QUESTION: KINSHIP

ANSWER:

The different kinds of kinship roles are plentiful and helpful in several ways to ones

development within a society. The many different kinds of roles to fill in with this idea all have

their reasons to why they exist and how they create a family system. Some of the reasons these

kinships exist are to help you grow up along with different adults (aunts and uncles), learning

how to interact with other kids outside of your direct family before you enter school (cousins),

and having another individual to look up to other than your parents (grandparents).

Some kinship roles that I play as an individual play goes as follows. I am a role model

and friend to my little cousins. I see them a lot more than most other people see their own

cousins due to our individual family’s closeness, which causes me to have a bigger impact on

their lives. Another kinship role I fill is being a nephew to my uncle, who I will call Richard

Carlile, or Uncle Carlile for short. My family on my dad’s side is kind of distant from each other.

Me seeing my uncle connects us both to the side of our families that we both are disconnected to.

Seeing and speaking to each other decently often keeps both of in touch with our roots.

“Each person in this system has certain rights and obligations as a result of his or her

position in the family structure… For example… As a daughter, the young (women) may have to

defer to certain decisions to her parents; as a sister, to share her bedroom…” (Strong & Cohen,

2014, p. 19). These obligations and rights put upon each individual of a family are put into place

for a reason. Without these sort of rules, there would be no structure to this web of kinship.

Those who are dominant in personality despite their position would take over the roles that are

more suitable for others and most would be displaced in all of this.
 Fictive kin is a phrase that is described as, “... (a kin which) involves the extension of

kinship obligations and relationships to individuals specifically not otherwise included in the

kinship universe” (“Fictive Kinship”, 2015, p. 1). The first idea that comes to mind would be

friends who have taken on certain roles within my life. These friend have become like family to

me because they are always helping and assisting me throughout my life. A specific, and one of

the best example of this would be my friend, who I will call Dave. I have known him since out

7th grade year and his role for me has become to always be someone who I can always be

around. He has become like family because of the roles we have filled for each other while we

do not have blood related family around and caused us to grow together, which has created a

bond.

Bibliography:

Strong, B, & Cohen, T. F. (2014). The marriage and family experience: Intimate
relationships in a changing society (Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

(2015). Fictive Kinship. http://family.jrank.org/pages/630/Fictive-Kinship.html

QUESTION: WHAT IS A FAMILY?

 ANSWER:

Within today’s society, family has taken on several roles to some that have not likely ever

been put upon it. Many people claim family is strictly those who are directly related to you, such

as parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc… Others insist that family consists of all

of those who you love, even if you may not be directly related to them, such as friends and

boyfriends/girlfriends. Others even believe the idea of families are ridiculous and they don’t

exist. While all of these have their arguments for and against them, there is one claim that seems

to make the most sense. The idea that all of those who one loves is family makes the most sense

because most would claim that their close friends and significant others are like or are family to

them, families were “created (by society) to undertake the task of making us human,” (Strong &

Cohen, 2014, p. 16) which implies that who you are related to may not matter in who you

consider family, and many religions, especially in the ever prevalent church within Utah, The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, having teachings within them that point towards any

loved one being family.

First, many people consider their unrelated loved ones family, even if they may not have

a strong opinion, or one at all, on this topic. This action is almost automatic to a lot of people,

which raises the question of why this is the way it is. This question may seem perplexing,

however, if you dig deeper than just the surface, the answer is literally because they love them.

This interaction of beliefs brings up several other questions, such as if one doesn’t like their

blood relative, are they considered family? This, however, is a question for another day.

However this automatic response to a loved one as family makes you wonder what caused that

idea to form. This leads on to the second point.

 The theory that “‘Society’ created the family,” (Strong & Cohen, 2014, p. 16) seems to

line up with the fact people call people they love “family” without much thought very well. The

human race has created this idea of a family in order to organize itself. This organization,

however, it only there to keep us with the people we closely associated with, which could be

anyone. Along with this, in the book mentioned previously, the author states that, “... some

bother to include grandparents, aunts or uncles, cousins, or even friends or neighbors who are

‘like family.’” (p. 16-17) despite this being only a theory, it does hold its ground in creating a

strong argument for anyone you love being family.

Lastly, religion, along with these worldly theories, point towards loved ones being

family. Many religions throughout the world teach that families can be together after this life,

and along with the question of why would we be separated from the people we love if God wants

us to be happy. Then, along with earthly signs pointing towards any one you love as family,

religion appears to agree with this statement as well.

Bibliography:

Strong, B, & Cohen, T. F. (2014). The marriage and family experience: Intimate
relationships in a changing society (Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.