Cultural Anthropology

1. Cultural Anthropology by Nancy Bonvillain Chapter 9 Marriage and Family

2. “Kinship systems and family arrangements are basic elements in all societies (Bonvillain 2006:222).” • “Anthropologists tend to make a distinction between family and household, although people often use the two words interchangeably. A household refers to a group of people occupying a common dwelling… As you read in Chapter 8, members of families are related either through descent (consanguines) or marriage (affines) Bonvillain 2006:222).”

3. “A useful starting definition of family is one given by anthropologist Kathleen Gough (1975:52). She defines the family as a “married couple or other group of adult kinfolk who co-operate economically and in the upbringing of children, and all or most of whom share a common dwelling Bonvillain 2006:223).”

4. “All societies contain units recognized as families, but there are differences in the ways in which families are formed Bonvillain 2006:223).” • “There is some debate in the field about whether marriage and the family are universal constructs Bonvillain 2006:224).”

5. Patrilineal- descent and inheritance traced through men • Matrilineal- descent and inheritance traced through women • Social fatherhood- may or maynot be the same as biological paternity… man who fulfills the responsibilities of parenting, just as stepparents and adoptive parents are social parents.

6. Nuclear family- consists of one or more parents and their children, although another relative, such as a grandparents or an unmarried sibling of one of the parents, may reside in the household for a time • Single-parent families • Extended families consist of 3 or more generations of people, for example, parents, children, and grandparents

7. “Anthropologists as Expert Witnesses” • How are anthropologists different from psychologists?

8. Joint family- family consisting of siblings with their spouses and children, sharing work and resources.

9. “Many anthropologists favor understanding the incest taboo as a means of ensuring survival by forcing people to make alliances with others outside the nuclear family. This “marry out or die out” theory emphasizes that marriage within a small unit will lead over time to the isolation and genetic homogeneity of the group, which makes it more vulnerable to population loss or even extinction. • Mating outside the nuclear family reduces this risk and also leads to the formation of social alliances and bonds of reciprocity with other people. Bonvillain 2006:229).”

10. Class = social group usu. Determined on the basis of a combination of birth and achievement • Caste = social grouping whose membership is determined at birth and is generally inflexible • Monogamy = two people in a marriage • Polygamy = three or more people in a marriage • Serial monogamy = two or more spouses in a lifetime (but no at the same time)

11. Polygny = marriage between man and 2 or more women • Polyandry = marriage between woman and 2 or more men • Sororal polygyny = marriage between a man and two or more women who are sisters • Ghost marriage = marriage practice among the Nuer of Sudan in which a widow marries her dead husband’s brother and in which the children ensuing from the second marriage are said to be the children of the first, dead husband.

12. Same-sex marriage • Bridewealth = presents given by the husband’s family to the wife’s kin before, during, or after wedding ceremony • Brideservice = a period of months or years before or after marriage during which the husband performs labor for his wife’s parents • Dowry = gifts given by the wife’s family to the married couple or to the husband’s kin before, during or after the wedding ceremony

13. Arranged marriage = marriages that are arranged by the parents or other relatives of the bride and groom • Courtship = period prior to marriage when a couple tests attraction to and compatibility with each other • Residence rules = rules that stipulate where a couple will reside after their marriage • Matrilocal residence = pattern for residence after marriage in which the couple lives with or near the wife’s family

14. Uxorilocal = living with or near the wife’s parents • Patrilocal residence = pattern of residence after marriage in which the couple lives with or near the husband’s relatives • Virilocal = living with or near the husband’s parents • Avunculocal residence = patterns of residence after marriage in which the couple lives with or near the husband’s mother’s brother

15. Bilocal residence = patterns of residence after marriage in which the couple alternates between living with the wife’s kin and the husband’s kin • Neolocal residence = pattern of residence after marriage in which the couple establishes a new, independent household separate from their relatives • Internal warfare = warfare between closely situated villages or communities • External warfare = warfare that takes place at some distance from home communities, regarding warriors’ absence from their homes for extended periods of time

16. Levirate = marriage preference rule in which a widow marries her decreased husband’s brother • Sororate = marriage between a widower and his decreased wife’s sister