Family

Family

Groups of people who are related by genetics, marriage, or choice, and who share material, emotional, and economic resources.

Kinship

A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption.

Marriage

A legal relationship, usually involving economic cooperation, social, emotional, and sexual bonds.

Families of affinity

People who think of themselves as a family and wish others to see them that way, regardless of biological factors.

Sociological perspectives

Focus on the relationships formed through social contracts and emotional bonds.

Extended family

A family consisting of parents and children, as well as other kinds.

Nuclear family

A family unit made up of two parents and their children living together.

Endogamy

Marriage between people of the same social category.

Exogamy

Marriage between people of different social categories.

Monogamy

A marriage that unites two partners.

Polygamy

A marriage that unites a person with two or more spouses.

Polygyny

A marriage that unites one man with two or more women.

Polyandry

A marriage that unites one woman with two or more men.

Patrilocality

Living with or near the husband’s family.

Matrilocality

Living with or near the wife’s family.

Neolocality

Occurs when the couple chooses not to live with or near their families but to create their own homes.

Patrilineal descent

Tracing kinship through men.

Matrilineal descent

Tracing kinship through women.

Bilateral descent

Tracing kinship through both men and women.

No Fault Divorce

A divorce where no cause has to be shown to divorce one's spouse.

Divorce Patterns

Divorce is more prominent in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere.

Social-Conflict Theory

Suggests that family dynamics are often characterized by power struggles and inequality, rather than harmony and stability.

Social exchange theory

Argues that relationships are a form of exchange between people, attempts to gain benefits from their interaction while avoiding the costs.

Courtship

The period of developing a relationship with an eye toward marriage or long term partnership.