Marriage and Family
How do Anthropologists study
Marriage and Family?
Marriage and Family
• Anthropologist have traditionally studied
non-industrial societies
• In non-industrial societies the study of
marriage and family is often discussed in
terms of “kinship” and “descent”
…………
KIN GROUPS AND KINSHIP
CALCULATIONS
• Anthropologists study
the kin groups that
are important to a
population as well as
kinship calculation
(the system by which
people in a society
reckon kin
relationships)
How do anthropologists determine
kinship patterns?
• During fieldwork,
anthropologists learn about
“significant” groups by
observing their activities and
composition. People often
live in the same village or
neighborhood or work, pray,
celebrate together because
they are related in some
way.
Studying “kinship calculation”
• To study kinship calculation, the anthropologist
must first determine the word or words for
different types of relatives used in a particular
language-she does this by determining through
questioning
• Kinship is a lot like notions of race and gender in
that they are culturally constructed-some
biological kin may be considered relatives
whereas others are not
Kin Types and Kinship Calculation
• Anthropologists
distinguish between
KIN TERMS (words
used for different
relative in a particular
language) and
BIOLOGICAL KIN
TYPES
TERMS- DESCENT GROUP
• DESCENT GROUPS-composed of people
claiming common ancestry, these groups
are basic units in the social organization of
non-industrial food producers
• Descent Groups are permanent social
units whose members claim common
ancestry; membership is determined at
birth and is lifelong
DESCENT GROUPS-TERMS
• Descent Groups are typically exogamous
(meaning members must seek their mates
from other descent groups
• There are 2 rules of admittance in Descent
Groups: (1) matrilineal descent(2)
patrilineal descent…
These are examples of unilineal descent
DESCENT GROUPS -TERMS
• Descent Groups can be referred to as
lineages( which use demonstrated descent
in which members can recite names of
forebears in each generation to single
ancestor) or clans (which use stipulated
descent in which members simply say they
descend from a single ancestor)
Kinship charts
NUCLEAR FAMILY
• A nuclear family is different from a descent
group in that a descent group is permanent
• Descent group membership often is set at
birth and lasts a lifetime whereas in a nuclear
family people typically belong to at least two
at times in their lives
• Family of orientation
• vs.
• family of procreation
IMPLICATIONS OF
INDUSTIALISM
• NEOLOCALITY
• In 1970 married
couples with kids
were 40% of
households; in 1995
25%
• In 1970 56 million
families were
maintained by
women; in 1995 122
million
Nuclear family
• Among foraging populations the nuclear
family is often the most significant kin
group but it is never the only significant kin
group
• While neolocality is the rule in the “western
world”, more common is virilocality (living
with husband’s relations vs. uxorilocality
(living with wife’s relatives)
MARRIAGE
• PLURAL
MARRIAGES
(polygamy)
• Fraternal
polyandry
Marriage-Nuer of African Sudan
• A Nuer woman can
marry a woman if her
father has only
daughters but no
male heirs-this is a
symbolic and social
relationship rather
than a sexual one
Universal definitions of marriage
• MARRIAGE CAN:
• establish the legal father of a woman’s
children and legal mother of a man’s children
• Establish monopoly on sexual congress
• Give rights to labor of other spouse
• Give property rights
• Establish joint fund of property for children
• Establish social relation of affinity between
spouses
EXOGAMY AND INCEST TABOO
• EXOGAMY-practice of seeking a mate
outside one’s own group
• INCEST-sexual relations with a close
relative; there is a taboo against incest in
all cultures however, people define their
kin and therefore incest as well
• Example of Lahker of Southeast Asia
ENDOGAMY
• ENDOGAMY – rules of
marriage that keep group
members within their
defined group
• Rules of endogamy exist
in most cultures
• Example of caste
(stratified groups in which
membership is ascribed
at birth and is lifelong) in
India
ADDITIONAL TERMS
• Bridewealth-customary gift before or after
marriage from husband and his kin to wife and
her kin
• Dowry-marital exchange in which wife’s group
provides substantial gifts to husband’s family
• Polygyny-man has more than one wife
• Polyandry-woman has more than one husband
• Sororate-female substitute for deceased spouse
• Levirate-male substitute for deceased spouse
Additional Terms
• Polygyny –form of
polygamy within
which man has more
than one wife
• Polyandry-form of
polygamy within
which woman has
more than one
husband