Constructing Families and Social Relationships Flashcards
Human Groups
Humans rarely live in total isolation from other humans and often form social relations with one another
Kinship
The study of family composition, marriage, and descent patterns
Family
The smallest groups of individuals who see themselves as connected to one another
When studying kinship we look at:
- Classification
- Composition
- How relationships are formed and maintained
- How relationships are meaningful
- Family themes
- What disrupts family relations
David Schneider
Studies American kinship systems (Kinship is cultural, not biological)
Kin Types
Terms used by anthropologists to denote Biological relationships relationships among family members (father, mother, etc)
Kin Terms
Culture-specific terms used to denote family relationships (from an emic perspective)
Nuclear Family
The family group consisting of a father, mother, and their biological or adoptive children
Bilateral Kinship
A system in which individuals trace their descent through both parents
Matrilinear Kinship
A system of descent in which people are related to their kin though the mother only
Patrilineal Kinship
A system of descent in which people are related to their kin through the father only
Ethnographic Present
The present tense is used to describe a culture even though the description may be referring to situations that existed in the past
Brideservice
The requirement that when a couple marries, the groom must work for the bride’s family for a specified amount of time
The Trobriand Islanders and Matrilinear Kinship
- Live in villages
- Divided into hamlets (each have a dala)
- Revolve around extended family
- Most important relationship is between brother and sister
Dala
A group of men related to one another through the female line, along with their wives and unmarried children
