Chapter 18: Family Glossary

family (p. 462)
a social institution found in all societies that unites people into cooperative groups to oversee the bearing and raising of children

kinship (p. 462)
a social bond based on blood, marriage, or adoption

family unit (p. 462)
a social group of two or more people, related by blood, marriage, or adoption, who usually live together

marriage (p. 462)
a legally sanctioned relationship, usually involving economic cooperation as well as sexual activity and childbearing, that people expect to be enduring

extended family (consanguine family) (p. 462)
a family unit that includes parents and children, as well as other kin

nuclear family (conjugal family) (p. 462)
a family unit composed of one or two parents and their children

endogamy (p. 462)
marriage between people of the same social category

exogamy (p. 462)
marriage between people of different social categories

monogamy (p. 462)
marriage uniting two partners

polygamy (p. 462)
marriage that unites three or more people

polygyny (p. 462)
marriage uniting one male and two or more females

polyandry (p. 463)
marriage uniting one female and two or more males

patrilocality (p. 463)
a residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband's family

matrilocality (p. 463)
a residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the wife's family

neolocality (p. 463)
a residential pattern in which a married couple lives apart from both sets of parents

descent (p. 463)
the system by which members of a society trace kinship over generations

patrilineal descent (p. 463)
a system tracing kinship through men

matrilineal descent (p. 464)
a system tracing kinship through women

bilateral descent (p. 464)
a system tracing kinship through both men and women

incest taboo (p. 465)
a cultural norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain

relatives homogamy (p. 470)
marriage between people with the same social characteristics

family violence (p. 480)
emotional, physical, or sexual abuse of one family member by another

cohabitation (p. 481)
the sharing of a household by an unmarried couple

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