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Of course, the forms that family structures take in different societies are linked to cultural factors. The definition of kinship does not always appeal to strictly biological criteria. Sometimes there is no difference between legitimate sons and adopted sons. Many populations, such as the Masai of East Africa; fully admit that a young girl has children before marrying, regardless of the father. It is a way of proving one's fertility, a faculty which in itself constitutes one of the essential values in the culture of certain societies.
On the other hand, other social groups do not play the role of father to children, without seeking to know if he is the real parent.
Thus, to study the different types of kinship relationships, it is necessary to distinguish between the two conjugal and consanguineous modes according to which the family can be conceived within a social group.
CONJUGAL FAMILY AND COSANGUINE FAMILY
The conjugal family is founded on a matrimonial-type contract. It generally includes the father, mother, and children born of their union, who live under the same roof. This family, which is often referred to as the FAMILY CORE, is characteristic of modern Western civilization.
On the other hand, in other societies, it is not the legal, religious, or even formal aspect.
which prevails, but blood and descent. In relation to the diagram of the family nucleus mentioned above, the figure of the father is replaced by that of the mother's brother. In Sumatra, for example, the husband lives, even after his marriage, under the paternal roof, and the wife in the maternal house. During the day the husband works for his father and only joins his wife at the end of the day. Children grow up in the maternal group, and the father takes care not of his own children but of those his sister and other women in his group have had. In the case of the consanguineous family, the sexual union of a man and a woman is not, contrary to Western norms, a sufficient reason for marrying. Young couples do not form a household independent of that of their parents and therefore do not create a new center of authority.
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