Kinship, Marriage and the

Household
KINSHIP

Kinship refers to the web of social relationships that

form an essential part of the lives of most humans
in most societies.
Descent refers to the origin or background of a
person in terms of family or nationality. A descent
group is a social group whose members have
common ancestry.
KINSHIP DIAGRAM SYMBOLS
KINSHIP BY BLOOD
A unilineal society is one in which the
descent of an individual is reckoned either
from the mother’s or the father’s line of
descent.
KINSHIP BY BLOOD
With matrilineal descent, individuals belong
to their mother’s descent group.
KINSHIP BY BLOOD
With patrilineal descent, individuals belong to
their father’s descent group.
 KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
 An important institutional element of the
family is marriage.
 According to Bowman, people marry for
combined reasons: love, economic and
emotional security, the parents’ desires,
escapes from solitude or forlorn home
situation money, companionship,
protection, adventure, or common
interests. Sex or sexual attraction is the
least consideration, but marriage makes
sexual intercourse legitimate. It sanctions
parenthood and provides a stable
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
FORMS OF MARRIAGE
The form of marriage accepted in a society
affects the structure of the family’s larger
kinship group. The accepted form may be either
monogamous or polygamous.
Monogamy allows or permits a man to
take only one spouse at a time.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
Polygamy is a form of plural marriage and
can assume three forms: polygyny,
polyandry, and group marriage.
• Polygyny is the marriage of one man to two
or more women at the same time.
• Polyandry is the marriage of a woman to two
or more men at the same time.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
POLYGYNY POLYGAMY
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
Selection of Marriage Partners
There are two types of norms regarding the selection of
marriage partners: endogamy and exogamy
 Endogamy refers to the norm which dictates
that one should marry within the religious group,
locality or social class.
 Exogamy on the other hand, prescribes that
one can marry outside one’s clan or ethnic group.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE

The levirate and surrogate norms are being

observed in the society.
 The levirate norm prescribes that a widow marry
the brother or nearest kin of the deceased husband.
 While in the surrogate norm prescribes that men
should marry the sister or nearest kin of the
deceased wife.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
A number of anthropological and sociological publications
classify the forms of the family and kinship organizations in
many ways, namely:
Based on Internal Organization or Membership
The family may be classified as nuclear and extended.
The nuclear, primary or elementary family is composed of a
husband and his wife and their offspring in union recognized
by other memebers of the society.
According to Murdock, (1949:2-3) every normal adult in
every society belongs to two kinds of nuclear families, namely,
the family of orientation and the family of procreation.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
The family of orientation is the family into which one is
born, and where one is reared or socialized. It consists of
a father, mother, brothers, and sisters.
The family of procreation is the family established
through marriage and consists of a husband, a wife, sons,
and daughters.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
The nuclear family is the smallest unit responsible for
the preservation of the value system of society, Its duty
is to see that members are socialized into the basic
value system of the society. The extended family is
composed of two or more nuclear families, economically
and socially related to each other

NUCLEAR EXTENDED
FAMILY FAMILY
NUCLEAR FAMILY
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Motivates the Loneliness
husband and wife to Insecurity of children
work out a
harmonious
relationship
Members tend to be
imbued with values
of independence,
EXTENDED FAMILY
ADVANTAGES  A variety of protection if
 Possibility for afforded to its members
and the aged can rely on
withstanding the
the younger members to
stresses and strains of
take care of them
life
 The children learn to DISADVANTAGES
cooperate at an early  Suppress the
age development of self-
reliance, initiative, and
independence
BASED ON DESCENT
Types of families based on descent are the following:
Patrilineal descent, which affiliates a person with a
group of relatives through his or her father.
Matrilineal descent, which affiliates a person with
a group of relatives related though his or her mother.
Bilateral descent, which affiliates a person with a
group of relatives related through either his or her
parents.
BASED ON RESIDENCE
Filipinos practice endogamy. One is likely to marry within
one’s social class, religion, locality grouping, or nationality
grouping.
The basis of this classification is the preferred rule of
residence. With whom does the newly married couple stay?
Patrilocal residence requires that the newly married
couple live with or near the domicile of the parents of the
bridegroom.
Matrilocal residence requires that the newly married
couple live with or near the domicile of the parents of the
BASED ON RESIDENCE
 Bilocal residence gives the couple a choice of staying
with either the groom’s parents or the bride’s parents,
depending on factors like the relative wealth of the
families or their status, the wishes of the parents, or
certain personal preferences of the bride and groom.
 Neolocal residence permits the newly married couple
to reside independently of the parents of either groom
or bride.
 Avunculocal residence prescribes that the newly
married couple reside with or near the maternal uncle of
the groom. This type of residence is very rare.
 BASED ON AUTHORITY
Where is authority vested- in the family or kinship group? Based on who
wields authority, families are classifies into the following types:
 The patriarchal family is one in which the authority is vested in the
eldest male in the family, often the father. The males speak for the
familial group with regard to property relationships, legal obligations,
and criminal offenses. The double standards morality exists.
 The matriarchal family is one in which authority is vested in the
mother or the mother’s kin.
 The egalitarian family is one in which both the husband and the wife
exercise a more or less equal amount or degree of authority.
 The matricentric family- this type of authority is usually found in
places where the father commutes and is out for the greater part of the