Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Chapter 4
Individuals and Society
Lesson 4: How Society is Organized?
“No man is an Island, entire of itself, every man is a part of continent, a part of the main.”Man is
recognized as the most distinctive charactieristic of people as social animals whose behavior and
personalities are shaped by groups.
GROUP is a collection of people interacting together in an orderly way on the basis of shared
expectations about one another’s behavior.
Result of interactions: common sens of “belongingness”
Example: businessmen in corporate meeting or
Students joining a science club
 Groups can be categorized based on number, common interest, purpose and level of interactions
Types of Groups:
**According to influence
1. Primary Groups – small but intimate, members have direct access and interactions within close
ties. Emotional bonds are formed between members and any loss of any member will affect
identity and structures of group. Ex: Family – basic unit of society.
Secondary Groups – members interact with each other to accomplish the goals of the group. They
are often formal and impersonal. Ex: student becomes close friends with some of his or her
classmates in school.
**According to membership
1. In-groups, provide members a sense of belongingness and loyalty. Ex: basketball team
(bonding with team mates)
Pep rallies 2 support
2. Out-groups – are groups than an individual is not a member (kabaligtaran).
Ex: member of women’s basketball team but have a sense of antagonism towards mens basketball
team.
References groups – group provide a person with set of standards to check against and to know if one is
doing well or where he/she needs improvement. Ex: Favorite basketball team/player – Celtics
Group artist/dancers – Universal Dancers/Streetboys
Superiors – teachers/professors,
Networks – entirely a social connections an individual takes part in for purpose (economic political,etc)
thru different interaction like face to face, virtual, indirect. Ex: Civil Society Organization – Rotary Club
NGO’s – Sagip Kapamilya (ABS-CBN)
1
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Chapter 5
Political and Economic Institutions
Lesson 1: Kinship, Marriage and the Household
All of us here belongs to a family, clan & household. In the Philippines most of Filipino families
lived with their grandparents and relatives.
Household – small social unit/group who eats together and sleep together in 1 household unit fulfilling
basic human needs, such as regulation of sexual activities child rearing, and coordinating work.
Clan/kin – large social unit/group allows an individual to fulfill the needs that a house hold can’t give. (of
needs protection against human aggressors, natural disasters, etc.
** Family is the most important social unit in which socialization takes place, whre social experiences
and interaction commonly occur.
Responsible for process of cultural transmission by which values and norms are taught to new
members of society – You and incorporated on the individual solely rely on family influence. The major
component and dimension of his or her personality and self-concept ( attitudes, interests, goals, beliefs
and biases are acquired within FAMILY CIRCLE.
**How does a household differ from Kinship?
KINSHIP –is a network of relatives within which an individual possesses certain mutual rights and
obligations. Members have rights and obligations depending on place in the network.
- Defined by Consanguinity or Affinity.
**Types of Kinship:
1. Affinal kinship –relationship based upon marriage or cohabitation between collaterals (people as
the same generation)
2. Consaguineous kinship – connection between people that are traced by blood.
KINSHIP BY BLOOD
Descent Systems (descendant or offspring)
-kinship can be represented in different ways resulting in a variety of patterns and kin groups.
1. Unilineal descent – when a child is born, he or she is automatically assigned to either his or her
mother’s group.
2. Patrilineal descent – children are automatically made members of the father’s group only.
Example: Jews with affix “Bar” means “son of/daughter of”
-signify he /she is an offspring or descendant of his or her family line. There is an implication of
practice about the recognition of the male offspring as “sustainer of the family lineage”
3. Matrilineal descent – children are automatically made members of the mother’s group only. The
implication of his practice is the recognition of the female offspring as the carrier of the family
lineage.
4. Bilateral descent – is used to recognize children that are made members of all anscestors group
of both parents and grand parents. Example: Modern society mostly fall on this category because
children enjoy the priveledge of being both part of their parent’s families.
Anthropologist uses diagrams to illustrate kinship relationships to make them more understandable
.
2
Legend:
male
female
Marriage Bond
Descent bond
Codescent bond
EGO – is a person to whome all kinship relationship are referred to, but without gender specific.
KINSHIP BY MARRIAGE
- Type of kinship that is forge by marriage alliances.
**Forms of Marriages
1. Monogamy – when both married partners only have one spouse- each other.
2. Polygamy – occurs when one individual has multiple spouses; however, even when it is allowed
(MUSLIMS belief) not all individuals are capable because there are economic obligations to be
met, such as paying dowry and supporting the spouse and children.
3. Plygyny – happens when one man is married to more than one women simultaneously.
Common practice on cases that women out numbered men in population and in societies with a
high incidence of war and violence.
4. Polyandry – happens when two men are socially recognized as sires and provide investment to
the woman and her child. In this case, polyandrous unions as bond of one woman to more than
one man. Often practice to sustain enough labor for house hold engages in farming, herding,
and traiding that are simultaneously done.
 In this type of union, the woman has relatively restricted sexual rights toward her husbands
because she has to cater to all of them. Sameway, husbands are required to make arrangements
to the woman when to have union with her.
** Other cases/forms of marriages, rarely practice because of globalization and cultural hupes in
contemporary world.
Group Marriage – several men and women are getting married and have secual access to each other.
Fictive Marriage – happens by proxy to represent someone not physically present in order to extablish
a social status for spouse and heirs; others for control rights to property alone in next gen.
Marriages based on spouse preference (Western Egalitarian Ideal) – freely chooses who to mary.
Arrange Marriages - done to preserve traditional values highly regarded by family origin.
It is very important to remember that Marriage entails economic Implications (rt to property and
wealth) and;
Political implications (making alliances with another family)
Kinship is also prossible through ritual or ceremony.. example compadrinazgo (Godparent Hood
Complex)
3
4