This document discusses families, kinship, and descent from an anthropological perspective. It begins by outlining why anthropologists study kinship and the differences between families and descent groups. It then defines key terms like nuclear family, extended family, descent groups, family of orientation, and family of procreation. The document goes on to discuss how industrialization has impacted family organization and norms in places like the US, Brazil, Turkey, and foraging societies. It also defines matrilineal descent, patrilineal descent, and discusses how kinship is calculated through kinship terms that reflect the social construction of family in different cultures.
Defines kinship and explains its importance. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units.
GCE Sociology Revision (AQA)- Unit 1 Changing Patterns and Family diversity (5)Haleema Begum
For AQA GCE Sociology Unit 1 Chapter 1 Revision. Print out as a handout, it is a good way to revision: associating the picture with the title allows you to fill in the info by your own associations. Application, Interpretation and Analysis tips are also included. All derived from the AS Sociology Revision Guide. Good luck!
Defines kinship and explains its importance. Reviews the biological and sociological constants of kinship; Previews the topicsto be covered in marriage, family and larger kinship units.
GCE Sociology Revision (AQA)- Unit 1 Changing Patterns and Family diversity (5)Haleema Begum
For AQA GCE Sociology Unit 1 Chapter 1 Revision. Print out as a handout, it is a good way to revision: associating the picture with the title allows you to fill in the info by your own associations. Application, Interpretation and Analysis tips are also included. All derived from the AS Sociology Revision Guide. Good luck!
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•Since early human times, families have been changing because they must change
and adapt in order to survive. There were even many types of hunting and and adapt in order to survive. There were even many types of hunting and
gathering societies. In general, in those types of societies, the women gathered
edible plant materials and the men hunted. The women usually supplied a majority
of the calories consumed by the group. However, the Inuits who lived in a harsh,
cold, environment relied primary on hunting for their food, especially during the
winter months. They hunt seals. This meant that women played a much less
important role. For example, their job was to chew their husbands shoes to keep
them soft when they came back from the hunt.
•As societies became agricultural and the extended family became the norm, the
issues of where people should and how descent should be defined tended to be
patrilocal and patrilineal. However, there is at least once example of a societey in
which it was the mother’s brother that was responsible for the care of her children.
In this case, the model was patriarchal but matrilineal and matrilocal. The mother
stayed with her family of origin and her brother helped to raise the children, played
the role of male parent and the father was living with his own family and taking care
of his sister’s children.
•These are variations that occurred prior to industrialization. At that time societies
were very homogenous and members shared the same norms and values including
religion.
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After Industrialization, social change accelerated and the types of pressures on
families changed. In the United States, the most diverse industrialized nation, there families changed. In the United States, the most diverse industrialized nation, there
is tremendous variation in family form based on social class, race, ethnicity, and
gender. Rapid social change forced change on families. They had to develop new
strategies for economic survival. Jobs were multiplying and changing and it
became increasingly important to live in a city in order to find employment.
Eventually industrial society was placed by postindustrial society and the service
sector began to dominate the economy. Service jobs tend to be “good jobs” or “bad
jobs” and people get stuck at one level of employment. Social classes became
much more separate with different life chances and different lifestyles.
•Social Class: modern American society is now one in which there is an increasing
gap between the rich and the poor. This gap was very large during the Golden Age
in this society and the last two decades or so have sometimes been called the “new
golden age.” Some say that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting
poorer and the middle class is disappearing. Whatever the case, middle class and
poorer families are having to face many challenges. For the middle class, home
owners.
2. • Why and how do anthropologists study
kinship?
• How do families and descent groups
differ and what are their social
correlates?
• How is kinship calculated and how are
relatives classified in various societies?
3. FAMILIES
• Kinship and descemt have organized human
life during much of our history.
• To understand the social structure of a society,
a sociologist/an ethnographer/ an
anthropologist must investigate such kin ties.
• Nuclear family: mother+father+children
• Extenden family: 3 or more generations of a
family, descent groups.
• Descent groups: composed of people claiming
common ancestry.
4. FAMILIES
• Most people belong to at least 2 nuclear
families at different times in their lives.
• Family of orientation: Nuclear family in which
one is born and grows up.
• Family of procreation: Nuclear family
established when one marries and has
children.
• An example: a culture in former Yugoslavia.
‘Zadruga’
5. Industrialism and Family Organization
• Family isolation arises from geographic mobility,
which is associated with industrialism, so that a
nuclear family focus is characteristic of many
modern nations.
• Neolocality: Couple establishes new residence.
• Values systems and kinship differ from class to
class. There are significant differences between
middle class and welfare dependent families.
• Extended family household: House with 3 or
more generations.
6. Industrialism and Family Organization
• The higher proportion of extended family
households among poorer people has been
explained as an adaptation to poverty.
• Adaptation to poverty causes kinship values and
attitudes to diverge from middle class values.
• Eventhough, we see nuclear family as a cultural
ideal for industrialized communities, when we
look at America, only 23% of American
households are in nuclear family form today.
7. Industrialism and Family Organization
• Women’s companionship to business world.
• Job demands compete with romantic
attachments.
• Average age for marriage in USA.
1970 – Age 21 1970- Age 23
2008 – Age 26 2008- Age 27
• Divorce rate has risen.
• Contemporary Americans maintain social lives
through work, friendship, sports, clubs, religion
and organized social activities. So, there is a
growing isolation from kin in American society,
which also researches suggest.
8. The role of family comparison
USA and BRAZIL
• Two most populous nations of the western
hemisphere of the world.
• For Americans family is spouses and children.
• For Brazilians family is parents, siblings, aunts,
uncles, grandparents and cousins. Later they add
their children and spouses.
• Marriage assumes more importance in Americans
because they lack an extended family support
system.
9. TÜRKİYE
• 1950 – a rapid change and moving from rural to urban life.
• Today – women ratio of maternity 2.1
• Fertility age- moved from 20-24 to 25-29
• First marriage for women- 16 in 1970
24 in 2000
• Nuclear family rate in 1968 – 60%
2008- 69%
• Extended family rate declined about 161%
• Today 71% of families live in nuclear family form in cities
and 66% of families live in nuclear family form in rural ares.
• In all regions, nuclear family is the most common
household type.
10. The Family Among Foragers
• Populations with foraging economies are far
removed from industrial societies in terms of
social complexity, but they do feature
geographic mobility, which is associated with
nomadic or seminomadic hunting and
gathering.
• The 2 basic social units of traditional foraging
societies are the nuclear family and the band.
11. DESCENT
• Descent group membership is determined at
birth and is lifelong. In this case, it is an
ascribed status.
• Matrilineal Descent – mother’s blood
• Patrilineal Descent- father’s blood
• Descent groups may be lineages or clans.
• A lineage uses demonstrated descent.
• A clan uses stipulated descent.
12. KINSHIP CALCULATION
• The system by which people in a society
reckon kin relationships.
• To study kinship calculation, a sociologist must
first determine the word or words for different
types of relatives used in a particular
language.
• Like race and gender, kinship is also culturally
constructed – it is a person’s perspective
looking out his/her kin.
13. KINSHIP CALCULATION
• Kin terms are the words used for different
relatives in a particular language. They reflect
the social construction of kinship in a given
culture.
• Cross-cultural comparison between English
and Turkish languages.
