3.1 P8: Attachment
Georgas: Family – Variations & Changes Across Cultures
Family, Structure & Function
- Structure = number of members in family & familial positions, e.g. mother, father,
etc. E.g. nuclear family composed of 2 generations: parents & children
- Functions = how families satisfy their physical & psychological needs in order to
maintain the family & survive as a group. E.g. families must provide shelter for
themselves, must work, etc.
Types of families:
Two generation families
- Nuclear family = wife/mother, husband/father, and their child
One parent family
Three generation families
- Extended: grandparents, wife/mother, husband/father, children, aunts, uncles, etc.
- Polygynous (one husband & multiple wives) vs. monogamous
- Patrilineal & matrilineal at least 3-generational
- Stem family = grandparents & eldest married son and children live together under
authority of grandparent (enforce family through generations)
- Joint family = continuation of patrilineal family after the death of the grandfather,
but married sons share inheritance & work together
- Fully extended family = similar to joint family, but cousins & kin also considered
part of the family. Total number of family members might be over 50
Kinship Relationships
- Lineal relationships = relationship between grandparent & grandchild
- Collateral relationships = relationship with uncles & aunts, cousins, nephews &
nieces
- Affinal = relationship between parents-in-law, children-in-law, siblings-in-law
Cultures have different rules about where couples reside after marriage:
- Patrilocal = residence with/near husband’s patrilineal kinsmen
- Avunculocal = residence with/near maternal uncle/other male matrilineal kinsmen of
husband
- Neolocal = residence apart from relatives of both spouses, most characteristic of
nuclear family
Cultures have specific rules of descent:
- Bilateral = affiliation w/both mother’s & father’s relatives
- Patrilineal = affiliation w/kin of both sexes through maternal & paternal fathers only,
but not through maternal & paternal mothers
- Matrilineal = affiliation w/kin of both sexes through maternal & paternal mothers
only, but not through maternal & paternal fathers
- Ambilineal/cognatic = affiliation w/kin through either maternal parents/paternal
parents
- Double = affiliation w/both father’s patrilineal kin & mother’s matrilineal kin
Cultures have rules about who you’re allowed to marry (endogamy – marrying within
community) and who you can’t marry (exogamy – marrying outside of the community)
, - E.g. marriage within same caste in India
Is the nuclear family separate or part of the extended family?
- Parson: adaptation of American family from extended family system in rural,
agricultural area to urban area requires a nuclear family structure. Social mobility
which characterises America was made possible by breaking of family ties, but at the
cost of psychological isolation.
- However, other studies have found that nuclear families are not isolated from
extended family – the question is the degree of contact with these kin
- Murdock: extended family of nuclear family is just a constellation of other nuclear
families. To focus on a specific nuclear family and expect it to be an independent unit
is wrong
- Different cycle of family: after the death of a patriarch in the family (e.g.
grandfather), one cycle closes, and new cycle begins, with 2 or 3 new nuclear families
- How nuclear families are determined by demographers & researchers: studies based
on interviews, people asked how many people they live with. Only provide ‘surface’
info, difficult to interpret w/o data about family networks, degree of interaction, etc.
- Overlapping circles of nuclear family: parents, aunts & uncles, grandparents, etc.
Determinants of Family Ties
- Ecological Framework = human diversity (both cultural & psychological) are set of
collective (the society) & individual adaptations to the context
Ecology & Subsistence
- Type of family related to ecological features & means of subsistence (how you
support yourself)
- Agricultural families = large extended families, highly stratified (classified into
different groups). Usually have permanent base, live near kin.
- Nuclear family = small, hunting & gathering societies/life in large urban areas, less
stratified. Move around more, learn to be more self-reliant, independent
Bonds in Small Communities
- Family loyalty to family and not to state, bc family is basis for survival. In small
communities, all issues about family decided by leader/elders of family, continued
through tradition
Changes in Family
- Economic changes, changes of power of father in the family
- Kagitcibasi: model of family change based on socio-economic development. 3
patterns of family interaction:
1. Traditional family in developing countries characterised by total interdependence
between generations in material & emotional realms
2. Individualistic nuclear family model of Western society based on independence
3. Synthesis of these two, involving material independence, but psychological
interdependence between generations
- Modernisation theory: increasing economic level & industrialisation in society
results in rejection of traditional values & culture. Transition of extended family to
nuclear family
- Inkeles: doubts that families throughout the world will converge to universal family
type, bc family relations are too complex, certain family patterns remain constant over
time
Georgas: Family – Variations & Changes Across Cultures
Family, Structure & Function
- Structure = number of members in family & familial positions, e.g. mother, father,
etc. E.g. nuclear family composed of 2 generations: parents & children
- Functions = how families satisfy their physical & psychological needs in order to
maintain the family & survive as a group. E.g. families must provide shelter for
themselves, must work, etc.
Types of families:
Two generation families
- Nuclear family = wife/mother, husband/father, and their child
One parent family
Three generation families
- Extended: grandparents, wife/mother, husband/father, children, aunts, uncles, etc.
- Polygynous (one husband & multiple wives) vs. monogamous
- Patrilineal & matrilineal at least 3-generational
- Stem family = grandparents & eldest married son and children live together under
authority of grandparent (enforce family through generations)
- Joint family = continuation of patrilineal family after the death of the grandfather,
but married sons share inheritance & work together
- Fully extended family = similar to joint family, but cousins & kin also considered
part of the family. Total number of family members might be over 50
Kinship Relationships
- Lineal relationships = relationship between grandparent & grandchild
- Collateral relationships = relationship with uncles & aunts, cousins, nephews &
nieces
- Affinal = relationship between parents-in-law, children-in-law, siblings-in-law
Cultures have different rules about where couples reside after marriage:
- Patrilocal = residence with/near husband’s patrilineal kinsmen
- Avunculocal = residence with/near maternal uncle/other male matrilineal kinsmen of
husband
- Neolocal = residence apart from relatives of both spouses, most characteristic of
nuclear family
Cultures have specific rules of descent:
- Bilateral = affiliation w/both mother’s & father’s relatives
- Patrilineal = affiliation w/kin of both sexes through maternal & paternal fathers only,
but not through maternal & paternal mothers
- Matrilineal = affiliation w/kin of both sexes through maternal & paternal mothers
only, but not through maternal & paternal fathers
- Ambilineal/cognatic = affiliation w/kin through either maternal parents/paternal
parents
- Double = affiliation w/both father’s patrilineal kin & mother’s matrilineal kin
Cultures have rules about who you’re allowed to marry (endogamy – marrying within
community) and who you can’t marry (exogamy – marrying outside of the community)
, - E.g. marriage within same caste in India
Is the nuclear family separate or part of the extended family?
- Parson: adaptation of American family from extended family system in rural,
agricultural area to urban area requires a nuclear family structure. Social mobility
which characterises America was made possible by breaking of family ties, but at the
cost of psychological isolation.
- However, other studies have found that nuclear families are not isolated from
extended family – the question is the degree of contact with these kin
- Murdock: extended family of nuclear family is just a constellation of other nuclear
families. To focus on a specific nuclear family and expect it to be an independent unit
is wrong
- Different cycle of family: after the death of a patriarch in the family (e.g.
grandfather), one cycle closes, and new cycle begins, with 2 or 3 new nuclear families
- How nuclear families are determined by demographers & researchers: studies based
on interviews, people asked how many people they live with. Only provide ‘surface’
info, difficult to interpret w/o data about family networks, degree of interaction, etc.
- Overlapping circles of nuclear family: parents, aunts & uncles, grandparents, etc.
Determinants of Family Ties
- Ecological Framework = human diversity (both cultural & psychological) are set of
collective (the society) & individual adaptations to the context
Ecology & Subsistence
- Type of family related to ecological features & means of subsistence (how you
support yourself)
- Agricultural families = large extended families, highly stratified (classified into
different groups). Usually have permanent base, live near kin.
- Nuclear family = small, hunting & gathering societies/life in large urban areas, less
stratified. Move around more, learn to be more self-reliant, independent
Bonds in Small Communities
- Family loyalty to family and not to state, bc family is basis for survival. In small
communities, all issues about family decided by leader/elders of family, continued
through tradition
Changes in Family
- Economic changes, changes of power of father in the family
- Kagitcibasi: model of family change based on socio-economic development. 3
patterns of family interaction:
1. Traditional family in developing countries characterised by total interdependence
between generations in material & emotional realms
2. Individualistic nuclear family model of Western society based on independence
3. Synthesis of these two, involving material independence, but psychological
interdependence between generations
- Modernisation theory: increasing economic level & industrialisation in society
results in rejection of traditional values & culture. Transition of extended family to
nuclear family
- Inkeles: doubts that families throughout the world will converge to universal family
type, bc family relations are too complex, certain family patterns remain constant over
time
