Marriage & Family
A Family Is…. A social unit of two or more people Blood, marriage, adoption Household: living arrangement Family of orientation: experience socialization Family of procreation: formation of family through children Legal or blood ties
Kinship network based on family ties Pattern of descent: tracing kinship over generations Basic needs Production of goods Allocation of power Transfer of property Matrilineal: through mother’s side Patrilineal: through father’s side Bilateral: both sides
Family Types Extended: network of parents, children, other relatives fictive kin (Stack 1974) “othermothers” (Collins 1990) “compadrazgo” Nuclear: parents, children Developed out of industrialization & suburbanization “Isolated”
Marriage Legal, cultural, and/or socially approved arrangement by 2 (or more) people Romantic love & intimacy Economic cooperation Alliance between families
Cultural Variations of Marriage Monogamy: one spouse Serial monogamy Endogamy: within group Exogamy: outside group Polygamy: multiple wives Polyandry: multiple husbands
Mate Selection, Or: More to Marriage Than Just Love Marriage Resources Homogamy: similar characteristics Outside influences Demographics Sex ratio Geography “Marriage Market”