Work, Success, and Kids:
On Marriage, Family, and Kinship
Chapter 6
Nuclear and Extended Families
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The nuclear family consists of a married
couple and their children.
The nuclear family:
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ego-centered and impermanent
Descent groups are permanent (lasting
beyond the life spans of individual
constituents)
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reckoned according to a single ancestor.
Nuclear and Extended Families
(cont.)
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Family of orientation
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Family of procreation
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the family in which one is born and grows up,
formed when one marries and has children.
Claims made for the universality of the
nuclear family, based upon the universality of
marriage, do not hold up--the nuclear family
is widespread, but not universal.
Nuclear and Extended Families
(cont.)
In societies where the nuclear family
is important, this structure acts as a
primary arena for sexual,
reproductive, economic, and
enculturative functions
 In many societies, the extended
families are the primary unit of social
organization
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Industrialism and Family
Organization
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The most prevalent residence pattern in the
United States is families of procreation living
neolocally.
In the U.S., as in other large, industrialized
societies, patterns of residence and family
types may change from class to class, in
response to the conditions of these different
contexts (e.g., extended families as a
response to poverty).
Changes in North American
Kinship
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In 2000, 24 percent of American households
were inhabited by nuclear families.
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As compared to 40% in 1970
Increasing representation of women in the
work force is associated with a rise in
marriage age.
The divorce rate rose steeply between 1970
and 1994.
The media is reflecting and intensifying these
Changes in North American
Kinship

Comparatively, Americans (especially
middle class) identify a smaller range of
kindred than members of nonindustrial
societies.
The Family among Foragers
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The two basic units of social organization
among foragers are the nuclear family and
the band.
Typically, the band exists only seasonally,
breaking up into nuclear families when
subsistence means require.
Marriage
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There is no single definition of marriage that
is adequate to account for all of the diversity
found in marriages cross-culturally.
Terms
– Genitor refers to the biological father of a
child.
– Pater refers to the socially recognized
father of a child.
Exogamy
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Exogamy is the practice of seeking a spouse
outside one's own group.
This practice forces people to create and
maintain a wide social network.
This wider social network nurtures, helps,
and protects one's group during times of
need.
Incest
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Incest refers to sexual relations with a close relative.
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The incest taboo is a cultural universal.
What constitutes incest varies widely from culture to culture.
In societies with unilineal descent systems (patrilineal
or matrilineal), the incest taboo is often defined based
on the distinction between two kinds of first cousins:
parallel cousins and cross cousins.
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Sexual relations with a parallel cousin is incestuous,
because they belong to the same generation and the same
descent group.
Sexual relations with a cross cousin is not incestuous
because they belong to the opposite group or moiety.
Explaining the Taboo: Instinctive
Horror
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This theory argues that Homo sapiens are
genetically programmed to avoid incest.
This theory has been refuted.
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However, cultural universality does not necessarily entail a
genetic basis (e.g., fire making).
If people really were genetically programmed to avoid
incest, a formal incest taboo would be unnecessary.
This theory cannot explain why in some societies people
can marry their cross cousins but not their parallel cousins.
Explaining the Taboo: Biological
Degeneration
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This theory argues that the incest taboo developed
in response to abnormal offspring born from
incestuous unions.
A decline in fertility and survival does accompany
brother-sister mating across several generations.
Explaining the Taboo: Biological
Degeneration

However, human marriage patterns are based on
specific cultural beliefs rather than universal
concerns about biological degeneration several
generations in the future.
– Neither instinctive horror nor biological
degeneration can explain the very widespread
custom of marrying cross cousins.
– Also, fears about degeneration cannot explain
why sexual unions between parallel cousins but
not cross cousins are so often tabooed.
Explaining the Taboo: Attempt and
Contempt

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Malinowski (and Freud) argued that the
incest taboo originated to direct sexual
feelings away from one’s family to avoid
disrupting the family structure and relations
(familiarity increases the chances for
attempt).
The opposite theory argues that people are
less likely to be sexually attracted to those
with whom they have grown up (familiarity
breeds contempt).
Explaining the Taboo: Marry Out
or Die Out
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A more accepted argument is that the taboo
originated to ensure exogamy.
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Incest taboos force people to create and maintain wide
social networks by extending peaceful relations beyond
one's immediate group.
With this theory, incest taboos are seen as an adaptively
advantageous cultural construct.
This argument focuses on the adaptive social results
of exogamy, such as alliance formation, not simply on
the idea of biological degeneration.
Incest taboos also function to increase a group's
genetic diversity.
Endogamy
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Endogamy and exogamy may operate in a
single society, but do not apply to the same
social unit.
Endogamy can be seen as functioning to
express and maintain social difference,
particularly in stratified societies.
Homogamy is the practice of marrying
someone similar to you in terms of
background, social status, aspirations, and
interests.
Caste
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India’s caste system is an extreme example
of endogamy.
It is argued that, although India’s varna and
America’s “races” are historically distinct,
they share a caste-like ideology of
endogamy.
Polygyny
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Even in cultures that approve of polygamy,
monogamy still tends to be the norm, largely
because most populations tend to have equal
sex ratios.
Polygyny is more common than polyandry
because, where sex ratios are not equal,
there tend to be more women than men.
Multiple wives tend also to be associated with
wealth and prestige (the Kanuri of Nigeria
and the Betsileo are used as examples).
Polyandry
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Polyandry is quite rare, being practiced almost
exclusively in South Asia.
Among the Paharis of India, polyandry was
associated with a relatively low female population,
which was itself due to covert female infanticide.
Polyandry is usually practiced in response to specific
circumstances, and in conjunction with other
marriage formats.
In other cultures, polyandry resulted from the fact that
men traveled a great deal, thus multiple husbands
ensured the presence of a man in the home.
Edmund Leach on Marriage
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Edmund Leach argued that there are several different kinds of rights
allocated by marriage.
Marriage can establish the legal father of a woman’s children and the
legal mother of a man’s.
Marriage can give either or both spouses a monopoly in the sexuality of
the other.
Marriage can give either of both spouses rights to the labor of the other.
Marriage can give either of both spouses rights over the other’s
property.
Marriage can establish a joint fund of property—a partnership—for the
benefit of the children.
Marriage can establish a socially significant relationship of affinity
between spouses and their relatives.
Marital Rights and Same-Sex
Marriage

In the section Kottak argues that same-sex marriages are
legitimate unions between two individuals because like other
kinds of marriage, same-sex marriage can allocate all of the
rights discussed by Leach.
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In the U.S., since same-sex marriage is illegal, same-sex couples
are denied many of these rights (e.g., rights to the labor of the
other, over the other’s property, relationships of affinity with the
other’s relatives).
This does not mean that same-sex marriages, like any other
cultural construction, are not capable of meeting these needs, only
that in the U.S. laws prevent them from doing so.
There are many examples in which same-sex marriages are
culturally sanctioned (e.g., the Nuer, the Azande, the Igbo,
berdaches, and the Lovedu).
Bridewealth
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Particularly in descent-based societies, marriage partners
represent an alliance of larger social units.
Bridewealth is a gift from the husband’s kin to the wife’s, which
stabilizes the marriage by acting as an insurance against
divorce.
Brideprice is rejected as an appropriate label, because the
connotations of a sale are imposed; but progeny price is
considered an equivalent term.
Dowry, much less common than bridewealth, correlates with
low status for women.
Fertility is often considered essential to the stability of a
marriage.
Polygyny may be practiced to ensure fertility.
Durable alliances
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The existence of customs such as the
sororate and the levirate indicates the
importance of marriage as an alliance
between groups.
Sororate marriages involve the widower
marrying one of his deceased wife’s sisters.
Levirate marriages involve the widow
marrying one of her deceased husband’s
brothers.
Divorce
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Divorce is found in many different societies.
Marriages that are political alliances between groups
are harder to break up than marriages that are more
individual affairs.
Payments of bridewealth also discourage divorce.
Divorce is more common in matrilineal societies as
well as societies in which postmarital residence is
matrilocal.
Divorce is harder in patrilocal societies as the woman
may be less inclined to leave her children who, as
members of their father’s lineage, would need to stay
Divorce in Foraging Societies
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In foraging societies forces act to both promote and
discourage divorce.
Promote divorce:
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Since foragers lack descent groups, marriages tend to be
individual affairs with little importance placed on the political
alliances.
Foragers also have very few material possessions.
Discourage divorce:
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The family unit is the basic unit of society and division of
labor is based on gender.
The sparse populations mean that there are few alternative
spouses if you divorce.
Divorce in the U.S.
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The U.S. has one of the world’s highest
divorce rates.
The U.S. has a very large percentage of
gainfully employed women.
Americans value independence.
Descent Groups
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A descent group is a permanent social unit
whose members claim common ancestry.
Matrilineal descent
Patrilineal descent
Matrilineal and patrilineal descent are types
of unilineal descent in which individuals only
recognize one line of descent.
Kinship and Social Organization
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An Interactive Tutorial
Descent Groups
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Lineage
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Clan
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a descent group who can demonstrate their
common descent from an apical ancestor.
a descent group who claims common descent
from an apical ancestor but cannot demonstrate it
(stipulated descent).
When a clan’s apical ancestor is nonhuman,
it is called a totem.
Lineages, Clans, and Residence
Rules
In tribal societies, the descent group,
not the nuclear family, is the
fundamental unit.
 In many societies, descent groups
are corporate, sharing resources and
property.

Lineages, Clans, and Residence
Rules
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Unilocal Residence
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Patrilocality
 married
couple lives with husband's family;
associated with patrilineal descent and is
more common than matrilocality.
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Matrilocality
 married
couple lives with wife's family;
associated with matrilineal descent and is
less common than patrilocality.
Ambilineal Descent
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People can choose the descent group that
they want to belong to.
Membership is fluid as people can change
their descent group membership.
With unilineal descent, membership is
ascribed, but for ambilineal descent,
membership is achieved.
Kinship Calculation
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Kinship calculation is any systemic method
for reckoning kin relations.
Genealogical Kin Types and Kin Terms
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Kin terms are the labels given in a particular
culture to different kinds of relatives.
Biological kin type refers to the degree of actual
genealogical relatedness.
Kinship Calculation

Bilateral Kinship
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Used by most Americans and Canadians.
Kinship is traced through both male and female
lines.
Kin links through males and females are
perceived as being similar or equivalent.
In North American bilateral kinship there is often
matrilineal skewing, a preference for relatives on
the mother's side.