CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND

POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS
KINSHIP, MARRIAGE
AND THE HOUSEHOLD
 KINSHIP
• Itrefers to the web of social relationships that form an essential part
of the lives of most humans in most societies.
Types of Kinship
1. Kinship by blood
2. Kinship by Marriage
 Family
- It is the basic social institution and the primary group in the society.
- Varies from culture to culture.
- It is a social group characterized by common residence, economic
cooperation, and reproduction.
- It includes adults of both sexes, which at least maintain a socially approved
sexual relationship, and with at least one or two children, (Murdock,1949).
- 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, (Burgess and Locke, 1963)
1 whole sheet of paper
◦Write an essay describing your
family.
◦ How many family members are there in your family?
◦ What does each family member do?
◦ Do you live together in one house?
◦ Where is your house located is it near the family house of your
mother or father?
◦ Who makes major decisions for your family?
 Marriage
•It is an important institutional element of the family.
•It is the cultural mechanism that ensures the continuity of a
family.
•According to Bowman(1970) , people marry for combined
reasons: love, economic and emotional security, money
companionship, common interests and sex.
 Family Code
• Took effect on August 03,1988
• It defines marriage as a special contract of permanent union between a man
and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment
of conjugal and family life.
• It speaks of two aspects : as a contract and as a status
As contract: it applies to man and woman only
- it is permanent and the law prescribes penal and civil sanctions
like criminal action for adultery, legal separation etc.
As status: marriage becomes a status when the contract of marriage is
legal.
 Forms of Marriage
1. Monogamy- allows or permits a man to take only one spouse at a time.
2. Polygamy- it is a form of plural marriage and can assume three forms,.
a) Polygyny- is the marriage of one man to two or more women at the same
time.
- it is practiced by Muslims being confined to the upper
socioeconomic levels and is considered as a status symbol for the
man.
b) Polyandry- is the marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same
time.
c) Group Marriage
 Selection of Marriage Partners
Endogamy- refers to the norm which dictates that one should marry within
one’s clan or ethnic group. Parents may also arrange to have their
children marry within the religious group, locality or social class.
Exogamy- prescribes that one should marry outside one’s clan or ethnic
group.
Levirate norm- prescribes that a widow marry the brother or nearest kin of
the deceased husband.
Surrogate norm- prescribes that men should marry the sister or nearest kin
of the deceased wife.
FAMILY STRUCTURES
 Based on Internal Organization or
Membership
• Nuclear/ Primary/ Elementary family- it is composed of a husband and
his wife and their offspring in union recognized by the other members of the
society.
- it is said to be a universal social institution found in every society.

• Extended Family- it is composed of two or more nuclear families,

economically and socially related to each other.

• Blended or Reconstituted Family- it is a family where the parents have

children from previous relationship but all the members are united as one.
 Based on Descent
DESCENT- refers to the origin or background of a person in terms of
family.
Patrilineal descent- it affiliates a person with a group of relatives
through his or her father.
Matrilineal descent- it affiliates a person with a group of relatives
related through his or her mother.
Bilateral descent- affiliates a person with a group of relatives related
through either his or her parents.
 Based on Residence
Patrilocal Residence- it requires the newly married couple to live with or near
the parents of the groom.
Matrilocal Residence- it requires that the newly married couple live with or near
the parents of the bride.
Bilocal Residence- gives the couple a choice of staying either in the groom’s
parents or the bride’s parents.
Neolocal Residence- permits the newly married couple reside independently of
the parents of either groom or bride.
Avunculocal Residence- prescribes that the newly married couple reside with or
near the maternal uncle of the groom.
 Based on Authority
Patriarchal Family- the authority is vested in the eldest male in the family, often
the father.
- the sons, especially the eldest, enjoy the prestige and privileges.
- the males speak for the familial group with regard to property
relationships, legal obligations and criminal offenses.
- it is exemplified by the Chinese family and the pre-revolutionary period
and the biblical families.
Matriarchal Family- is one in which the authority is vested in the mother or the
mother’s kin.
-It is found in few societies.
 Based on Authority
Egalitarian Family- it is one in which both the husband and the wife exercise a
more or less equal amount or degree of authority.

Matricentric Family- this type of authority is usually found in places where the
father commutes and is out for the greater part of the day, which gives
the mother a prevailing position in the family. However, the father may
also share with the mother in decision making.
 Functions of the Family
1. The family regulates sexual behavior and it is the unit for reproduction.
2. The family perfoms the function of biological maintenance.
3. The family is the chief agency in socializing the child.
4. The family gives its members status.
5. The family is an important mechanism for social control.
6. The family performs economic functions, as well as educational, recreational,
religious or political functions.