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Marriage is defined as:-
A social institution that legitimizes the main socially recognized sexual relationship, normally between two people of the opposite sex.
It is marriage that forms the basis of the relationship within the family.
Universality of the family.
Marriage continued...
To what extent is the family natural and normal?
Are we genetically preprogrammed to form this relationship or is it socially learned?
The nature/nurture debate.
See Rich, A and Taylor, 1999: p173 on this issue.
Marriage Patterns
Endogamy - marriage between two people of the same social category. Same age, race, religion or social class.
Passing there standing to offspring.
Exogamy - marriage between people of different social categories.
Forging alliances and promoting cultural diffusion.
Marriage Patterns continued...
Monogamy - a form of union joining two partners.
However, the high rate of divorce and remarriage results in a more realistic term of ?serial monogamy?.
Polygamy - a type of marriage uniting three or more people.
Polygyny - a type of marriage uniting one male and two or more females.
Polyandry - a type of marriage uniting one female and two or more males.
Marriage Patterns continued...
Most actual marriages have been monogamous according to Murduch.
Financial considerations
Rough numerical parity of the sexes. Same number of males as females, approximately.
Residual Patterns
or where couples live
Patrilocality - a residential pattern by which a married couple lives with or near to the husband?s family.
Matrilocality - a residential pattern by which a married couple lives with or near to the wife?s family.
Neolocality - a residential pattern by which a married couple lives apart from the parents of both spouses.
Patterns of Descent
Tracing kinship over generations, usually along one side of the family in pre-
industrial society.
Patrilineal Descent -
a system tracing kinship through males.
Matrilineal Descent -
a system tracing kinship through females.
Bilateral Descent - a system tracing kinship through both male and female in industrial society.
Patterns of Authority
Polygyny.
Patrilocality.
Patrilineal.
An analogy
With one turn we see a blending of the distinctions between home and work, family and economy, and the idea of the family comes into focus. With another turn, the apparently solid boundaries of the household dissolve and we see family and kinship, and possibly other, relationships spreading out across these fainter boundaries. With each twist of the kaleidoscope we see that these patterns are differentially coloured according to gender, age and generation and other social division. (Morgan, 1996 : 33)
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