The modern term I would use to explain a kinship diagram is "The Family Tree". By creating a family tree we can trace all the way back to our earliest ancestors.
Descent is the process of tracing kinship relationship through parentage. Since all cultures do not reckon descent in the same way there are two terms used to explain different outlooks on descent. The first is Unilineal Descent, which is the basis of 60 percent of the world's culture. Unilineal has two major forms, partilineal and matrilineal. Partilineal is traced through the male line where as matrilineal is traced through the female line. When the females marry into a family they are considered now a part of their husbands lineage. Found among many Native North American groups is matrilineal descent. Matrilineal is connection between mother and daughters and their daughters.
Bilineal Descent is not traced equally between parents to their child. Bilineal cultures rely on division of labor where both male and female contribute to making a living. This Bilineal digram below illustrates the equal division of labor between male and female within that descent.
In COM 360 we were ask to create our own kinship diagram. The knowledge I gained by creating the diagram lead me to realize how many different arrangements and relations we have and everyone has their own unique kinship trace.
Another form of relations is social groups. Chapter 7, explains social groups as a cluster of people beyond the domestic unit who are usually related in a way other than through kinship. A social system or group is a regular patterned way for us to feel a sense of common identity, we learned in class that the groups can consist of religious groups, sports teams, age and so on. When involved in a club or on a sports team its easy to find others who are compatible to what your interest are and this creates a strong bond between you and the others within that group.
Although social groups can create ties there are also many ways that society can divide us. One way of social division is Stratification. Stratification is hierarchical relationships between different groups which are arranged by layers. Those who are born into wealth would be at an advantage over those who are less fortunate and would not be consider in the same class or circle as the wealthy person.
beliefs, being different by not conforming to the majority of the population and hierarchy are also ways we are divide. It is accepted and understood in most societies that a person born into royalty will be treated extremely different than your average man on the street. Although we are all flesh and bones our society has created this false pretense of one man being leader or by status automatically better than the other guy.
Ascribed status is the race, ethnicity, gender and caste we are born with. Ascribed means you have no control on this placement. It is out of our control whether or not we are born a male or female and also whether or not we are one race or another.
On the flip side we can change our achieved status. America is a prime example of being born into a lower status family and being able to climb out and land successfully on the top based on the qualities that the person has achieved through his or her actions.
Habitus in our culture is a position that reflects our statuses that each of us occupies. The way we see our self can be completely different than the view others have of us. Depending on your civil status in society the role we play can be greater or less than that of others. For example someone who works for our government has to be extremely careful of how they are viewed by society, however an average coffee shop owner needs to be have a good reputation but has zero pressure to impress the public eye compared to the person in a government position. With the movement of social and cyber power,everyone is constantly updated and everyone is keeping a close eye on all side of media.
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