Exogamy and American Kinship
| Autor: | Robert W. Habenstein, Allan D. Coult |
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| Rok vydání: | 1964 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Social Forces. 43:174-180 |
| ISSN: | 1534-7605 0037-7732 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/2574330 |
| Popis: | In this paper it is proposed that social structure may be usefully analyzed in terms of three types of principles. These are briefly: (1) explicit rules directly determining behavior in a given area; (2) explicit rules only indirectly determining behavior in a givenarea; (3) rules that are abstracted from behavior through analysis. It is suggested that type 2 and 3 rules are applicable to American kinship wlhereas type 1 rules tend not to be applicable. It is also maintained that explanations in terms of type 3 rules are preferable to explanations in terms of type 2 rules. The applicability of type 3 rules is shown in relation to the extension of exogamy in American kinship. Data on the extension of exogamy are correlated with variables relating to the intensity of interaction with relatives and it is demonstrated that exogamy in America is determined by the general principle applicable to nmost human groups that the extension of exogamy is directly proportional to the intensity of interaction withi relatives. The correlations (gammas) with one exception are all in the predicted directions ranging from .093 to .573 and P values ranlge fronm > .90 to > .01. A understanding of the elements of social organization in any society may be considerably facilitated through the employment of cross-cultural comparisons. In the study of kinship behavior, insight into the wvorkings of concrete systems has been obtained primarily through the means of comparing similar and disparate systems. For example, ambiIineality is best understood wvhen compared with unilineality, and the dynamics of both types of (lescent systems can be appreciated only by analysis of a number of empirical systems employing these principles.' In the past, kinship in the United States has not been analyzed against a background of other types of kinship svstenms but only as an isolated entity. This is, of course, no longer the case, and recently some initerestinig studies have been directed toward placing Aiiiericani kilnslhip in a cross-cultural perspective.2 The necessity for this can be illustrated by reference to the ofteil cited myth that divorce rates in America are unusually high in relation to the rates in societies that are structured more in terms of kinship positions. But this is true primarily in relation to our own historical past. From 1870 to 1944 the divorce rate in America increased from about three to a high of 27 per hundred, but it is not unusually high when compared with rates in many societies having strong emphasis on kinship. Almost any matrilineal-matrilocal group at any level of technological development will show a greater frequency of divorce than is found in America and many bilateral hiuIntin1g and gathering societies have less marriage stability. The former divorce rate in America was, in fact, comparatively low on a cross-cultural basis; yet it is frequently cited as being statistically normal for human groups. All of this indicates the continuing need for emiiphasis on crosscultural comparison in kinship studies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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