Different Types of Kinship and Its Importance to Family and Society

Kinship
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Kinship
The basic definition of kinship is a bond of marriage and reproduction. Anthropologically, kinship is defined as an artifact of family, communities, and societies that governs individuals' and groups' social ties and relationships. There are several types of kinship ties, and these types dictate the levels of importance of kinships.
Most social scientists concur that kinship is determined by two major factors, i.e, birth and marriage. Consanguineal kinship ties are based on blood/birth. The word consanguineal is derived from the Latin word consanguineous, which means 'of the same blood.' (Haviland 2014, 223) It refers to the relationship between parents and their sons or daughters as well as siblings. This type of kinship is the most fundamental and universal. Also known as a primary kinship, it involves people who have direct relationships with each other. Affinal kinship ties arise from marriage. A husband-wife relationship is also deemed a basic kind of kinship. In my family, just like most of the social structures in the society, kinship is vital because of the governance aspect, defining how we relate with each other, what is taboo in terms of marital relationships, and sometimes for the legal implication of relationships (Goody 2004, 135).
Per the Sociology Group, kinship basically refers to descent, which is the socially recognized existent biological relationship among human beings. In every society, it is acknowledged that the line of descent of all offspring is from their parents and there are biological ties between children and their parents. The ancestral roots of an individual can be traced using descent, through the extended familial ties and the consequential affinal kinship ties. Lineage, which refers to the line from which descent...