The typology of descent,family and residence

[prieti]

Keesing's Typology of Descent:

Patrilineal Descent: (or agnatic) descent from an ancestor down through a series of male links (i.e., though the ancestor's son, his son's sons, his son's sons' sons, etc.)

Matrilineal Descent: (or uterine) descent from an ancestress down through a series of female links (through daughter, daughter's daughter, etc.)

Cognatic Descent: descent from an ancestor or ancestress thorugh a series of links that can be male or female or any combination of the two.

Double Descent: a system whereby two sets of social groups or categories exist (for different purposes) in the same society, one based on patrilineal descent and the other on matrilineal descent (so a person belongs to his/her father's patrilineal group and his/her mother's matrilineal group).

Tuzin's Typology of Descent:

Unilineal Descent: The principle whereby descent is traced either through the male line ("patrilineal") or the female line ("matrilineal"), but not both (NG-163ff.; RF-97ff.)

Double Descent: The principle whereby descent is traced through the male line for certain prescribed purposes, and through the female line for other prescribed purposes; also called Double Unilineal Descent (NG-169; RF-131, 146).

Non-Unilineal Descent: The principle whereby descent is reckoned by means other than exclusively through the father and his male ancestors or the mother and her female ancestors (RF-147; NG-200ff).

Ambilineal Descent: The principle whereby descent is reckoned through male or female links without set order (NG-198).

Bilateral Descent: The principle whereby descent is traced equally through males (i.e., father) and females (i.e., mother). Also called Cognatic. English kinship embodies such a descent principle (NG-198; RF-146ff).

[prieti]

Levinson and Malone Typology of Families:

Matrifocal Family: consists of a mother and her children.

Nuclear Family: consists of a wife/mother, husband/father, and their children.

Polygynous Family: consists of a husband/father, two or more co-wives/mothers and their children.

Polyandrous Family: consists of one wife/mother, her children and two or more husband/fathers.

Extended Family: consists of individuals who are recognized as both husband/father and son/brother or wife/mother and sister/daughter at the same time. Extended families combine at least one individual's family of orientation with his or her family of procreation. Murdock (1949) views the extended family as composite nuclear families. Linton views them as multi-generational consanguineal families to which spouses are added. Murdock (1949) provides us with a typology of extended families based on post-nuptial residence. Nimkoff (1965:19) has produced a typology based on structural differences.

Murdock's Typology of Extended Families:

"An extended family consists of two or more nuclear families affiliated through an extension of the parent-child relationship rather than of the husband-wife relationship, i.e., by joining the nuclear family of a married adult to that of his parents." Murdock 1949:2

"The several types of extended family depend primarily upon the prevailing rule of residence." Murdock 1949: 33.

Patrilocal: the families of procreation of a man, his married sons and his sons'. GPM:34

Matrilocal: the families of procreation of a woman, her daughters and her daughters' daughters.

Bilocal: either the son or the daughter, depending upon circumstances of the particular case, may remain at home and thereby attach his family of procreation to his/her family of orientation. Thus the nuclear family of a married couple is united with those of some but not all of their sons, of some but not all of their daughters, and of some but not all of their grandchildren of either sex. Nuclear families of adjacent generations, in short, may be linked by any type of parent-child relationship.

Avunculocal: a man, his wife or wives, his young sons and unmarried daughters, several of his sister's adolescent but unmarried sons, a sister's son who is married to his daughter, the young children of the latter couple, possibly other married nephews or daughters with their families, and occasionally even a grand nephew or two. In this instance the associated nuclear families are linked through two relationships, that between parent and daughter and that between maternal uncle and nephew. In some societies with this type of extended family, however, the nephew does not marry the daughter, so that the uncle-nephew link alone connects the associated nuclear families of adjacent generations.

Nimkoff's Typology of Extended Families:

Stem Family: two nuclear families in adjacent generations with one son/husband or daughter/wife who is a member of both families.

Lineal Family: One nuclear family in the senior generation and two or more nuclear families in the junior generation.

Fully Extended Family: the families of at least two siblings or cousins in each of at least two adjacent generations.

Joint Family: two or more nuclear families who form a corporate economic unit.

[prieti]

Divale's Typology of Residence Patterns


1A. Patrilocal: Normal Residence is with or near the husband's patrilineal kinsmen.

1B. Virilocal: Equivalent to patrilocal but patrilineal kin groups are absent. Residence is with husband's group.

2A. Matrilocal: Normal Residence is with or near the wife's matrilineal kinsmen.

2B. Uxorilocal: Equivalent to matrilocal but matrilineal kin groups are absent. Residence is with wife's group.

3. Avunculocal: Normal residence is with or near the maternal uncle (mother's brother) or other male matrilineal kinsmen of the husband.

4A. Bilocal: Residence is established optionally with or near the parents of either spouse.

4B. Ambilocal: Murdock identifies with bilocal, but can also be used to identify systems in which the married couple shifts periodically from residence with husband's groups to residence with wife's group (e.g., Dobuans who shift periodically from matrilocality to avunculocality).

5. Matrilocal/Avunculocal option: Like bilocal, except that the option is limited to either matrilocal or avunculocal residence.

6. Avunculocal/Virilocal option: Like bilocal, except that the option is limited to either avunculocal or virilocal residence.

7. Neolocal: Normal residence is apart from the relatives of both spouses.

8. Duolocal: There is no common household. Spouses remain in their natal groups.

9. Matri-patrilocal First the newly wed couple lives with the bride's group for a time (usually for a year or until the birth of the first child), then residence is shifted definitely to the groom's group.