Family and Friends

Family denotes a group of people or animals (many species form the equivalent of a human family wherein the adults care for the young) affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood", anthropologists have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically and that many societies understand family through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.

One of the primary functions of the family is to produce and reproduce persons—biologically and socially.Schneider, David 1984 A Critique of the Study of Kinship. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 182Deleuze-Guattari (1972). Part 2, ch. 3, p.80 Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation: the family serves to locate children socially and plays a major role in their enculturation and socialization.Russon, John, (2003) Human Experience: Philosophy, Neurosis, and the Elements of Everyday Life, Albany: State University of New York Press. pp 61-68. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a family of procreation, the goal of which is to produce and enculturate and socialize children.George Peter Murdoch Social Structure page 13 However, producing children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a sexual division of labor, marriage, and the resulting relationship between two people, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household.Wolf, Eric. 1982 Europe and the People Without History. Berkeley: University of California Press. 92Harner, Michael 1975 "Scarcity, the Factors of Production, and Social Evolution," in Population. Ecology, and Social Evolution, Steven Polgar, ed. Mouton Publishers: the Hague.

Rivière, Peter 1987 ?Of Women, Men, and Manioc,? Etnologiska Studien (38).

A conjugal family includes only the husband, the wife, and unmarried children who are not of age. The most common form of this family is regularly referred to in sociology as a nuclear family.nuclear family - ".A family group consisting of wife, husband (or one of these) and dependent children." - Definitions of Anthropological Terms - Anthropological Resources - (Court Smith) Department of Anthropology, Oregon State,University

A consanguineal family consists of a parent and his or her children, and other people.

A matrilocal family consists of a mother and her children. Generally, these children are her biological offspring, although adoption of children is a practice in nearly every society. This kind of family is common where women have the resources to rear their children by themselves, or where men are more mobile than women.

Friendship is the cooperative and supportive relationship between people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, affection, and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage...