Angela Bacon

Reflection Questions 3
August 22, 2012
ANTH 103 Bilateral Kinship and unilineal descent groups are two different types of kinship

forms used across the world. They can be similar in a lot of ways but they have a few major differences. Bilateral kinship does not have a descending family chain.
Instead they start with "ego" which is the person who's life the perspective is taken.
This is where the group starts in this type of kinship. This is extremely useful when you are living with a nuclear mobile family, and usually includes neolocal residence. The group then continues upward(backwards) to create a family tree, thus creating a family kindred group. On the other hand there is descent groups. Which start with one person who is usually no longer living and descends downward(forward) in time to whomever is biologically connected to the starting person. It is usually unilineal which means it only includes one side of the family to form the group instead of both. It is either matrilineal or patrilineal depending on the society you are living in. Descent groups have 2 distinct laws. The first is that it has to be a public or recognized social entity and it requires a direct lineal descent from a specified ancestor. All members of the group must always be related to the specified person. It can be either a lineage descent group, it can't go back further than 10 generations. Or it can be a Clan.
Where several linked lineages gather to make up a large clan. It includes more generations and usually shares legendary, mythical, or religious importance. Each of these types of kindred groups main purpose is to create the strongest possible functional group and to keep the family history growing. It is argued that a bilateral kinship group does not create as strong of a functional group as a descent group. This is because of the fact that they move backward instead of forward to build the group. It makes it harder to find the actual biologically connected people. Where a descent group moves forward so it is easy to see who belongs to which family and essentially the group can grow forever if you can keep track of who it is descending from.

Social Control is defined as the diverse ways in which the behaviors of the members of a society are constrained into socially approved channels. It is a mechanism by which behavior is constrained and directed into acceptable channels, thus maintaining conformity. This is present in some form in all cultures.
There is a specific set of cultural norms learned during enculturation. Then there is also a corresponding set of punishments and regulations based on the specific societies laws and form of governments. There are many different ways a society will try to regulate these offenses. In some cases it is up to the parent. Other times it goes into the government and you can be formally punished.

There are laws in some societies, like the U.S.. Laws are a kind of social control characterized by the presence of authority, intention of universal application, obligation and sanction. Repeat offense of taboos can lead to ostracizing by friends, family members, and sometimes from an entire society. This is seen as the severest of informal punishments. There are also self-help legal systems which are informal legal systems in societies without centralized political systems, in which authorities who settle disputes are defined by the circumstances of the case. There are several other types of informal social control such as feud, court legal systems, incipient courts, courts of mediation, and courts of regulation.
Each one offers a different way of solving a given situation where a person goes against the norms of it's culture. It helps to keep peace, safety, and to teach the other members of the culture or group what they can and cannot do in the given society. It keeps things like chaos and lack of control at a distance to maintain balance.