When Samantha Rose thinks about kinship, she thinks about the people in her life who are biologically related to her. For her, this is the only essential part in defining who is considered part of her kin and who is not. Additional factors like spending time together and supporting one another emotionally and financially are simply expected from one another and do not play a role in determining who is kin. . However, as Samantha and I worked on constructing her kinship chart, Samantha included a single individual as kin who is not biologically related to her. This individual turned out to be an old childhood friend from kindergarten named Susan Saleh who, in Samantha’s eyes at least, is part of her kinship due to the strong bond they have developed with each other over the years. Through the course of this essay, I will examine her specific kinship network in order to gain a better understanding of what kinship means to different people and how it compares to a generalized American idea of kinship.
To begin with, Samantha’s kinship includes 1 brother, 1 mom, 1 dad, 5 cousins, 5 aunts, 3 uncles, 1 grandma, and 1 grandpa. She refers to them using this descriptive system because she grew up in the United States where a modified descriptive system, called the Euro-American system, is most commonly used (Delaney 2004:195). As we began creating her kinship chart, she told me that her mom’s family all resides within five miles of where she currently lives, so they often see one another for birthday events or planned family get-togethers. Her father’s side resides in the Midwest and Samantha has only visited them a couple of times in her life. Regardless of the fact that she has more contact with her mother’s side, she considers hersel... ... middle of paper ...
...twork, males have considerably more authority than females. Women in her kinship network are supervised and only permitted to live a certain way of life that keeps to the traditional Filipino customs the males in her family impose. For example, doing housework, taking care of the children.
In all, while Samantha’s kinship network is based on people that are biologically related to her, the appearance of her friend Susan in her network signifies that kinship does not solely have to be based on biological ties, but can also include a very close friend. Indeed, kinship networks are growing and the terms necessary to qualify as kin are developing as people are affected by multiple perspectives, none of which are wrong, about what kinship should be based on depending on the cultures and environmental influences people experience throughout their lives.
...Many Kinds of Family Structures in Our Communities." . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. .
In the depiction of the century quilt, the author touches upon how each quilt square “holds a sweet gum leaf,” before furthering the description by relating the leaves as having fingers that would “caress [me] into silence.” Such description of the quilt’s embroidery further reiterates the quilt’s metaphorical representation of familial bonds. When constructing a family tree, the grouping is divvied up into differentiating sides known as branches, upon which each individual can be considered a leaf. Though each leaf is relatively small in relation to the tree as a whole, it is the entirety of the leaves that provide a tree with a structure and shape. In this same vein, the characterization of each quilt square in possession of a leaf parallels each leaf to a member of the lineage. However, the author chooses particular words to describe the quilt squares and the leaves, noting that the squares are not the leaves themselves, but merely holders of them. This particularity in language indicates that while each square belongs to an individual, the leaf itself is not a part of that being—merely a placeholder. The leaves prove to be the common entity bonding the differing squares together, and their function is analogous to that of a common ancestor; though family members differs in origin and history, they are united under the visage of a particular individual. As was mentioned earlier, the
In 2014 a little over 3 million children in the United States were under the guardianship of a relative other than their parent (Szilagyi, 2014). This agreement is referred to as kinship. Kinship care is defined as the care of children by relatives or close family friends, also known as fictive kin, after they have been removed from biological parents. Relatives are usually looked to as the primary resource of care support because they maintain the child's connections with the family and help to preserve the cultural values of the family. (ChildWelfare.gov) Kinship care is divided into three different categories: informal kinship care, voluntary kinship care, and formal kinship care (child welfare information gateway, 2016).
Even though the Joad 's family is primarily genetically related, the film points to another factor that enhances the unity between the family members. The commitment and loyalty to each other are fundamental in establishing their true association, thus playing a major role in maintaining sustainability in the institution of marriage. Within the life of the migrants as depicted in the film, the familial biological entities, without a physical home to establish its borders, is swiftly forgotten, since life while travelling demands that people adjust to new dynamics, demanding that new kinships and connections be formed. This phenomenon is best demonstrated when the Joad family meets the Wilson family, and within a short time, they become a single entity, supporting each other through the life 's difficulties for the ultimate goal of ensuring sustainability of their
Family as defined by Webster’s College Dictionary can be one of many different people. Family can be your parents, spouse, children, brother, sister, grandmother, uncle, any blood relative, or even people who are not blood related that share that common bond (Webster 475). My definition of family is similar to Webster’s, but I feel that there is more to it than just being a blood relative or close friend. A person’s actions, beliefs, and morals play a major role in deciding who makes it into that “family” group. Family becomes more of an idea or feeling, like love or hate, than just who a person is or where they fall in your family tree. There have been people that I have considered closer than family just by their actions, even though they were nowhere near related to me. Fortunately, I have not had any blood relation family members make me wish they were not in my “family” (maybe my older sister when we were younger, but that doesn’t count). While reading from Children and Families in our text, I came across many readings that I feel were inspired in many different ways by what the author believed was “family.” There were two readings that jumped out at me and reminded me of my view of how a family should be in their interactions with each other. They were the short story “Flight” by Doris Lessing and the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. There was also one writing that I read that went against my idea of family and made me happy that this wasn’t the way that my family acted as I grew up, that was “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. And while some authors lean their writing one direction or another, Adrienn...
Philip Moeller (2012), states that over the time and enthusiastic connection between one of the relatives, relatives likewise make a solid support and endorsement organize. The way we interface with that system can make our lives significantly less demanding and fortifying, or considerably harder and unpleasant. That is on account of in ways little and vast, our life's endeavors and achievement are given sense by how we're pronounced inside our
In the novel Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria, kinship plays a key role in the depiction of Dakota society in the novel. Throughout the novel, kinship is instrumental in the development of community ties and familial relations throughout Dakota society. With her depiction of kinship roles and obligations, Deloria argues that kinship brings honor and interconnectedness between the members of society. Through her portrayal of Waterlily’s communities ties, her view of kinship practices is strengthened through her illustration of the Dakota civilization’s view that kinship practices help extend graciousness throughout their community and create bonds that last throughout generations.
A family might include anyone related by blood or by adoption such as: step parents, grandparents acting as parents, and even brothers and sisters sharing the same household. However, worldwide “the family is regarded as the most ba...
The genogram provided me an opportunity review my relationships with my immediate and extended families. The theory I would use with my family would be Reality Therapy because of the cognitive distortion we possessed going up in the household. Despite the negative cultural influences my parents were exposed to growing up. Corey (2015) discussed how individuals are not the cause for a particular family dysfunction. The cumulative effect of parents cultural experiences prohibited them from trusting Caucasians. My father was born in lady Island South Carolina and my mother was from Haskell Oklahoma a raised on a Native American reservation. Both were abandoned by their maternal parents. Both of their mothers died at a very young age. However, their father’s relationships were sporadic. I never met my dad’s father (Joe) and I visited my mother’s father (Calvin) a few times before his death.
(1) However, many people also create relationships with other individuals with whom they do not share any kind of connection; those associations are called fictive kinships. To explain, a fictive kinship refer to individuals that form strong relations with people who are not their relatives, sometimes those associations being more powerful that the relations with their actual relatives. Such relationships are called fictive as in fiction; in other words, as something that do not really exists, because there is no real connection between the two individuals. Moreover, fictive kinships are extremely common, and can be the most importan...
Sister from another mister. Family does not have to be related. She stays the night once a week, he has a shelf here, and Dad calls him Son, all sentences that are about a friend that might as well be family. Although, they are already family. Family is not genetic. Family is not traced through bloodlines that simply pull out a code of just four different letters in an almost random order. A friend could be next door for years, in the cubical over, across the lab bench, or anywhere else with their comforting and welcoming smile. A friend may mean the world to someone, someone who would give their life for them. A friend that is such a great friend they are loved and trusted so much that someone just can not help but call them family. They come over for holidays, they are next to the hospital bed, and they are in a little black dress with the same tears as the genetic family. Friendship is stronger than the most durable steel that man will ever create and the bond between true friendship is just as unbreakable. A bond like that might as well be family. Family should not be limited to the same patterns in DNA but the love, trust, and care that goes into the
One of the most important and essential things that everyone must have in order to live a great and joyful life is family. One must follow values to be successful in life, and one must also support their family to keep that success advancing toward the future. In David W. McCurdy’s article, “Family and Kinship in Village India,” it discusses the significance of how a successful family is formed by tradition, preparation, and patience. The article describes how kinship has the power to arrange marriages successfully, make families unite and assist each other, and teach and help one another agriculturally or economically.
Anthropological studies of kinship and marriage can also provide an understanding that within any society marriage and the family will change over time.
Kinship is used to describe the relationship that exists between or among entities or individuals that share a common origin in terms of culture, historical ancestry or biological relationship. Kinship refers to the relationships defined by a particular culture among or between individuals who have a common family ties. Kinship is used as a basis to classify people and to form social groups in the different societies.
The family unit is as diverse as the societies they each represent. This sometimes can manifest traditional roles of doting mothers and providing fathers into a home with two sets of parents (Kurrien & Dawn Vo, 2004). Therefore, the involvement and importance of the extended family: grandparents and other family members such as aunts and uncles play a significant role in both its economic and social function.