of mating, procreation, maternal devotion, fraternal love and parental care.
It is built upon sentiments of love, affection,sympathy, cooperation and friendship.
3.Limited size. The family is smaller in size. As a primary group its sizeis necessarily
limited. It is a smallest social unit.

4. Formative influence. The family welds an environment which surroundstrains and

educates the child, It shapes the personality and moulds thecharacter of its members. It
emotionally conditions the child.

5. Nuclear position in the social structure. The family is the nucleus of allother social
institutions. The whole social structure is built of family units.

6. Responsibility of the members. The members of the family has

certainresponsibilities, duties and obligations. Robert Morrison Maclver, asociologist,
points out that in times of crisis men may work and fight anddie tor their country but
they toil for their families all their lives.

7. Social regulation. The family is protected both by social taboos and bylegal
regulations. The society takes safety measure to safeguard thisinstitution from any
possible breakdown.

8. A common habitation. A family requires a home or house-hold for itsliving. Without a
dwelling place the task of child bearing and child rearingcannot be adequately
performed (Shah, 2015).

9. The family thus is a biological unit implying institutionalized sexrelationship

between husband and wife. What distinguishes the family isthat it results from the
physiological union of two married persons whocreate the other members of the unit.
Its members are biologically moreclosely related to one another through the process of
reproduction than arethe members of another group.

10. "It is based on the fact of sex having the production and nurture of childrenas its
important function. Strictly defined, it consists of parents andchildren. It is both an
association and institution. It is a universal institutionfound in every age and every
society. It is the primary cell out of which thecommunity develops." (Shah, 2015)

Lesson 4: TYPES OF FAMILIES

 
There are many different types of families, each of which is equallyviable as a
supportive, caring unit.

1. Nuclear Family. Also called a conjugal family, this is the parentsand their children
living in the same residence or sharing the closestbonds.

2. Extended Family. This type of family includes all relatives in closeproximity such as

grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In atogether and all share daily household
duties. This type of familyalso called a joint family or multigenerational family
dependingon which members are included.

3.Complex Family. This type of extended family has three or moreadults plus their
children. This type of family may be formedthrough divorce and remarriage, or it may be
formed throughpolygamy in societies where that practice is acceptable. Some families
may be complex even without formal legal bonds betweenthe adults.

4. Reconstituted or Step Family. This is a family where the adultshave divorced and
remarried, bringing children from other unionstogether to form a new nuclear family.

5. Traditional Family. This is a family unit defined in the classicsense as the father
working outside the home to support theemembers financially, while the mother
remains at home and tendsto domestic duties and child-rearing. This strict definition of
familyis less and less common in modern society.

6. Adopted Family. This type of family shares legal bonds but notgenetic ones. Two
parents may adopt a child to whom they shareno blood relationship, or one parent may
adopt the child of theother parent. Adopted families can also be defined in an
emotionalor spiritual sense where no formal legal bonds are present.

7. Foster Family. A foster family includes one or more adult parentwho serves as a
temporary guardian for one or more children towhom they may or may not be
biologically related. In time, moreformal arrangements may be made and foster children
can be legallyadopted.

Many families can be classified as more than one specific type, and everyfamily has its
unique characteristics that make it special and comforting to itsmembers.

FAMILY AND KINSHIP

Another word that some people use for 'family' is 'kin,' but they are nottechnically
synonyms. You may have heard a phrase similar to, 'she is kin tous.’ That is
because ‘kin' is actually a synonym for 'related.' So, where familyis the actual group of
people, kinship is the relationship between familymembers. Mothers and daughters,
uncles and nephews, sisters and cousins areall examples of kinships.

As we all know, "Human person is a social animal" said Aristotle from hisbook

"Politics." Her social nature forces her to join with others in some formof relationships.
She always live with her fellow Human persons and issurrounded by different kinds of
people. The people with which she livesin society are her friends, relatives, neighbors
and strangers. Out of all thesepeople human person is related through blood ties or
marriage ties or eventhrough rituals. This bond of blood or marriage or ritual which
binds peopletogether in a group is called kinship.

Smelser (1994) expressed "Kinship is a cluster of social relations basedon such factors

as biological ties, marriage and legal rules regarding adoption, guardianship and the
like."

Through kinship, identity is manifest, authority is organized, and alliancesare formed. It

determines transfer of trust, flow of communication, and controlof resources. In some
societies, it is the pattern for spirit-world phenomenologyor rituals.

That is why kinship system includes socially recognized relationships. These

relationships are the product of socialization or enculturation.

The significance of kin relations begins to diminish only in large societies with mobile
populations and money-based economies. By contrast, kin relations in most non-
industrial cultures underlie such critical domains as place residence, inheritance
customs, religious obligations, political power, economic relations, domestic life, and
choice of spouse. "People across  cultures are more  likely to turn to kin  than to non-kin
for help and are more likely to give  aid and  comfort to kin than to non-kin." (Broude,
1994)

Kinship is mostly divided into two types such as:

1.    Kinship by blood (consanguinity)-  The relatedness is based on blood ties, such as

son, daughter, sister, brother, father, mother niece or nephew.

2.    Kinship by marriage (affinal)  - The relatedness is established by marriage, such as

son-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law to name a few.

         

All human beings are connected to others by blood (relative by bloodor consanguinity)
or marriage (relative by marriage or affine). Connections,between people that are traced
by blood are known as consanguineal relationships or relationship by blood.
Relationships based upon marriage orcohabitation between collaterals (people treated
as the same generation) areaffinal relationships or relationship by marriage. These
connections aredescribed by genealogies and/or academic kinship charts (similar to
familytree chart), which trace the consanguineal and affinal relationships
amongindividuals. Theoretically, the kinds of relationships that these charts
andgenealogies describe are the same for all individuals in all cultures-that is,any
person can in principle trace a relationship to a spouse, children, children'schildren,
parents,, parents' siblings, the spouses and children of parents'siblings, and so on.
However, people in different societies customarily calculategenealogical connections
differently, recognizing some kinds of relationshipsand ignoring others. The culturally
determined genealogies turn objectiverelationships of blood and marriage between
people into kinship. In no cultureare all genealogical relationships recognized as kin
relations. All people havekin relations about whom they know nothing, and everyone
knows of relativeswho have no importance in their lives. Genealogical relationships that
have nosocial significance, either because the individuals whom they designate
areunknown or because they are known but ignored, are not kin in the social
sense.Genealogical ties that a culture chooses to recognize are what constitute
anindividual's kin.

RULES OF DESCENT: RECOGNIZING KINSHIP-BILATERAL, PATRILINEAL, AND

MATRILINEAL DESCENT

Descent rules define socially recognized kin groups by tracing connections through

chains of parent-child ties. A society may focus exclusively on connections traced
through the male parent (patrilineal) or through the female parent (matrilineal). In either
case, the culture is employing a unilineal, or single-line, descent system.

Whereas, societies that trace descent unilineally, individuals in some cultures such
as the Philippines are characterized by bilateral descent rules, tracing relationships
through both parents. In these societies, other institutions, such as governments,
churches, businesses, and voluntary organizations, provide the structure and perform
the functions of other societies' kin-based groups. In some societies, descent is traced
through one parent for some people and through the other parent for other people; this
is ambilineal descent. For instance, males may trace descent through their fathers, and
females may trace descent through their mothers.

Imagine John and Marsha's family, again, living in the Philippines today. Rolly has just
arrived home from school and shows his mother the family tree assignment he was
given in history class. Marsha helps him list out his grandparents and great-
grandparents and tells him stories about ancestors from both sides. She does this
because most families in modern societies trace lineage based on bilateral descent.

But, bilateral descent is not used in all societies, however. Patrilineal descent is a

system of family lineage in which descent is traced through only the paternal side of the
family. Using patrilineal descent, family trees are traced through the males only. People
are related only if they trace descent through males to the same male ancestor. For
example, Jonny's patrilineal line would include his father's father's father and so on.

For example, the lines of descent for main personalities in the Bible are almost
exclusively through males. The book of Matthew in  chapter 1  begins with a genealogy
of Jesus that goes up through each father beginning with Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Analogously, if descent is matrilineal, siblings belong to the mother's group but their
father does not.

Lesson 5: MARRIAGE

Marriage in common layman's understanding is the relationships that exists between a

husband and a wife. But this definition is very broad. A Filipino famous saying on
marriage is "angpag-aasawa ay hindituladngisangkaningmainitnaisusubopag-napaso
ay agadiluluwa (marriage is not like eating newly cooked rice, after your mouth get
burn you vomit it)."

Marriage is one of the universal social institutions established to control and regulate
the life of mankind. It is closely associated with the institution of family. In fact both the
institutions are complementary to each other, It is an institution with different
implications in different cultures. Its purposes, functions and forms may differ from
society to society but it is present every- where as an institution. Westermarck (2007)
in "History of Human Marriage’ defines marriage as the more or less durable
connection between male and male and female lasting beyond the mere act of
propagation till after the birth of offspring. According to Malinowski (1913) marriage is
a contract for the production and maintenance of children.
For Horton and Hunt (1983) marriage is the approved social pattern whereby two or 
more persons establish a family.

 
 

Lesson 6: TYPES OF MARRIAGES

Marriages are of different types across the world. Types of weddings are not to be
confused with types of marriages, as weddings can of be of different types as per the
community even if the type of marriage is monogamous. Forms of marriage are also
culturally driven and different types of marriages in the world are prevalent among
different societies.

The types of marriages in sociology are as listed and explained below.

1. Monogamy

It is a form of marriage in which one man marries one woman. It is the most common
and acceptable form of marriage.

a. Serial monogamy. In many societies individuals are permitted to marry again often on
the death of the first spouse or after divorce but they cannot have more than one
spouse at one and the same time.

b. Straight monogamy. ln this type of monogamy re-marriage is not allowed.

2. Polygamy

Some of the world's societies have practiced polygamy, allowing plurality of spouse. It
is further divided into polygyny, polyandry and group marriage.

3. Polygyny

It is a form of marriage in which one man marries more than one woman at a given
time. It is of two types: Fraternal polyandry and non-fraternal polyandry.

a. Sororal polygyny - It is a type of marriage in which the wives are customarily the
sisters of the first wife. It is often called sororate.

b. Non-sororal polygyny - It is a type of marriage in which the wives are not related as
sisters.

4. Polyandry
It is the marriage of one woman with more than one man. It is less common than
polygyny. It is of two types: Fraternal polyandry and non-fraternal polyandry.

a. Fraternal polyandry is when several brothers share the same wife the practice can be
called adelphic or fraternal polyandry. This practice of being mate, actual or potential to
one's husband's brothers is called levirate. lt is prevalent among Todas (Tamil, India).

b. Non-fraternal polyandry is this type of polyandry where several men who are not
brothers marry a single woman. The woman goes to spend some time with each
husband. So long as a woman lives with one of her husbands, the others have no claim
over her. The Khasi tribe in North Eastern India still practice this type of marriage.

5. Group Marriage

It means the marriage of two or more women with two or more men. Here the husbands
are common husbands and wives are common wives. Children are regarded as the
children of the entire group as a whole.

Rules OF Marriage

No society gives absolute freedom to its members to select their partners. Endogamy
and exogamy are the two main rules that condition marital choice.

1. Endogamy

It is a rule of marriage in which the life-partners are to be selected within the group. It is
marriage within the group and the group may be caste, class, tribe, race, village,
religious group etc. We have caste endogamy, class endogamy, sub-caste
endogamy, race endogamy and tribal endogamy etc. In caste endogamy marriage has
to take place within the caste. Brahmin has to marry a Brahmin. In sub-caste
endogamy it is limited to the sub-caste groups. Race endogamy is a common practice
in China before and not as much of today; it is a practice of marrying two
heterogeneous relatives for the purpose of keeping the wealth of both families intact.

 
2. Exogamy

It is a rule of marriage in which an individual has to marry outside his own group.  So-
called blood relatives shall neither have marital connections nor sexual contacts among
themselves, such as uncle to niece, auntie to nephew, mother to son or daughter to
father: this is "taboo" and "incest."

3. Tribal Marriage

a. Marriage by exchange is a form of marriage involving an arranged and reciprocal

exchange of spouses between two groups.

b. Marriage by capture is where a man forcibly marries a woman.

c. Marriage by intrusion is where a woman forcibly marries a man.

d. Marriage by probation allow a man to stay at woman place for weeks together after
which if they decide to get married.

e. Marriage by purchase or giving b ride price. A man is required to give an agreed

amount oof cash/kind to the parents of the bride as price which usually vạries
according to the physical beauty and utility of the bride.

f. Marriage by service is where the man serves at his father in-law's house before
marriage.

g. Marriage by trial is an arrangement by which a couple live together for a period of

time to see if they are compatible for marriage.

h. Marriage by mutualconsent is a marriage of people who respect each other, love

each other, and make a constant practice of recognizing each other as full-fledged
human beings, each with their own desires, opinions, and beings, and preferences.

f. Marriage by elopement is a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion,

usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's
beloved with the intention of getting married.

Lesson 7: POST-MARITAL RESIDENCE RULES

Post-marital residence rules specify where a person resides after marriage and,

accordingly, influence the structure and size of household units. Anthropologists have
identified several basic rules and related domestic forms. However, adherence to a
specific residence rules involves many complications and consequences and a firm
classification of a particular society's arrangements is sometime ambiguous.
Accordingly, the form and dynamics of household must be understood in terms of
household flexibility, ideal versus actual arrangements, and the domestic cycle.

The following general patterns have been observed in varying societies around the
world.

1. Neolocal Residence. This system is determined by a rule that each Spouse leaves his
or her family of origin and jointly forms a new household, which develops as nuclear
family. This is of course the basic pattern in modern industrial societies.

2. Patrilocal Residence. A patrilocal rule specifies that, upon marriage, a man remains

in his father's household while his wife leaves her family to move in with him. As
children. are born, they are added to the paternal urnit. The result is a patrilocal
extended family, in which three or more generations of related men live together to form
a shallow patrilineage. An alternate designation, virilocal, refers to a simpler rule that a
wife must move to her husband's residence.

3. Matrilocal Residence. A matrilocal rule specifies that, upon marriage, a woman

remains in her mother's household while her husband leaves his family to move in with
her. As children are born, they are added to the maternal unit. The result is a matrilocal
extended family, in which three or more generations of related women live together to
form a shallow matrilineage. An alternate designation, uxorilocal, refers to a simpler rule
that a husband must move to his wife's residence.

4. Matrifocal Residence. A matrifocal family consists of a woman and her children and

sometimes her daughter's children, without co-resident husbands or other adult men.
This pattern is not usually an expression of a rule or cultural preference but results from
economic conditions in which a man is unable to support a family. The household form
is different from a matrilocal one, in which wives and husbands are coresident.

5. Avunculocal Residence. The avunculocal rule is more complicated than the previous

ones, since two residence changes are involved. Household formation begins with
a virilocal rule, placing a married woman in her husband's household, where their
children are raised. Upon reaching maturity, the men must relocate to their mother's
brother's household, the actual avunculocal move. The result is an avunculocal
extended family consisting of one or more elder men, their sister's sons, and the wives
and immature children of all the married men.
6. Ambilocal Residence. In aambilocal pattern a married couple decides whether to join
either the husband's or wife's household of origin. According to the choice made in the
previous generations, they may reside with either spouse's father or mother. The result
is an ambilocal extended family.

7, Natalocal Residence. The natalocal rule specifies that each partner remains with his
and her own families of residence after marriage. If children remain in their mother's
household the result will be the formation of domestic matrilineages to which all male
and female residents belong.

Lesson 8: KINSHIP BY RITUAL OR FICTIVE KINSHIP

The social universe established by kinship cannot be defined solely in terms of biology
and marriage alone. Indeed, kinship establishes the base, but not the totality, of what
individuals think of as family. The roles that family plays in a society are not complete
without the inclusion of fictive kin relationships. They are fictive in the sense that these
ties have a basis different from bonds of blood and marriage, not in the sense that
these relationships are any less important. In many societies, fictive ties are as
important as or more important than comparable relationships created by blood,
marriage, or adoption.

Briefly defined, fictive kinship involves the extension of kinship kinship obligations and

relationships to individuals specifically not otherwise included in the kinship universe.
God-parenthood (or co-parenthood), in its many manifestations, is the most commonly
cited illustration, but there are numerous other examples. In many societies, people
have 'aunts' or ‘uncles' who are merely their parents' closest friends. Members of
religious movements may refer to each other as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ while observing the
rules and prohibitions attached to those statusęs. Crime networks and youth gangs
employ kinship bonds and ideas of "blood brotherhood as organizing principles. Non-
traditional family forms such as gay and a lesbian unions may be defined in traditional
kinship terms.

Nonetheless, all fictive kin relationships have one element in common:

They are defined by criteria distinct from those establishing blood or marriage
relationships. Fictive relationships may mimic the ties they copy, but they defined in
their own terms. These terms may have a religious or economic component, be
predicated on existing social networks, or manipulate reality to fill gaps in real kinship
networks. Fictive relationships serve to broaden mutual support networks, create a
sense of community, and enhance social control. In essence, fictive kin ties elaborate
social networks and regularize interactions with people otherwise outside the
boundaries of family. Unlike true kinship bonds, fictive kin ties are usually voluntary and
require the consent of both parties in establishing the bond. The idea that you cannot
pick your relatives does not apply to fictive kin.

The concept of god-parenthood (sometimes referred to as co-parenthood) is certainly

the best documented example of a fictive kin relationship. Compadrazgo, as it occurs
throughout Mexico and Latin America, is an elaboration of the Catholic concept of
baptismal sponsorship blended with precolonial religious beliefs. However, it is less a
relationship between godparents and godchild than a tie between the parents and the
godparents. By linking nonrelated families, compadrazgo extends formalized social
networks. Individuals often seek to establish ties with wealthier families, establishing a
sponsorship and providing the possibility of upward social mobility for the child (Foster
1967; Kemper 1982). Similar relationships exist in many other societies,
including dharma atmyo in Bangladesh (Sarker 1980), kumstvo in the former Yugoslavia
(Halpern 1967; Hammel 1968), and kivrelik in Turkey (Magnarella and Turkdogan 1973).

Teacher’s Insights

Kinship has several importance in a social structure. Kinship decides who can marry
with whom and where marital relationships are taboo. It determines the rights and
obligations of the members in all the sacraments and religious practices from birth to
death in tamily life. Importance of kinship is observed on the occasion of marriage and
family functions. It determines family line relationships.