Kinship, Marriage and the Household

Kinship by Blood
What is the family?
Family
Basic social institution and the primary group in the society.
Vary from culture to culture
For Murdock (1949:1), it is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and
reproduction.
For Burgess and Locke (1963:2) It is a group of person united by ties of marriage, blood or adoption
constituting a single household, interacting and communicating with each other in their respective social roles of
husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister and creating and maintaining a
common culture.
Descent and Marriage
Kinship
Web of social relationships that form an essential part of the lives of most humans in most societies.
Descent
Origin or background of a person in terms of family or nationality.
Descent Group
Social group whose members have common ancestry.
Unilineal society
One which the descent of an individual is reckoned either from the mothers or fathers line of descent
Matrilineal Descent
Individuals belong to their mothers descent group
Patrilineal Descent
Individuals belong to their fathers descent group
Marriage
Important institutional element of the family
Cultural mechanism that ensures its continuity
Institutions consisting of a cluster of mores and folkways, of attitudes, ideas and ideals of social
definitions and legal restrictions.
Foundation of the family
An inviolable social institution
According to Bowman, people marry for combined reasons:
Love, economic and emotional security
The parents desires
Escapes from solitude or forlorn home situation
Money
Companionship
Protection
Adventure or common interest
August 3, 1998 The family code of the Philippines took effect.
It defines marriage as a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered in
accordance with law for establishment of conjugal and family life
New family code has 2 aspects:
Contract applies to man and woman only

 Status created between parties

Kinship by Marriage
Forms of Marriage
1. Monogamy
Allows or permit a man to take only one spouse at a time.
2. Polygamy
Form of plural marriage and can assume three forms:
Polygyny marriage of one man to two or more women at the same time. It is practiced by Muslims
and considered as a status symbol for the man.
Polyandry marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time.
Group Marriage
3. Selection of Marriage Partners
Two types of norms regarding to the selection of marriage partners.
Endogamy dictates one should marry within ones clan or ethnic group.
Exogamy one can marry outside ones clan or ethnic group
Levirate Norms widow marry the brother or nearest kin of the deceased husband
Surrogate Norm - Men should marry the sister or nearest kin of the deceased wife
Family Structures
Has a bearing on person development
Varies from one culture to another
1. Based on Internal Organization or Membership
a. Nuclear, primary or elementary Family
Composed of a husband and his wife and their offspring in union recognized by the other members
of the society.
Smallest unit responsible for the preservation of the value system of society
Two Kinds of Nuclear Families according to Murdock:
Family of Orientation
One is born and where one is reared or socialized
Consists of father mother brothers and sisters
Family of Procreation
Family established through marriage and consist of a husband, a wife, sons and
daughters
b. Extended Family
Composed of two or more nuclear families, economically and socially related to each other
May be through parent to child relationship.
Linton distinguishes two types of family structures corresponding to the nuclear and extended families:
Conjugal family made up of the spouses and their underage children whose ties to relatives
are voluntary and based on emotional bonds
Consanguine family consists of the nuclear family and their relatives who are living together
under one roof
2. Based on Descent
a. Patrilineal Descent - affiliates a person with a group of relatives related through either his or her father.
b. Matrilineal Descent - affiliates a person with a group of relatives related through either his or her mother.
c. Bilateral Descent affiliates a person with a group of relatives related through either his or her parents.

3. Based on residence
a. Patrilocal residence newly married couple live with or near the domicile of the parents of the groom.
b. Matrilocal residence - newly married couple live with or near the domicile of the parents of the bride
c. Bilocal residence gives the couple a choice of staying with either the grooms parents or the brides
parents.
d. Neolocal residence permits the newly married couple to reside independently of the parents of either
groom or bride.
e. Avunculocal residence - prescribes that the newly married couple reside with or near the maternal uncle of
the groom
4. Based on authority
a. Patriarchal family the authority is vested in the eldest male in the family, often the father.
b. Matriarchal family authority is vested in the mother or the mothers kin
c. Egalitarian family both the husband and the wife exercise a more or less equal amount or degree of
authority.
d. Matricentric family usually found in places where the father commutes and is out for the greater part of
the day.
Functions of the Family
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

The family regulates sexual behavior and is the unit for reproduction
The family performs the function of biological maintenance
The family is the chief agency in socializing the child
The family gives its members status
The family is an important mechanism for social control
The family performs economic functions especially in the simple societies

Structural Characteristics of the Filipino Family

The basic social unit of the Philippine society is the nuclear family.
The bilaterally extended kinship group is also common in our society
The Christian Filipino family is described as a large family group, normally including three generation in the
same house, and known as extended in term of membership.
The joint family is the most common type among the Muslims.
Blood kinship plays an important role in the Filipino family so that the family may be considered
consanguineal.It is true in rural areas.
Family alliance is extended by the compadre or compadrazgo system which is formed through the rituals of
baptism, confirmation and marriage.
Filipino family is said to be patriarchal in authority.
The Filipino family is bilateral in terms of reckoning descent and social allocation. This is evidenced by the lack
of distinction of terminology between the paternal and maternal groups.
A reconstituted family also known as blended family is the sociological term of the union of two adults through
marriage, cohabitation, or civil partnership, who have past relationship and children from them.

Politics of Kinship (Political Dynasty, Alliance)

Political Dynasty in the Philippines
Philippine Laws
Political Alliance

Political and Leadership Structures

Political Organization

1. Creating formal norms

Constitutional laws
Statutory laws
Common laws
2. Applying sanctions
3. Settling disputes among individuals
4. Settling disputes between nations
Bands
Tribes
Chiefdoms
States

Authority and Legitimacy

Authority Types
Traditional authority
Charismatic authority
Legal rational authority
Legitimization
Types of Legitimacy
Traditional Legitimacy
Charismatic Legitimacy
Rational legal legitimacy
Sources of Legitimacy
Forms of legitimate government
Communism
Constitutionalism
Democracy
Fascism
Monarchy
Economic Institutions

Reciprocity (Cultural Anthropology)

Transfer
Redistribution (Cultural Anthropology)
Market Transaction
Market
State

Non state Institutions

Banks and Corporations
Banks
Corporation
Cooperatives and Trade Union
Cooperatives
Trade Union

 TUCP ( Trade Union Congress of the Philippines)

Transnational Advocacy Groups
Importance of Transnational Advocacy Groups
Who participates Transnational Advocacy Groups?
Development Agencies
International Organizations
International Non - Governmental Organization (INGOs)
Intergovernmental Organizations

Education
The primary function of educational institution is the socialization of children and the new members in the
society
Educational institutions keep children and youth occupied and out of labor force.
Education in the Philippines
Managed and regulated by the Department of Education (DepEd).
Dep-Ed controls the Philippine education system, including the creation and implementation of the curriculum
and the utilization of funds allotted by the central government.
From 1945 2011, the basic education system was composed of:
Elementary education 6 years
High School Education 4 Years
Further education provided by technical or vocational schools and colleges and universities.
In the 1987 Constitution the elementary education was compulsory, this was never enforced.
In 2011, the country started to transition from its 10 year basic educational system to a K to 12 educational
system.
The new 12 year system is now compulsory.
All public schools in the Philippines must start classes on the date mandated by the DepEd.
Must end after each school completes the mandated 200 day calendar prepared by the DeoEd.
For more than three centuries, education in the Philippines was patterned after the Spanish and American
System.
Functions of Education in a society:
1. Giving training in specific skills or the basic general education literacy.
2. Prepare people for occupational roles.
3. Pressuring the culture from one generation

Formal Education
Systematic and deliberate process of hierarchically structured and sequential learning corresponding to the genral
concept of elementary and secondary level of schooling.
Levels in basic Education
Elementary Education -- first part of educational system.
- includes first 6 years of compulsory education
Secondary Education
- concerned primarily w/ continuing basic education of the elementary level and expanding it.
Tertiary Education

- most institutions of higher learning are regulated by the commission of higher education.
Vocational Education
-accredited private institutions offer TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM offered vary
induration from a few weeks to two years.

Non formal Education

Special Education

Religion and Belief System

Religion

Animism

Importance of Animism in the Study of Culture and Religion

Monotheism

Polytheism

Institutionalized Religion

Most of the world subscribes to one of the following religion:

Christianity Islam Judaism Hinduism Buddhism -

Types of Religious Groups

Church Sect Cult Separation of Church and State

Health

List of prohibited activities

System of Diagnosis, prevention and healing

Traditional medicine
Complementary/ alternative medicine(CAM)
Herbal medicine
Traditional use of herbal medicine
Therapeutic activity
Active ingredient

Health as human right