Definitions [9]
Definition: Kinship
- John Lewis defined kinship as "kinship is a social recognition and expression of genealogical relationships. It is not only actual but may be based on supposed ties of blood."
- A. R. Brown pointed out the concept of kinship as, "kinship is genealogical relationship recognised for social purposes and made the basis of the customary relation of social relations."
- Charles Winick finds "Kinship system may include socially recognised relationship based on supposed as well as actual geneologicalities."
Definitions: Decent kinship
- Meyer Fortes defines descent as "A descent group is an arrangement of persons that serves the attainment of legitimate social and personal ends"
- According to G.P. Murdock, "Descent refers solely to a cultural principle whereby an individual is socially allocated to a specific group of consanguineal kinsmen"
- Makhan Jha further points out, "The rule of residence that determines the domestic group is primarily. determined by the patterns of a people's technoeconomic adaptation. The residence rule has a tendency to be bifocal where the techno-environmental adaptation is unstable enough or where the technoeconomic positions of men and women are so nearly equivalent that a more flexible rule of residence is found to be most adaptative. Thus, this view provides that rules of descent can be well determined by rules of residence."
Definition: Social Institution
- Graham Sumner has defined an institution as a concept and a structure, the former meaning ideas, notion, doctrine, interest and the latter a framework or apparatus, or perhaps only a number of functionaries set to co-operate in prescribed ways at a certain conjuncture, The objectives and values of life are emphasised in the concept, while concepts are fulfilled through the mechanism of the structure.
Definition: Marriage
- Marriage has been defined as " a union between man and a woman such that children born to the woman are recognised legitimate offspring of both parents ".
- According to Erikeson, "whether or not persons choose their spouses, marriage is very commonly perceived as a relationship between groups, not primarily between individuals".
- According to Westermark, "Marriage is a relation of one or more men and women which is recognised by custom or law and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of the parties entering the union and in the case of children born of it."
- A definition given by D.N. Majumder and T.N. Madan in their book, An Introduction to Social Anthropology says, "Marriage ensures a biological satisfaction (that of sex) and a psychological satisfaction (that of having children) on the individual plane and on the wider collective plane, it ensures a two fold survival, that of the group and its culture".
Definition: Exogamy
- Andrey Richards pointed out that, "In hunting and food gathering societies, food is difficult to obtain. Women and children are generally a burden in such societies. This could have led to female infanticide, which in consequence, would lead to female scarcity. This must have led to marriage by capture, and the next step since such capture had to be effected from outside the tribe to exogamy."
Key Points: Forms of Marraiges > Endogamy
- Lewis defines endogamy as "The rule that requires a person to marry within a specific social group of which he is a member" .
- According to Erikson "In a sense, all human groups are both endogamous and exogamous to varying degrees. One is expected to marry 'one's own kind, but not some one classified as a close relative. Who is close relative and who is not naturally culturally specified, although the people classified as parents, children and siblings in Europe are virtually everywhere seen as close kin."
Definition: Nuclear family
- Cohn defines a nuclear family as, "typically consisting of married man and woman with their offspring"
- Murdock added, " although in individual cases one or more additional persons may reside with them".
- Talcott persons identifies the nuclear family as an isolated family. It is isolated because it does not form an integral part of a wider system of kin relationships.
Definition: Joint family
- Prof. MN. Srinivas defines the composition of the joint family as, “It consists of the descendants in the male line, of a common ancestor, and their wives, sons, married as well as unmarried, and unmarried daughters.
- "Prof. Irawati Karve presents the composition as follows: “There are three or four generations of males related to a male ego as grandfather and his brothers, father and his brothers, brothers and cousins, sons and nephew, and wives of all these male relatives, plus the ego's own unmarried sisters and daughters”.
Definition: Family
- E. W. Burgess and H. J. Locke attempted a definition, "The family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption; constituting a single household; interactive and inter communicating with each other in their respective social role of husband and wife, mother and father, brother and sister; creating a common culture" .
- In the words of MacIver and Page, "The family has no origin in the sense that there ever existed a stage of human life from which the family was absent to another stage in which it emerged."
- "The sex and hunger urges, the economic compulsives, and the cultural traditions have every where provided the theoretical 'justification for the recognition of the existence of the family," pointed out D. N. Majumdar and T. N. Madan.
Key Points
Key Points: Social Institution
- Social institutions are well-organised and formal patterns of behaviour.
- They set rules, norms, and values to guide human behaviour.
- They are stable and continuous, passing from one generation to another.
- Social institutions involve regular and repeated social activities.
- Different institutions are interrelated and depend on each other.
- They help maintain order and stability in society.
- Social institutions change with time according to social needs.
Key Points: Degree of kinship
|
Type of Kin |
Meaning |
Examples |
|
Primary Kins |
People who belong to one’s blood or marital group |
Brother, Sister, Father, Mother |
|
Secondary Kins |
People related to one’s siblings and parents |
Grandparents, Spouses of siblings |
|
Tertiary Kins |
People who are secondary kins of one’s primary kin |
Sister-in-law of brother, Son-in-law of uncle |
Key Points: Residence
- Residence means the place where a married couple lives, and it affects how close their kin relationships are.
- In patrilocal residence, the couple lives with the husband’s family, while in matrilocal residence, they live with the wife’s family.
- Avunculocal residence means living with the husband’s mother’s brother’s family, and unilocal residence allows living with either spouse’s family.
- In bilocal residence, the couple lives with both families at different times, while in neolocal residence, the couple sets up their own home.
- Today, economic changes have reduced dependence on kin, but living near family is still important for support and safety.
Key Points: Hypogamy
- Hypergamy is a marriage system in which a person marries into a higher social or caste group.
- In India, it is linked with the caste system, where a man can marry a woman of his own or lower caste (anuloma).
- A woman’s caste status changes after marriage and follows her husband’s caste.
- Marriage of a higher-caste woman with a lower-caste man is called hypogamy (pratiloma) and is socially restricted.
- Hypergamy led to dowry problems and polygyny, especially among Brahmins in the past.
Key Points: Important functions of family as a functional unit
- The family is the basic social unit that performs essential functions for the survival of society.
- Socialization is the primary function of the family, where children learn values, norms, behaviour, and skills.
- The family regulates sexual behaviour through marriage rules and incest taboos to maintain social order.
- Family provides social placement, giving an individual identity related to class, caste, religion, and status.
- The family ensures emotional, material, and financial security, offering support in times of need.
Key Points: Important functions of family as a social unit
- The social-conflict paradigm views family as a unit that supports social inequality.
- According to Engels, family developed to protect property and ensure inheritance.
- Patriarchy places men in a dominant position and limits women’s freedom within the family.
- Family helps maintain class, racial, and ethnic inequality by encouraging marriage within the same group.
- Despite criticism, family remains an important functional unit, offering emotional support and stability.
Key Points: Distinctive Features of family
- Universality – Family is a universal institution found in all societies and cultures.
- Emotional basis – Family is based on love, affection, and emotional support.
- Educative role – Family is the first institution where a child learns values and behaviour.
- Social regulation – Family controls behaviour and maintains social discipline.
- Sense of responsibility – Family develops responsibility and duty among its members.
Key Points: Family as process - Stages
- Family is a process that changes through different stages of life.
- The formative stage focuses on the child’s training, guidance, and social development.
- The pre-nuptial stage involves preparation for marriage and mate selection.
- The nuptial stage begins with marriage and includes adjustment, shared responsibilities, and procreation.
- The post-nuptial stage deals with child-rearing, children leaving home, and adjustments in later life.
Key Points: Future Trends
- Divorce rates are increasing, making family life less stable in the future.
- Alternative family forms like cohabiting, single-parent, and blended families are increasing.
- Traditional family norms are weakening due to individual choices and changing values.
- The role of men in the family is reducing, while women’s responsibilities are increasing.
- Women play a major role in managing both domestic work and family support in modern families.
Key Points: Range of Kinship
- Range of kinship refers to the number of persons included within a kinship group and may be of a narrow or broad range.
- Narrow-range kinship is limited to parents and siblings and is commonly found in modern Western and increasingly in Indian society.
- Broad-range kinship includes extended groups such as lineage and clan and was typical of primitive societies like the sib.
- The range of kinship depends not only on blood and marriage but also on social customs, recognition, size and spatial spread of the group.
- Localised lineage shows close, face-to-face relations, while dispersed lineage involves formal and distant relations limited to ceremonial occasions.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Technonymy
- Technonymy means addressing a person by the name of their child or spouse.
- It is common in rural India and among tribes like the Khasi of Meghalaya.
- Children are usually used as the basis of identification.
- A wife may be called the mother of her son or daughter.
- According to Tylor, this practice reflects the important position of women in early societies.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Amitate
- Amitate refers to the special role of the father’s sister in a child’s life.
- She often has authority and influence over her brother’s children.
- The father’s sister may act like the head of the household in some societies.
- This practice is found in some tribal and matrilineal societies.
- Amitate helps maintain close kinship ties despite separate family residence.
Key Points: Types of Kinship
- Affinal kinship is determined by the marital relationship between a man and a woman.
- Consanguineous kinship refers to the blood relationship between parents and children, and among siblings.
Key Points: Decent kinship
- Patrilineal descent means tracing family and kinship through the father’s side, where children belong to the father’s family.
- Matrilineal descent means tracing family and kinship through the mother’s side, where children belong to the mother’s family.
- Filial, lineal and collateral relations describe kinship through parents (filial), direct ancestors like father or grandfather (lineal), and relatives from the same ancestor but not in a direct line (collateral).
- Corporate kin include all kinds of relatives patrilineal, matrilineal and collateral, forming a large kin group.
- Double descent and alternating descent are rare systems where kinship is traced through both parents or alternately through mother and father, making them complex.
Key Points: The reason for and the nature of Marriage
- Marriage provides a socially approved way for sexual satisfaction and fulfils basic human needs.
- It ensures the birth, care, and socialisation of children, helping in the continuity of society.
- Marriage supports economic cooperation and division of labour between husband and wife.
- It plays an important role in the inheritance and transmission of property and family rights.
- The nature of marriage varies across societies, being a sacrament among Hindus, a contract in Islam, and a personal bond in modern Western societies.
Key Points: Definite and most important functions of the family
- The family fulfils basic biological and economic needs like food, shelter, clothing, health, and education.
- Upbringing of children is a major responsibility of the family, including care, protection, and social education.
- Family regulates and channels sex-satisfaction in a socially approved manner through marriage.
- It provides psychological and emotional security to children, elders, and other members.
- The family acts as an agency for transmission of culture, teaching language, values, customs, and social behaviour.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Avoidance
- Avoidance means keeping distance or behaving formally between certain relatives, especially in-laws, to maintain respect and social order.
- Common examples of avoidance are between son-in-law and mother-in-law or daughter-in-law and father-in-law, where interaction is indirect and formal.
- Scholars like Tylor and Frazer explained avoidance as a result of living arrangements and to prevent close contact between opposite sexes.
- Freud believed avoidance helps prevent emotional or sexual tensions that may create problems later in life.
- Overall, avoidance rules help reduce conflict, prevent sexual relationships, and maintain harmony within the kin group.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Joking Relationship
- Joking relationships allow informal and friendly behaviour between certain relatives.
- It often includes jokes, teasing, and light humor, sometimes even satire.
- Common examples are between a man and his wife’s sister or a woman and her husband’s brother.
- Such relationships help reduce tension and control improper behaviour in society.
- Joking relationships are also seen between grandparents and grandchildren, helping children develop freely.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Couvade
- Couvade is a custom where the husband follows restrictions during his wife’s pregnancy and childbirth.
- The husband may feel sympathy for pain, follow a sick diet, and observe taboos, as seen among tribes like Khasi and Toda.
- This practice helps strengthen the bond between husband and wife and shows the father’s responsibility towards the child.
- Scholars like Malinowski believe couvade develops paternal affection and supports married life.
- Overall, couvade is symbolic, showing the importance of close husband-wife and parent-child relationships in society.
Key Points: Kinship Usage > Avunculate
- Avunculate is a kinship system where the maternal uncle holds authority over the child.
- It is mainly found in matrilineal societies.
- The maternal uncle may act as the guardian of his sister’s children.
- He enjoys special rights and duties towards his sister’s children.
- This authority is called avunculoprestality.
Key Points: Kinship Terms > Classificatory terms
- Classificatory terms use the same kinship term for many relatives of the same generation, based on social relationship rather than exact blood ties.
- Such terms group people into social classes of kin, like calling father, father’s brother, and other male relatives by the same term.
- Lewis Henry Morgan studied classificatory kinship and found it common in primitive and tribal societies.
- This system gives more importance to social organisation, descent, and custom than biological relationship.
- Classificatory kinship terms help simplify social relations and are often linked with practices like cross-cousin marriage.
Types of Classificatory terms
- Eskimo (Inuit) system – Distinguishes the nuclear family clearly while grouping all cousins under one term.
- Omaha system – Uses the same term for father and father’s brother and follows a patrilineal pattern.
- Crow system – Similar to Omaha but traces kinship through the mother’s side in matrilineal societies.
- Hawaiian system – Uses the same term for all relatives of the same generation and sex.
- Iroquois system – Distinguishes parallel cousins from cross cousins by using different terms.
- Sudanese system – Uses separate and specific terms for almost every type of relative.
Key Points: Kinship Terms > Descriptive terms
- Descriptive terms refer to a specific and direct blood relationship with a particular relative.
- Each relative is identified by a separate and unique term, not grouped with others.
- These terms keep lineal and collateral relations clearly distinct.
- Descriptive kinship terminology is mainly found in nuclear family–based societies.
- With the growth of modern society, descriptive terms are increasing as kin relations become limited.
Key Points: Forms of Marraiges > Exogamy
- Exogamy means marrying outside one’s own group, and it developed to encourage alliances with outsiders.
- According to scholars like Risley and J. J. Atkinson, exogamy arose in primitive societies due to social and family authority.
- Gotra exogamy prohibits marriage within the same gotra, as members believe they descend from a common ancestor.
- Pravara exogamy forbids marriage among persons belonging to the same pravara, mainly followed by higher castes.
- Sapinda exogamy restricts marriage within close blood relations, avoiding seven generations from the father’s side and five from the mother’s side.
Key Points: Endogamy
- Endogamy means marriage within one’s own caste, sub-caste, or religious group.
- Varna endogamy allows marriage only within the same varna, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, or Sudra.
- Caste endogamy restricts marriage strictly within one’s own caste.
- Sub-caste endogamy further limits marriage to a smaller kin group within the caste, often within a local area.
- Among tribes, endogamy is followed to preserve culture, language, and social identity and to avoid fear of outsiders.
Key Points: Cross-cousin marriage
- Cross-cousin marriage is the marriage between the children of a father’s sister and a mother’s brother.
- It is practiced among several Indian tribes such as the Gond, Khasi, Oraon, Kharia, and Kadar.
- In some tribes, cross-cousin marriage is compulsory, and refusal may require payment of compensation.
- Among the Gonds of Madhya Pradesh, it is called “udhlautawa” or return of milk, as bride price returns to the family.
- Scholars state that cross-cousin marriage strengthens group solidarity and helps reduce high bride-price.
Key Points: Levirate
- Levirate is a form of marriage in which a widow marries the brother of her deceased husband.
- It is also known as fraternal or adelphic polyandry in some societies.
- Marriage with the elder brother is called senior levirate, while with the younger brother is called junior levirate.
- This system is found among tribes like the Santhals, Ho, Saora, Munda, and Kharia.
- Levirate helps in widow remarriage, social security, protection of children, and family unity.
Key Points: Sororate
- Sororate is a form of marriage in which a man marries his wife’s sister, either during her lifetime or after her death.
- It is common in societies where bride-price is practiced.
- This practice helps maintain the alliance between the two kin groups.
- Sororate avoids the return of bride-price and prevents conflict between families.
- It is practiced among some Indian tribes, such as the Ho tribe.
Key Points: Polygyny
- Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has more than one wife at the same time.
- It is a social and cultural practice, often found in agricultural and tribal societies where more labour is needed.
- Polygyny is usually practiced by wealthy men, as supporting multiple wives requires economic resources.
- It is found among some Indian tribes such as the Naga, Gond, Baiga, Toda, and Lushai, and in parts of Africa.
- Though it may help in labour division and family strength, polygyny often leads to conflict, jealousy, and lower status of women.
Key Points: Polyandry
- Polyandry is a form of marriage in which one woman is married to more than one man at the same time.
- When the husbands are brothers, it is called fraternal polyandry; when they are unrelated, it is called non-fraternal polyandry.
- It is found among tribes like Toda, Khasa, Kota, and Naga.
- Polyandry exists due to poverty, low female population, and economic sharing.
- It helps prevent division of family property and maintains family unity.
Key Points: Residence
- Families can be classified based on residence of the female after marriage.
- In a patrilocal family, the wife lives in the husband’s residence and descent is traced through the male line.
- Patrilocal extended families consist of two or more nuclear families linked through father–son relationships.
- In a matrilocal family, the husband lives with or visits the wife’s family, and descent follows the female line.
- Matrilocal families are found among tribes like the Khasi of Assam and Nayars of South India, where daughters are valued.
Key Points: Decent
- Descent refers to the way an individual acquires membership of a kinship group.
- On the basis of descent, families are classified into patrilineal and matrilineal families.
- In a patrilineal family, descent is traced through the father, and the eldest male is the family head.
- Patrilineal families are common among Hindus, Muslims, and tribes like Gond, Santhal, Bhil, and Ho.
- In a matrilineal family, descent is traced through the mother, authority lies with the female head, and it usually follows matrilocal residence.
Key Points: Inheritance
- Inheritance refers to the transfer of family property from one generation to another.
- On the basis of inheritance, families are classified into patriarchal and matriarchal families.
- In a patriarchal family, property is owned and inherited by male members, especially the eldest son.
- Patriarchal families are usually patrilineal and patrilocal, and a son may be adopted if no male heir exists.
- In a matriarchal family, property is inherited through the mother, and adoption of a girl child occurs if no daughter is present.
Key Points: Marriage
- On the basis of number of spouses, families are classified as monogamous, polygynous, and polyandrous.
- A monogamous family consists of one husband, one wife, and their children, and is based on loyalty confirms.
- A polygynous family is formed when one man marries more than one wife, usually found among wealthy or tribal groups.
- In a polyandrous family, one woman marries more than one man, often brothers, as seen among the Todas of Nilgiris.
- Today, monogamy is the most common, while polygyny is limited and polyandry is almost extinct.
Key Points: Origins of Family: Morgan's Evolutionary Scheme
- Lewis Henry Morgan proposed an evolutionary theory explaining the origin and development of the family in stages.
- He believed that in primitive societies, family in its present form did not exist and relationships were flexible.
- Morgan listed five stages of family evolution: Consanguine, Punaluan, Syndasmian, Patriarchal, and Monogamous family.
- According to Morgan, monogamous family is the final stage, based on exclusive loyalty between husband and wife.
- Though influential, Morgan’s theory is considered hypothetical, and later scholars accepted it only partially.
Key Points: Decent
|
Typology based on descent |
|
|
Type of Family |
Type of Descent |
|
Patrilineal family |
Origin traced through father. |
|
Matrilineal family |
Origin traced through mother. |
|
Bilateral family |
Origin traced through both mother and father. |
|
Ambilineal family |
Origin traced through father in one generation and through mother in the next generation. |
Key Points: Residence
|
Typology based on residence |
|
|
Type of Family |
Type of Residence |
|
Patrilocal |
Groom's residence |
|
Matrilocal |
Bride’s residence |
|
Bilocal |
Either of the bird’s or groom’s residence |
|
Avunculocal |
Groom’s maternal uncle’s residence |
|
Neolocal |
A new household set up by both the groom and the bride. |
Key Points: Family in east and west
- Family structure is changing in both Eastern and Western societies due to modernization and industrialization.
- Western families have lost many economic functions and mainly serve as a unit of emotional support.
- Functions like child care and care of the aged are now handled by external institutions in the West.
- Western families are smaller, more equal between men and women, and less stable than earlier.
- Indian families, though traditionally joint and sacred, are also changing and showing features similar to Western families.
Key Points: Matriarchal and Patriarchal Societies in India
- Matriarchal societies trace descent and inheritance through the mother, and authority lies with women.
- In matriarchal systems, husbands are often visitors and have limited authority over wife and children.
- The Khasi of Meghalaya are a major example of matriarchy, where property passes to the youngest daughter.
- The Nayars of South India follow a matriarchal system and practice fraternal polyandry.
- Patriarchal societies trace descent through the father, with the male as family head, and are the most common form in India.
Key Point: Nuclear and Joint Family
|
Basis of Difference |
Nuclear Family |
Joint Family |
|
Composition |
Husband, wife and unmarried/immature children |
More than one nuclear family included together |
|
Size
|
Small group
|
Large family group |
|
Nature |
A unit apart from the rest of the community
|
Wider kin-group |
|
Residence |
Live in a single household |
Common residence |
|
Property |
Not related to other kin through property or income |
Common property ownership |
|
Authority |
Independent family unit |
Authority of the oldest member |
|
Kinship |
Kin relationship excluded |
Mutual obligations among the kin |
Key Points: The breakdown of joint family and its impact on greater society
- Joint families are declining in both urban and rural India, being replaced by nuclear families.
- Urbanisation, education, and migration of young adults are major causes of joint family breakdown.
- Census data shows that most urban households are small, consisting of nuclear or stem families.
- Economic factors, lack of land ownership, and individualism encourage separation of households.
- The breakdown of joint family has led to weaker kinship ties, but nuclear family has become the basic residential unit in urban India.
