FAMILIES, KINSHIP, & DESCENT

Chapter 10

NUCLEAR FAMILY Term nuclear is used in its general meaning referring

to a central entity or "nucleus" around which others collect.

Parents, Siblings, & Children Important in industrialized & foraging nations

Family of Orientation – Family in which one is born & grows up.

Family of Procreation – Nuclear family is established when one marries & has children

EXTENDED FAMILY Include distant kin…

uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, in-laws, etc.

Extended Family Households – Occurs when three or more generations live together

Often (but not exclusively) occurs in regions in which economic conditions make it difficult for the nuclear family to achieve self-sufficiency

DESCENT GROUPS system of acknowledged social parentage

(varies from society to society) whereby a person may claim kinship ties with another

common ancestry

has special influence when rights to succession, inheritance, or residence follow kinship lines.

LINEAGES  Descent group reckoned through two ways…

only one parent, either the father or the mother Very popular before 1950

flexible, neither patrilineal nor matrilineal

Trace their common ancestry to a single person. Can recite names of past generations related to

them

May comprise any number of generations but commonly is traced through some 5 or 10.

CLANS Don’t trace the actual genealogical links between

themselves and that ancestor.

Can apply to various groups (medieval, modern Scots), meaning a connected group of people, usually relatives. It can represent a tribal relationship.

Have more members and cover larger geographic region

Many societies have both lineages and clans

KIN TYPES VS. KIN TERMS

Kin Types – Actual genealogical relationship

Kin Terms – Words used for different relatives in a particular language.

Example – father’s brother = typeuncle = term

Ego = means “I” or “Me” in Latin from a particular person’s perspective

KINSHIP SYMBOLS

F = Father M = Mother S = Son D = Daughter B = Brother Z = Sister C = Child H = Husband W = Wife

Example: Aunt Nicole Father’s Sister FZ

Lineal Kinship Terminology =Four parental kin termsM, F, FB=MB, & MZ = FZ

Collateral Relative=Relative outside ego’s direct

lineB, Z, FB, MZ