What is family and kinship?

A family or kinship group is a unit of people. These people can be linked together in different ways, such as by blood (birth), marriage, adoption, or where they live. Forming groups is part of human nature, because they can benefit the individual, the clan, and the community.

KINSHIP

Kinship is a network of people. These people can be joined by many different factors, such as by family and marriage, or by living in the same place. In a lineage, members often know their relationships to one another. In a clan or larger group, members might not know exactly how they are related. They might share a common ancestor or ancestors.

Sometimes kinship is traced through one side of the family. If it passes from fathers to their children, it is known as patrilineal. If it passes down through mothers, it is matrilineal.

THE ROLE OF FAMILY AND KINSHIP

A family or kinship group is a unit of relationality. This means it relies on relationships with and dependence on other people. It can involve the spirit of harambee, which means ‘all pull together’ in Swahili.

Family or kin members can help you to make decisions, teach you right from wrong, and take care of you when you need it. Some sociologists (scientists that study societies) believe that individuals also get their identity from their family or kin. Belonging to a group might be safer than being alone. There are more people to look out for you, and to take care of you when you are young, unwell, or elderly. They can offer emotional and spiritual support.

Sometimes being in a family or kinship group also means giving something up. You might be expected to follow rules that you don’t agree with or to let someone else make decisions such as who you will marry or where you will live.

THE COMMUNITY

Individual families and kinship groups can belong to different clans, tribes, villages, communities and societies. The community depends on the family or kinship group. Kinship ties last from generation to generation, which means that they continue even after death. This means that the community, too, can continue.

A Lunyoro proverb says that a child does not grow up only in a single home. The individual is at the same time part of their family and part of the community.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAMILY

Today, the traditional family is influenced by other factors. Religions such as Christianity teach about marriage. Modern education and changing values might consider individual success to be more important than the interests of the community. People might move away from their family home in search of different opportunities, such as work.

CONCLUSION

People may have different ideas about what family or kin is. These ideas can also change over time. Often, a family or kinship group can be a positive unit that supports both the individual and the community.

JULIET MARTIN

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