Chapter Overview

Especially in nonindustrial societies, kinship, descent, and marriage are basic social building blocks, linking otherwise separate groups in a common social system. Kin groups, such as families and descent groups, are social units whose members can be identified and whose residence patterns and activities can be observed. A nuclear family, for instance, consists of a married couple and their children, living together. Although nuclear families are widespread among the world's societies, other social forms, such as extended families and descent groups, can complement or even replace the nuclear family.

In the United States and Canada, the nuclear family has long been a basic kin group, especially for the middle class. Among the poor, expanded family households and sharing with extended kin occur more frequently; resources may be pooled to deal with poverty. Also, in contemporary North America, the nuclear family household is declining both in frequency and as a cultural norm. We observe more diversity in family, household, and living arrangements.

Unlike families, descent groups have perpetuity--they last for generations. There are several kinds of descent groups, such as lineages and clans. Some descent groups are patrilineal; they reckon descent through males only. Some are matrilineal; they trace descent exclusively through females.

Kinship terminologies are ways of classifying one's relatives based on perceived differences and similarities. Comparative research has made it clear that the number of systems of kinship terminology is limited. For the parental generation, there are four basic ways of classifying kin. There are six basic ways of classifying relatives in one's own generation, which includes siblings and cousins.