Family and the

Household
Lesson 2
Objectives
• Give meaning to certain concepts such as
households, nuclear family, extended family,
reconstituted family, referred marriage partners,
compadrazgo, politics of kinship and political alliance.
• Demonstrate understanding of the above mentioned
concepts
 Family and Households
• FAMILY A group of people affiliated • HOUSEHOLD Is composed of one or
either by consanguinity, affinity or co- more people who occupy a housing
residence. unit.

• Not all households contain families.

Different Definitions of Family According to Sociologist
and Anthropologist
Sociologist and
Definitions of Family
Anthropologist
George Peter Murdock Family is a social group that has the
following characteristics:
1. Share common residence
2. Presence of economic cooperation
3. Reproduce offspring
4. Include adults of both sexes wherein
at least two of whom uphold a socially
approved form of sexual relationship
5. Responsible for the socialization of
infants and children
Different Definitions of Family According to Sociologist
and Anthropologist
Sociologist and
Definitions of Family
Anthropologist

Family is a group of individuals wherein the

Kingsley Davis relationship is based on consanguinity and
kinship.

Family is a factory that develops and produces

Talcott Parsons
human personalities

Family is an institution that passes down the

Bronislaw
cultural traditions of a society to the next
Malinowski
generation.
 Families are also interpreted differently by
structural functionalists, conflict theorist, and
symbolic interactionist. These different
interpretations are:

Assumption of Major Sociological

Perspective about Family
 Structural Functionalism
Theory
• Agent of socialization
• Provides emotional and practical support
for family members
• Controls sexual activity and
sexual reproduction
• Provides family members with social
identity
 Conflict Theory

Family is a cause of social inequality

because it strengthens economic inequality
and allows the continuity of patriarchy.
 Symbolic Interactionist
Theory
The family members’ interaction can produce a shared
understanding of their institutions
 Types of Households
Consist of two or more individuals who are related by
birth, marriage, or adoption, although they also may
include other unrelated people.
1. Family
- U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
Households
 Types of Households
Consist of people who live alone or who share their
residence with unrelated individuals.

2.
Nonfamily
Households
 Types of Households
Defined as an arrangement in which one person makes
provision for his or her own food or other essentials for
living without combining with any other person to form part
2. One- of a multi-person household
Person
Households
Types of Family
1. Nuclear or Elementary Family
 Is a family group consisting of a pair of
adults and their children.
 Nuclear families typically center on a
married couple; the nuclear family may
have any number of children.
 Nuclear family is central to stability in
modern society has been promoted by
familialists who are social conservatives and
has been challenged as historically and
sociologically inadequate to describe the
complexity of actual family relations.
 Types of Family
2. Extended Family
 Is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family, consisting of aunts,
uncles, and cousins living nearby or in the same household.
 An example is a married couple that lives either the husband’s or wife’s
parents.
 Types of Family
1. Reconstituted or Blended Family
 Is a sociological term for the joining of two
adults via marriage, cohabitation or civil
partnership, who have children from
previous relationships
Post Marital Residency Rules
• A significant piece of kinship studies in both
anthropology and archeology in post-marital residence
patterns, the rules within the society that determine
where the child of a group resides after they get
married.
• Three main form of PMR.
• Neolocal Residence
• Unilocal Residence
• Multi-local Residence
Three Main Forms of Post Marital
Residency Rules
Neolocal Residence Patterns
can be considered the pioneer stage, when a group
consisting of parent(s) and child(ren) move away from existing
family compounds to start new.
Three Main Forms of Post Marital
Residency Rules
Unilocal Residence Patterns
 Patriolocal Residence
is when boys of the family stay in the family compound when
they marry, bringing in spouses from elsewhere.

 Matrilocal Residence
is when girls of the family stay in the family compound when
they marry, bringing in spouses from elsewhere.
Cognatic Groups
 Ambilocal residence is a unilocal residence pattern when
each people decides with family clan to join.
 Bilocal residence pattern is a multi-local pattern in which
pattern says in their own family residence.
Referred Marriage Partners
This refers to the partnership relationship of gay marriage
and those living together and not married. A lot of married
gay and lesbian couple still uses the word “partner”.
Kinship by Ritual
This refers to the relationships between and among
godparents and godchildren; an example of the ritual kinship is
the Compadrazgo.

Compadrazgo is the reciprocal relationship of the social

institution of such relationship existing between godparents or
godparents and the godchild and its parents. Compadrazgo is a
Spanish term meaning “kumpare” or “kumare”.
Politics of Kinship
Politics of kinship refers to the political relationship
among the politicians who have common political
agenda.

Two aspects of politics of Kinship:

• Political Dynasty
• Political Alliance
Politics of Kinship
Political Dynasties
• Typically found in elite families that have been establish
themselves in a province before moving on to the national
government. Political dynasties, therefore, usually have a
strong support base.
• Political family or political dynasty is a family in which
several members are involved in politics, particularly
electoral politics. Members maybe related by blood or
marriage; often several generations or multiple siblings
maybe involved.
Politics of Kinship
Political Alliance
• Also referred to as a political coalition or political bloc, is an
agreement for cooperation between different political parties
on common political agenda, often for purpose of contesting
an election to mutually benefit by collectively clearing
election thresholds, or otherwise benefiting from
characteristics of the voting system or for government
formation after elections.