Cultural Anthropology

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Cultural Anthropology

• by Nancy Bonvillain Chapter 9
• Marriage and Family

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• Kinship systems and family arrangements are
  basic elements in all societies (Bonvillain
  2006222).
• Anthropologists tend to make a distinction
  between family and household, although people
  often use the two words interchangeably. A
  household refers to a group of people occupying a
  common dwelling As you read in Chapter 8,
  members of families are related either through
  descent (consanguines) or marriage (affines)
  Bonvillain 2006222).

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• A useful starting definition of family is one
  given by anthropologist Kathleen Gough (197552).
  She defines the family as a married couple or
  other group of adult kinfolk who co-operate
  economically and in the upbringing of children,
  and all or most of whom share a common dwelling
  Bonvillain 2006223).

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• All societies contain units recognized as
  families, but there are differences in the ways
  in which families are formed Bonvillain
  2006223).
• There is some debate in the field about whether
  marriage and the family are universal constructs
  Bonvillain 2006224).

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• Patrilineal- descent and inheritance traced
  through men
• Matrilineal- descent and inheritance traced
  through women
• Social fatherhood- may or maynot be the same as
  biological paternity man who fulfills the
  responsibilities of parenting, just as
  stepparents and adoptive parents are social
  parents.

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• Nuclear family- consists of one or more parents
  and their children, although another relative,
  such as a grandparents or an unmarried sibling of
  one of the parents, may reside in the household
  for a time
• Single-parent families
• Extended families consist of 3 or more
  generations of people, for example, parents,
  children, and grandparents

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• Anthropologists as Expert Witnesses
• How are anthropologists different from
  psychologists?

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• Joint family- family consisting of siblings with
  their spouses and children, sharing work and
  resources.

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• Many anthropologists favor understanding the
  incest taboo as a means of ensuring survival by
  forcing people to make alliances with others
  outside the nuclear family. This marry out or
  die out theory emphasizes that marriage within a
  small unit will lead over time to the isolation
  and genetic homogeneity of the group, which makes
  it more vulnerable to population loss or even
  extinction.
• Mating outside the nuclear family reduces this
  risk and also leads to the formation of social
  alliances and bonds of reciprocity with other
  people. Bonvillain 2006229).

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• Class social group usu. Determined on the basis
  of a combination of birth and achievement
• Caste social grouping whose membership is
  determined at birth and is generally inflexible
• Monogamy two people in a marriage
• Polygamy three or more people in a marriage
• Serial monogamy two or more spouses in a
  lifetime (but no at the same time)

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• Polygny marriage between man and 2 or more
  women
• Polyandry marriage between woman and 2 or more
  men
• Sororal polygyny marriage between a man and two
  or more women who are sisters
• Ghost marriage marriage practice among the Nuer
  of Sudan in which a widow marries her dead
  husbands brother and in which the children
  ensuing from the second marriage are said to be
  the children of the first, dead husband.

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• Same-sex marriage
• Bridewealth presents given by the husbands
  family to the wifes kin before, during, or after
  wedding ceremony
• Brideservice a period of months or years before
  or after marriage during which the husband
  performs labor for his wifes parents
• Dowry gifts given by the wifes family to the
  married couple or to the husbands kin before,
  during or after the wedding ceremony

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• Arranged marriage marriages that are arranged
  by the parents or other relatives of the bride
  and groom
• Courtship period prior to marriage when a
  couple tests attraction to and compatibility with
  each other
• Residence rules rules that stipulate where a
  couple will reside after their marriage
• Matrilocal residence pattern for residence
  after marriage in which the couple lives with or
  near the wifes family

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• Uxorilocal living with or near the wifes
  parents
• Patrilocal residence pattern of residence after
  marriage in which the couple lives with or near
  the husbands relatives
• Virilocal living with or near the husbands
  parents
• Avunculocal residence patterns of residence
  after marriage in which the couple lives with or
  near the husbands mothers brother

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• Bilocal residence patterns of residence after
  marriage in which the couple alternates between
  living with the wifes kin and the husbands kin
• Neolocal residence pattern of residence after
  marriage in which the couple establishes a new,
  independent household separate from their
  relatives
• Internal warfare warfare between closely
  situated villages or communities
• External warfare warfare that takes place at
  some distance from home communities, regarding
  warriors absence from their homes for extended
  periods of time

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• Levirate marriage preference rule in which a
  widow marries her decreased husbands brother
• Sororate marriage between a widower and his
  decreased wifes sister