Systems of Kinship

Introduction

Kinship systems are mechanisms that connect conjugal families (as well as individuals who do not live in families) in ways that affect the integration of the general social structure and improve the society's ability to reproduce itself.

• Kinship is about sex and gender; sex reproduces and both sexes raise children.

• It is about the family that is required to nurture and educate this child in the ways of its culture.

• It is about inheritance and succession rules, which in this society are passed down through the female line.

• It is about how larger groups are formed from family and descent rules to carry out other societal functions.

Basic Concepts

The family and its extension are the world's first organisation.

Kinship forms the basis of −

• Property rights, who shall have the right to own property.

• Division of Labour starts with how women and men are culturally assigned their tasks.

• The economic unit starts with the family.

• Political organization and rules of social control of founded on kinship recognition in the most society.

• Even supernatural relation rest on kinship and ancestor worship reflects this.

History

• Kinship addresses the biological limits and the universities that are culturally related to these limits.

• These are known as constants or human trends, and they can be found in most, if not all, cultures.

• Some constants are biological, as we are born with them everywhere, while others are sociological, as a result of culture and its rules of human behaviour.

• Biological factors are unchangeable: humans have two sexes, without which they and their societies would cease to exist.

• Sociological factors are statistical: they may affect the majority of societies, but not all.

• All of these variables are addressed by kinship.

Biology, psychology, and kinship

This explanation can then be found in terms of the local logic of person equivalence within genealogical grids, or terms of group or category membership and marriage affiliation potential.

Biological Kinship

• The first two constants are sex.

• Men fertilise the egg by impregnating her with their sperm.

• Women are the ones who bear the children. No man is capable of doing so.

• Copulation implies cooperation between two people and, by extension, relationships between groups, at the very least the families of the man and the woman.

• It can sometimes refer to cooperation between groups larger than the family.

Psychology Kinship

Kinship psychology manipulations in the context of suicide terrorism are a type of deception that effectively tricks individuals into acting altruistically towards non-kin as a result of the activation of kinship cues that have allowed individuals to distinguish kin from non-kin over evolutionary history.

Extensions of the Kinship Metaphor

Kin terms are frequently used to refer metaphorically to non-relatives. The use of kin terms expresses the informality and intimacy of a relationship without being rude. Kin terms also reciprocally provide respect and support.

In American and Philippine Context

• Children address their parents' close friends as 'aunt' or 'uncle'.

• For some of these families, calling an adult by their first name is considered impolite.

• Other times, a title and first name are added, but this often appears too formal and distant. 'Ms Beth' and 'Mr. Brooke' are two examples.

In Navajo Culture

• The morpheme'ma' refers to the following entities −

  • Mother

  • Earth

  • Agricultural fields

  • Corn

  • Sheep

  • Changing Woman

• These connotations are linked to the concept of motherhood.

• The metaphor of motherhood is extended to the following terms because they share an essential characteristic with mothers: they are fertile and give birth, as well as provide nourishment and subsistence.

• For these reasons, the Navajo treat these entities “as if” they were mothers.

In Dravidian Culture

• The word 'amma' has several meanings in Kannada, a Dravidian language.

• 'Amma' literally means mother, but it also refers to any adult woman and goddess.

• All adult women in rural Indian society are assumed to be married and mothers. As a result, they are addressed “as if” they are mothers.

Conclusion

• Kinship systems are mechanisms that connect conjugal families (as well as individuals who do not live in families) in ways that affect the integration of the general social structure and improve the society's ability to reproduce itself.

• Kinship is about sex and gender; sex reproduces and both sexes raise children.

• History of Kinship addresses the biological limits and the universities that are culturally related to these limits.

• Biology, psychology, and kinship This explanation can then be found in terms of the local logic of person equivalence within genealogical grids, or in terms of group or category membership and marriage affiliation potential.

• Copulation implies cooperation between two people and, by extension, relationships between groups, at the very least the families of the man and the woman.

• Psychology Kinship psychology manipulations in the context of suicide terrorism are a type of deception that effectively tricks individuals into acting altruistically towards non-kin as a result of the activation of kinship cues that have allowed individuals to distinguish kin from non-kin over evolutionary history.

• In extensions of the kinship metaphor, Kin terms are frequently used to refer metaphorically to non-relatives.

• In Navajo Culture, The morpheme'ma' refers to the following entities: Mother Earth Agricultural fields Corn Sheep Changing Woman These connotations are linked to the concept of motherhood.

FAQs

Q1. What are the different types of kinship systems?

Ans. Kinship is classified as−

• Consanguineal

• Affinal

• Social

Q2. What is an example of a kinship system?

Ans. Kinship is the most universal and fundamental of all human relationships, and it is based on blood, marriage, or adoption ties. There are two types of kinship ties: those based on blood and those based on descent. Those formed through marriage, adoption, or other means.

Q3. What is the most common form of kinship?

Ans. An individual's kinship is traced through both the mother's and father's lines of bilateral descent (also known as bilinear descent). This is the most common type of descent practised today in the United States.