Kinship

Kinship refers to relationships within a community or family. These family ties

bond people together in a society and provide organization and structure for
relationships. Africans had kin-based connections that were social, not
physical. This means that kin were connected through social relationships and
didn't have to be directly related by blood. People who practice kinship believe
they have a shared ancestor, though that person is untraceable. Kinship
determined the bonds between people and created safety nets and a form of
deeply intertwined politics. Kinship networks aren't unique to Africa, but they
are essential.

Kinship Groups in Africa

There are four types of kinship in Africa: patrilineal, matrilineal, double, and
bilateral. These groups were created for various reasons but served the same
goals. Patrilineal and matrilineal are more popular than bilateral and double.
Let's take a closer look at the more popular ones. The Bakor is one of the very
few ethnic groups in Nigeria believed to practice a matrilineal de- scent
system. There is either a common assumption that matriliny connotes
matriarchy or a con- fusion between the two concepts among some African
feminist scholars.

Tracing Kinship

Consanguineal kin (or consanguines) are relatives related "by blood" (to use
the common but inaccurate English term), meaning those people with whom
you share known common ancestors, however distant. Affinal kin, or affines,
are relatives by marriage or your in-laws; if the marriage ends, they are no
longer affines.

Benefits of Kinship in Africa

Kinship created a social safety net in place of government social security. If a

village suffered a famine, people could move to different areas where their kin
lived. A woman's kin would care for her if she was widowed or divorced. This
system took care of orphans and the disabled as well. The kinship system
formed a protective circle that valued family. They took care of one another
and would receive the same treatment in kind.
Family

An intimate and relatively permanent domestic group connected by blood,

marriage, or adoption that lives together and shares social and economic
responsibilities is called a family. It is the smallest and most basic social unit
and also the most important primary group found in any society.

Characteristics/Features of Family

 It is a universal group: It is found in one form or another, in all

types of societies whether primitive or modern.
 Marriage as the basis: A family is based on marriage, which results
in a mating relationship between two adults of the opposite sex.
 Source of nomenclature: Every house provides an individual with
a name, and hence, it is a source of nomenclature.
 Trace of ancestry: It is the group through which descent or
ancestry can be traced.
 The primary agent of socialization: It is the most basic group as
it is the primary agent of socialization of an individual.
 Various forms: It is generally limited in size such as nuclear, even
large, joint, and extended families.
 The nucleus of all institutions: It is the most important group in
society; it is the nucleus of all institutions, organizations, and
groups.
 Emotional attachment: It is based on emotions and sentiments.
Mating, procreation, love, and affection are the basis of family ties.
 Unit of cooperation: It is a unit of emotional and economic
cooperation.
 Division of labor: Each member of the house has duties and
responsibilities.
 Social roles: Each family is made up of different social roles, like
those of husband, wife, mother, father, children, brothers, or sisters

Types of Family

On the basis of Structure and Size

  Nuclear Family– It is a small group consisting of a husband, a wife,
and children, natural or adopted. It is more or less an autonomous
unit that is not under the control of adults or elders of the house.
 Joint Family– It consists of three or more generations, living
together under the same roof, sharing the same kitchen, and
economic expenses. It is a house consisting of three or more
nuclear families living together.

On the basis of Birth

 Family of Orientation: It is in which an individual is born in his

family of orientation.
 Family of Procreation: It is where an individual sets up after
his/her marriage his/her family of procreation.

On the Basis of Marriage:

Monogamous Family: It consists of one husband and wife including

children based on monogamous marriages.

Polygamous Families: It is also of two types,

 Polygynous– It consists of one husband, more than one wife, and

all the children born to all the wives or adopted by each of them.
This type of family is based on polygynous marriage (polygyny).
 Polyandrous– It consists of one wife and more than one husband,
and the children, either born or adopted with each one of them.
This type of family is based on polyandrous marriage (polyandry).

On the basis of Residential Patterns

 Patrilocal– in which the married couple lives with or near the

husband’s house.
 Matrilocal– in which the married couple lives with or near the
wife’s house.
  Teo-local– in which the married couple lives apart from the
parents of both spouses.

On the basis of Ancestry or Descent

 Patrilineal – It is a family where ancestry or descent is traced

through the male line, or through the father’s side.
 Matrilineal– It is where ancestry or descent is traced through the
female line, or through the mother’s side house.
 Bilateral- tracing kinship through both males and females.

On the basis of the nature of relations

 Conjugal Family– It is made up of adults among whom there is a

sexual relationship and they may also have dependents with them.
It also refers to partners, vibe have a long-term sexual relationship,
but are not actually married.
 Consanguine Family– It is made up of members among whom a
blood relation exists, i.e., a family consisting of parent(s) and
children, or siblings (brothers and sisters).

On the basis of Patterns of Authority

On the basis of patterns of authority, there are three types of families

patriarchal, matriarchal, and egalitarian family.

 Patriarchal – It is in which man is the head of the house and

authority is vested in him.
 Matriarchal – It is in which a woman is the head of the house and
authority is vested in her.
 Egalitarian – It is in which men and women share authority.

Functions of Family
As a social group and important social institution family performs various
functions in human society. Different sociologists have viewed or classified the
functions of the family into different forms but still, all of them emphasize the
same aspects in a different manner. However, these different functions are
described below:

Essential Functions

Maclver has divided the functions of the families into essential (primary
functions) and nonessential (secondary functions) functions. Essential
functions are those functions that are basic or fundamental in nature and no
other institution can perform these functions as successfully as a family can.
MacIvor includes three functions; stable satisfaction of sex needs, production,
and rearing of children, and a provision of the home under essential functions.
But it may also perform some other functions as follows;

Stable satisfaction of Sexual needs

It is a well-known fact that sexual desire is the most important and powerful
instinct and natural urge of human beings. It is the primary duty of the family
to satisfy the sexual desire of its members in a stable and desirable way.
Through the mechanism of marriage, it regulates the sexual behavior of its
members. Because the satisfaction of sex instinct brings the desire for life
lifelong partnership between husband and wife.

Procreation (reproduction) and Rearing of Children

It legitimizes the act of reproduction. It institutionalizes the process of

procreation. By performing this function of procreation family contributes to
the continuity of families and ultimately the human race. Not only is the
production of children but also child-rearing is done by the family. It takes care
of the child at the time of need.

Provision of Home

It provides an individual with a home and establishes enduring social

relationships. It is only in a home that children are born and brought up under
the strict vigilance of all its members. It is the home where all the members
live happily with comfort, peace, and protection. A home provides emotional
and psychological support to all its members.

Socialization function

It is one of the primary agents of socialization The primary socialization of any

individual takes place within the family. The immediate house members teach
all the basic norms, values, morals, and ideals of society to a child. He learns
the culture and acquires character through the process of socialization. His
personality develops in the course of his living in a family. It is said that man is
not born human but made human. The newborn human baby becomes a
human being after they are socialized.

Non-essential or Secondary Functions

Under non-essential functions, Maclver includes economic, religious,

educational, health, Social functions, Labor division, Cultural functions and
recreational functions. These functions are non-essential in the sense that
these are also performed simultaneously by other social institutions in the
family.

Peer Group meaning and Functions

Peers are the people of approximately the same age and social status,
make equally important contributions to development, especially in
the social and emotional domain. In sociology, a peer group is both a
social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests
(homophily), age, background, or social status. The members of this
group are likely to influence the person's beliefs and behaviour.
During adolescence, peer groups tend to face dramatic changes.

For many children and adolescents interacting with friends is more

important than completing classroom assignments. Peer group serves
primarily as companions- as source of amusement, excitement and
pleasure. From a developmental point of view peer group serves the
following functions.

1. Providing Primary Status:

An individual earns this through his own efforts with the
demonstration of his abilities and skills. It differs from
 attributed status, which comes from being a member of a given
family. Peer group help the adolescent form a self image by
granting a primary status.
2. Providing norms for governing behaviour:
As peer groups establish their own norms and standards of
behaviour, the adolescent is able to deviate from parental
norms while having their support.
This support is particularly important to the adolescents
because of initial confusion. They experience when confronted
with the values, life styles and vocations that comprise a
society. Peer group norms are designed to provide both
guidelines for behaviour and a source of common evaluation
for appraising activities.
3. Facilitating emancipation from the family:
Healthy family relationships more naturally and normally leads
to adolescents’ independence. Peer group builds on this trend-
because of intensity of relationships in the modern nuclear
family- it serves as a ‘distancing’ function between parents and
adolescents.It helps the parents to see the adolescent as an
independent individual. Furthermore the adolescent begins to
understand both the satisfaction and pain of relating to others
in an independent, adult fashion.
4. The peer group as a testing ground:
Allows adolescent to test themselves in a variety of roles. They
can test abilities, emotions, feelings, values and life styles
within and empathic group.
By observing and talking about how peers react to an
adolescent’s way of thinking / behaving he further refine his
self concept and range of behaviours.
5. Peers provide partners for practicing existing social
skills and trying out new ones.
When adolescents interact with their peers, they acquire skills
in perspective taking, persuasion, negotiation, compromise and
emotional control.
6. Peers socialize with one another:
Children and adolescents socialize with one another in several
ways. They define options for leisure time getting together in a
study room. They offer new ideas and perspective perhaps
demonstrating how to do. They serve as role models and
 provide standards for acceptable behaviour, showing what is
possible, what is admirable, what is cool. They reinforce one
another for acting in ways deemed approximate for their age,
gender, ethnic group and cultural background.
7. Peers contribute a sense of identity:
Association with a particular group of peers helps adolescents
to decide who they are and who they want to become. They
compare themselves with peers and observe how their
own characteristics (ex. Physical characteristics, athletic
powers, school achievements etc) are unique. As a result they
look inwards at their own characteristics, rather than outward
at their peers.
8. Peers help one another make sense of their lives:
Peers help in sorting the issues which are confusing,
ambiguous and troubling events. By sharing, criticizing one
other’s ideas, perspectives, beliefs and values, adolescents
construct increasingly complex perspective understanding the
world around them.
9. Peers provide emotional and social support: adolescents
often seek comfort from peers when they are anxious or upset.

Definition of Social Groups

In sociology, a group refers to "any number of people with similar norms,

values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis."

Types of Social Groups

The term 'primary group' was first used by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902 to
refer to a small group that is characterized by close-knit cooperation and
association between members. Primary groups can be very impactful in a
person's daily life. This is because they perform an expressive, i.e. emotional,
function for us. Both the process of socialization and the formation of roles and
statuses depend heavily on primary groups. A 'secondary group', on the other
hand, is a formal, impersonal group with little social connection or
understanding among its members. They serve an instrumental function,
meaning that they tend to be goal-oriented. Secondary groups tend to form in
spaces where people have a shared understanding, but minimal personal
interaction.

In-groups and Out-groups

Sometimes, a group's connections to other groups might give it additional

significance for its members. This is what forms the basis of in-groups and out-
groups. Any group or category that people believe they belong to is considered
an in-group. In other words, it includes everyone who is referred to as "we" or
"us."

Any group or category that an individual does not belong to as a member and
may even feel animosity toward or compete with. A group that is distinct from
one's own and so usually an object of hostility or dislike compare in-group
sense. people outside one's own group, especially as considered to be inferior
or alien; a group perceived as other than one's own

Reference Groups

A 'reference group' is any group people view as a benchmark for assessing

themselves and their behavior. By establishing and enforcing morals, norms,
and codes of conduct, reference groups serve a normative purpose.

Characteristics of Social Groups: Group Size and Structure

Characteristics of social groups include group size and structure. Group size
and structure are important because, even in tiny ranges, the composition of
the group can radically change its dynamics. This is because when a group's
size increases, so may the position of both its leaders and non-leader members

Social Group Functions

Essentially, social groups meet the needs of those in the group. In this sense,
the fulfillment of needs acts as a binding force between individuals, uniting
them into a social group. Society has classified people into many groups based
on their needs and preferences. These groups play complementary roles in
society.