The document discusses different definitions and types of families across cultures. It defines family as a social unit related by blood, marriage, or adoption. A family of orientation is the family one is born into, while a family of procreation is the family created through marriage. The two basic family structures are nuclear families consisting of parents and children, and extended families of multiple adult generations. Family structures vary in inheritance patterns, authority structures, and living arrangements depending on the culture and society. The document also examines different forms of marriage and mate selection processes across cultures.

1. Family:
Marriage Across Cultures
Social Institutions
Unit 6

2. Defining Family
• Family has become very difficult to define, different laws
define it in different ways
 For sociologists, it is defined as a group of people
who are related by marriage, blood or adoption
 Families are a complex social units
• In terms of social institutions, the family has the most
impact on individual behavior

3. Defining Family cont’
• Family of Orientation: family you are born into, provides
you with a name, identity and heritage
 It provides an ascribed status in the community
 Family of orientation “orients” children to their
neighborhood, community, and society
• Family of Procreation: family created in marriage
 Marriage: a legal union based on mutual rights and
obligations
• The marriage ceremony symbolizes that it is legal
for a couple to have offspring and pass on the
family name
• The family of procreation then becomes a family of
orientation

4. Two Basic Families
• Nuclear Family: a family structure made up of a
parent(s) and children
 This is the smallest family unit
• Extended Family: two or more adult generations of
the same family whose members share economic
resources and a common household
 It can contain close relatives – grandparents,
aunts, uncles, cousins

5. How did Family Develop
• The earliest societies (hunting & gathering) were
based on nuclear families
• When societies switched to agricultural societies
large families were need to work the farm, which led
to the development of extended families
• As society moved from agricultural to industrial,
extended families became replaced with nuclear
families again

6. Patterns of Family Structure
• Whether you are looking at nuclear or extended
families, the pattern of behavior for families is similar
throughout cultures
 There are similarities in inheritance, authority, and
place of residence

7. Who Inherits?
• Determining who becomes the head of household
for the purpose of descent and family property
• There are 3 Types of Arrangements
 Patrilineal: descent and inheritance are passed
from the father to his male descendents
• Example: Iran and Iraq
 Matrilineal: descent and inheritance are
transmitted from the mother to her female
descendents
• Example: Pueblo Tribes
 Bilateral: descent and inheritance are passed
equally through both parents
• Example: United States

8. Who has Authority?
• There are 3 Patterns for determining family authority
 Patriarchy: the eldest man in the household has
authority over the rest of the family members
• The father is the absolute ruler: Iraq, China
 Matriarchy: the oldest women in the household
holds the authority
• There is controversy over whether or not there
are any societies that have a matriarchal
structure
 Egalitarian: control and authority is split evenly
between husband and wife
• United States and Scandinavia

9. Where do Couples Live?
• The location of where new couples set up their
home also varies by culture
 Patrilocal: live near or with the husband’s parents
 Matrilocal: live near or with the wife’s parents
• Ex. The Nayar caste of Southern India
 Neolocal: married couples establish a residence
on their own (if finances allow it)

10. Marriage Arrangements
• Depending on the culture, a marriage ceremony and
the arrangements that follow are very different
 Wherever the ceremony takes place it announces
that a man and woman have become husband
and wife, and that any children born to the couple
can be legitimately inherit the family name and
property

11. Forms of Marriage
• Monogamy: the marriage of one man to one woman
 It is the only legal form of marriage in the US and
most of the western world
 Serial Monogamy: having several husbands or
wives but never at the same time
• Polygamy: the marriage of a male or female to more
than one person at a time
 Two forms: polygny (1 man, 2 or more women)
and polyandry (1 woman and 2 or more men)

12. Choosing a Mate
• All cultures have norms and laws about who they may marry
 Exogamy: refers to mate selection outside of one’s group
• The most important norm for this form of marriage is
incest taboo (marriage of family)
 Endogamy: involves mate selection that requires
individuals to marry within their own kind (example: people
of the same race or social class)
 Homogamy: the tendency to marry someone similar to
oneself
(people choose those w/ social characteristics similar to
theirs)
 Heterogamy: marriage between two people of differing
characteristics