1 Organization in Society, Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Kinship Ties and Social Networks: Kinship by Blood

Objectives
At the end of the lesson you should be able to:

define kinship and social network,

explain the Filipino concept of kinship,

discuss the concepts surrounding kinship by blood and descent, and

trace your own ancestry by blood up to the third degree.

How can you be sure that blood relates you to your ancestors?

How do you draw the line between descent and ancestry?

Find out the answers in this lesson!

Learn about it!

We do not live alone in society. From birth until death, we are surrounded by many people. Most
of these people are our relatives, friends, and neighbors, while some are strangers. We are
bound to all individuals who are related to us either by blood or by descent.

Kinship Ties and Social Networks

The relations based on blood may be close or distant. The bond of blood which binds people
together in a group is called kinship.

According to the Dictionary of Anthropology, kinship system involves socially recognized

relationships based on supposed and actual genealogical bonds. These relationships are
products of social interactions and are recognized by society.

In a broader sense, kinship can refer both to the patterns of social relationships themselves and
to the study of the patterns of social relationships in one or more human cultures.

Kinship or relationship can also refer to a principle by which people or groups of individuals are
organized into roles, social groups, categories, and genealogy through kinship terminologies.

On the other hand, a social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors
(individuals or organizations), sets of a partner or dyadic ties, and other social interactions
between actors. It represents relationships and flows between people, groups, and
organizations.
The Filipino Concept of Kinship
According to F. Landa Jocano, "Kinship characterizes the overall framework of community
relations as it enables Filipinos to map their relationships and be able to work together
harmoniously. It lies deep in the heart of every Filipino as it forms the core of the Filipino social
organization. It significantly influences the formation, structure, and functions of institutions,
relationships, and values of the Filipinos."

There is no generic Filipino term for kinship as each language group in the country created its
terminology, but the term kamag-anak or magkakamag-anak, from the Tagalog-based
language, is widely used.

Kinship helps Filipino people in understanding their relationships with others and be able to
interact with each other with little or without any difficulty.

Kinship by Blood or Consanguineous Kinship

The bond of blood is called consanguineous kinship. The consanguineous kin is related through
blood. The relationship between the parents and their kids, and that among siblings, is
consanguineous kinship.

Thus, son and daughter, brother and sister, uncle and aunt, nephew and niece, and cousins are
consanguineous kin, that is, related through blood. With this connection, it can be pointed out
that blood bond may be actual as well as supposed.

In polyandrous tribes, the real father of a child is unknown. An adopted child is treated as if it
were one's own biological child. As a result, blood relationship may be established not only on
biological basis but also by social recognition.

Genogram
A genogram is a graphical representation of one's family and its members' relationship to one
another.
It is widely used in medicine, sociology, and genealogy to determine medical, psychological,
sociological, or historical patterns of health and behavior.

Below are the basic symbols used in making a genogram. You should know, however, that
more symbols are available to use for more complicated family relationships.

In making a genogram, make sure to note the following:

children must be drawn from oldest to youngest and from left to right, respectively,
one level or layer presents one generation, and
the shapes corresponding to family members always represent sex, not gender.

Descent System
A descent group is any social group wherein membership depends on a common descent from
a real or mythical ancestor. This system of acknowledged social parentage, which varies per
society, is where a person may claim kinship ties with another.

If there is no limitation on the recognition of kinship, everybody would be kin to everyone else.
But in most societies, some restrictions are imposed on the perception of common ancestry so
that an individual regards many of his associates as not his kin.

The importance of descent comes from its use as a means for one person to assert rights,
privileges, duties, and status with another person who may be related to the first, either because
one is an ancestor of the other or because the two acknowledge common ancestors.

Descent has limited influence when rights to succession, inheritance, or residence follow kinship
lines.

One method of limiting the recognition of kinship is to emphasize relationships through one
parent only. Such is called a unilineal kinship system. There are two types of this
systempatrilineal systems, in which relationships reckoned through the father are emphasized,
and matrilineal systems, in which relationships reckoned through the mother are emphasized.

In a bilateral descent, all descendants of an ancestor enjoy membership of a common descent

group by any combination of male or female linkages.

See it!
A friend of your family visited your house and noticed that you have several medals and trophies
displayed in the living room. She exclaimed, "You have a very smart child!"

In what other way do your parents reaffirm your relation to them aside from using the
expression, "Nasa dugo eh" or "It runs in the blood"?

Try it!
Make a genogram of your family. Try to look over the net for more genogram symbols that may
describe any unique relationship within your family (e.g. engaged but not married couple,
adopted children, twins).

What do you think?

Have family and kinship always meant the same thing throughout history? Justify your answer.

Keypoints
Kinship can refer both to the patterns of social relationships themselves and to the study of the
patterns of social relationships in one or more human cultures.
A social network is a social structure composed of a set of social actors (individuals or
organizations), sets of a partner or dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors.

The bond of blood is called consanguineous kinship. The consanguineous kin is related through
blood.

There is no generic Filipino term for kinship as each language group in the country created its
terminology but the term kamag-anak or magkakamag-anak, from the Tagalog-based language,
is widely used.

A descent group is any social group wherein membership depends on a common descent from
a real or mythical ancestor.

There are different descent kinship systems, such as unilineal (with two main types—patrilineal
and matrilineal) and bilateral kinships.