1. Family:
Marriage Across Cultures
Social Institutions
Unit 6

2. Defining Family
• Family has become very difficult to define, different laws
define it in different ways
 For sociologists, it is defined as a group of people
who are related by marriage, blood or adoption
 Families are a complex social units
• In terms of social institutions, the family has the most
impact on individual behavior

3. Defining Family cont’
• Family of Orientation: family you are born into, provides
you with a name, identity and heritage
 It provides an ascribed status in the community
 Family of orientation “orients” children to their
neighborhood, community, and society
• Family of Procreation: family created in marriage
 Marriage: a legal union based on mutual rights and
obligations
• The marriage ceremony symbolizes that it is legal
for a couple to have offspring and pass on the
family name
• The family of procreation then becomes a family of
orientation

4. Two Basic Families
• Nuclear Family: a family structure made up of a
parent(s) and children
 This is the smallest family unit
• Extended Family: two or more adult generations of
the same family whose members share economic
resources and a common household
 It can contain close relatives – grandparents,
aunts, uncles, cousins

5. How did Family Develop
• The earliest societies (hunting & gathering) were
based on nuclear families
• When societies switched to agricultural societies
large families were need to work the farm, which led
to the development of extended families
• As society moved from agricultural to industrial,
extended families became replaced with nuclear
families again

6. Patterns of Family Structure
• Whether you are looking at nuclear or extended
families, the pattern of behavior for families is similar
throughout cultures
 There are similarities in inheritance, authority, and
place of residence

7. Who Inherits?
• Determining who becomes the head of household
for the purpose of descent and family property
• There are 3 Types of Arrangements
 Patrilineal: descent and inheritance are passed
from the father to his male descendents
• Example: Iran and Iraq
 Matrilineal: descent and inheritance are
transmitted from the mother to her female
descendents
• Example: Pueblo Tribes
 Bilateral: descent and inheritance are passed
equally through both parents
• Example: United States

8. Who has Authority?
• There are 3 Patterns for determining family authority
 Patriarchy: the eldest man in the household has
authority over the rest of the family members
• The father is the absolute ruler: Iraq, China
 Matriarchy: the oldest women in the household
holds the authority
• There is controversy over whether or not there
are any societies that have a matriarchal
structure
 Egalitarian: control and authority is split evenly
between husband and wife
• United States and Scandinavia

9. Where do Couples Live?
• The location of where new couples set up their
home also varies by culture
 Patrilocal: live near or with the husband’s parents
 Matrilocal: live near or with the wife’s parents
• Ex. The Nayar caste of Southern India
 Neolocal: married couples establish a residence
on their own (if finances allow it)

10. Marriage Arrangements
• Depending on the culture, a marriage ceremony and
the arrangements that follow are very different
 Wherever the ceremony takes place it announces
that a man and woman have become husband
and wife, and that any children born to the couple
can be legitimately inherit the family name and
property

11. Forms of Marriage
• Monogamy: the marriage of one man to one woman
 It is the only legal form of marriage in the US and
most of the western world
 Serial Monogamy: having several husbands or
wives but never at the same time
• Polygamy: the marriage of a male or female to more
than one person at a time
 Two forms: polygny (1 man, 2 or more women)
and polyandry (1 woman and 2 or more men)

12. Choosing a Mate
• All cultures have norms and laws about who they may marry
 Exogamy: refers to mate selection outside of one’s group
• The most important norm for this form of marriage is
incest taboo (marriage of family)
 Endogamy: involves mate selection that requires
individuals to marry within their own kind (example: people
of the same race or social class)
 Homogamy: the tendency to marry someone similar to
oneself
(people choose those w/ social characteristics similar to
theirs)
 Heterogamy: marriage between two people of differing
characteristics