Exam 9: Kinship, Family, and Marriage

The concept of kinship groups based chiefly on biological assumptions and the nuclear family consisting of solely a mother,a father,and their children is

Anthropologists have clearly demonstrated that kinship is not solely given at birth via biological connections or through marriage alliances but can be acquired through other means.What are three other ways in which kinship can be acquired? What are the benefits of being able to acquire kinship outside of biological relations and marriage? Are these other forms of acquiring kinship present in the United States? Are they present in your own home community? Provide at least two examples of alternate forms of acquiring kinship in the United States and in your own home community.

Which of the following types of marriage specifically involves the marital union of one woman to two or more men?

Changing patterns over time clearly demonstrate that marriage,family,and kinship are

According to the text,there has been a decline overall in the number of marriages in the United States since 1970 (see Figure 9.2,U.S.Households by Type,1970-2010). This has resulted in

One of the characteristics of kinship that makes it so enduring for humans is the deep connection it brings,something that endures

Members of the upper class in the United States may,quite inadvertently,be practicing ________ because how they manage the lives of their children in schooling practices results in a kind of arranged marriage.

The same white-wedding industry considered in the text has helped perpetuate a tradition in the United States that says the bride's family picks up the entire tab for the big wedding.This can be understood in anthropological terms as a form of

The text features a photograph of a prominent U.S.family,the Kennedys.We often refer to a family group here as a clan,for example,the "Kennedy clan," and not a lineage,for example,the "Kennedy lineage." This is consistent with an anthropological definition of clan because a clan has ________ deep genealogical documentation.

Through kinship studies across cultures,anthropologists have determined that the ways in which genealogies are constructed can be messy and far from exact.Gaps,interruptions,disruptions,uncertainties,and assumed connections are all found among genealogies.This fact is further underscored by Kathleen Gough's reexamination of anthropologist E.E.Evans-Pritchard's kinship work with Nuer people in Sudan.Describe one example of a genealogical disruption that Gough found among Nuer kinship data collected in the 1930s,and discuss why the disruption likely occurred.What sorts of gaps and disruptions are present in your own genealogy,and why do you think they have occurred? Do you think that genealogies will undergo even greater gaps and disruptions in the future? Why or why not?

Ambilineal descent groups such as Samoans,Maori,and Hawaiians are sometimes referred to as ________ descent groups.

Susan Kahn found that Jewish women in Israel are deeply compelled to reproduce both the family and the nation.With the advent of reproductive technologies,this is made quite easy,and one might conclude that it is a matter of giving birth and raising the child.But this raises many very difficult questions.Many of the difficult questions hinge upon the kin system there,which is