Page 8 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes According to Lucy Mayor, “Social relations are expressed by live words in kinship”.
According to Robin Fox, Very lasy definition of kinship is, “Kinship is the relation between only
the kindered i.e. relation between real, known, imagined or people.
It is clear from the analysis of the definitions stated above that we include those people in kin-
ship who have the same lineage as owns, co-lineage relations occur due to family and is also
dependent on family such relations need acceptance by society. Sometimes some relatives who
are not biologically related but have been accepted by Society are also considered as kin. For
example an adopted son is not the real son of a father but as their relation has been accepted by
the society so they are considered as kin to each others.
In polyandry toda tribe, anyone can be the biological father of a child but socially only that per-
son will be considered father who has performed the ritual named “Porcupine. The same thing
can be observed in the marriage with brother-in-law, a man is allowed to marry a widowed wife
of his brother in law & sister in law in marriage with brother in law, a man is allowed to marry a
widowed wife of his brother. The offspring from such a marriage are also considered to be those
of the deceased brother only. In marriage to sister in law, a man is allowed to marry the sister of
his dead (deceased) wife and such a sister obtains the post of her sister. So, in kinship it is not re-
quired to be related biologically or by blood for the attainment of social goals. The reason for this
is that kinship is a social fact in which acceptance by society is important. Rules of social accept-
ance are different at different places and societies. There is no universal way for it. In kinship
we include both, blood relatives and of final relatives (relatives by marriage). Blood relatives
can be said to be the internal system and so final relatives to be the external system of kinship.

In India, during olden times, if a lady give birth to a male child before marriage
or after marriage by the consent of the husband but through another man that
child was also included in kinship and called as ‘Kishetraj’.

1.1 Role and Importance of Kinship in Social Structures

After understanding the principles of kinship a person also becomes able to understand the
other aspects of the society. Kinship is a real institution in simple and primitive societies. Firth’s
belief is that kinship is an axle around which the life of a person ratites, it controls his behavior
in innumerable conditions. Study of kinships not only thrilling but also useful. The role and
importance of kinship in the social structure can be expressed under the various headings de-
scribed below:
1. Determination of Family and Marriages: It is kinship which fixed the area of marriage of
a person. Which type of marriage is banned, which type is recognized and which type has
been given preference. In other words, internal marriage, external marriage, parallal cousin
and cross cousin marriages etc. are decided only on the basis of kinship. Members based
in blood relation and of final relations are found in a family. Both the members are called
kins. Expansion of family is basically expansion of kinship too. Types of family depicts the
differences in the roles of family members. For example, in a matrilineal family, the role
of brother is important in his sister’s family. He is the one who directs the family and he
is the centre of all types of financial activities. The power and control of the family lies in
his hands. The husband does not play an important role in such types of families. On the
contrary, in patrilineal families the role of a brother in the family of sister in negligible.
Anthropologists such as Redcliff brown has practically analysed the system of kinship. He
believes that marriage and kinship create arrangement between each other.

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