Daryl Kyle G.

Doles

XII – Saint Pope John Paul II

Module 7: Social Organization

(Reflection)

After I had done reading and analysing module 7 which is titled as Social Organization, I
had come to a lot of realizations. We, human beings are social animals and one of the major
influences on our mental and physical health is a tenor of someone's social life. Both minds and
bodies can break apart without strong and long lasting relationships.

We start life dependent on our relationship to our primary carer, usually our mother, for
survival. Similarly, the survival of humanity as a species depends on social power. Most of the
history of mankind was spent in small groups, each of which relied on others for survival and
there is evidence that this is the best state for us. The way we communicate with others has
changed in our everyday lives, but it has not altered the fundamental need to shape positive
relationships with others.

An important part of life is to understand how positive connections can be built and
sustained in all media, as we all know technology has shaped the way we communicate with
other people. In particular, individuals who live alone benefit from building a strong social
network. People today have the ability both online and offline to create their own particular
social cohort like families, colleagues, skilled mentors and other significant persons may be part
of their social cycles. Social connections can also provide a powerful source of social support
and joy, particularly for people who have been isolated for geographical or different reasons.

As a conclusion, there is no substitute for face-to-face experiences and those who spend
time with friends and family show greater level of well-being than those who have less "real-life"
connections.
Daryl Kyle G. Doles

XII – Saint Pope John Paul II

Module 8: KINSHIP

I. What Have I Learned So Far?

1. What are the purposes of a Family?

The family carries out various important roles for its members at its peak. Maybe
most importantly it offers emotional and psychological protection, particularly
through the warmth, love and companionship between the spouses and their children.

2. How different is a family of orientation from a family of procreation?

The procreative family means the family that you build through marriage and it is
also where the nurturing process of Ego is occurred which means this family is the
support group while growing up. In other words, the orientation family is the family
into which you were unwillingly raised. The family of procreation is the family you
are building, it also means that the Ego perpetuates the values and beliefs that is
acquired in the family of orientation.

3. What are the implications of Ferraro and Andreatta’s definition of family?

As what I had understand, these points of the definition imply that:

 A family is a socioeconomic unit. A group of people rely on each other for

their social and economic activities. what makes a family of people. It
suggests that the family serves for its members as the primary support group
when they engage in society's social processes.
 A family can have one or more parents. This implies that the two members, a
father and a mother, are usually part of the society you grow up in.
 A family can have parents who are not married. This implies that as long as
individuals are socially and economically interdependent, they can be
considered a family.
 A family can have parents with same gender. This implies that although same
sex marriage is illegal in most countries including the Philippines, some
societies allow for the marriage of individuals with the same sex.
 A family should have at least one child, one of the mast crucial elements of a
family is the existence of children. This implies that without a child, a couple
remains to be a couple and not a family.
II. What Have I Learned So Far?

1. What is the difference between a patrilineal descent and a matrilineal descent?

Patrilineal, or agnatic, relatives are identified by
tracing descent exclusively through males from a founding male
ancestor. Matrilineal, or uterine, relatives are identified by tracing
descent exclusively through females from a founding female ancestor.

2. How are clans created?

Clan, kin community in many traditional societies used as an
organizational unit. Membership in a clan historically is described as an ancestor's
descent. Typically, this descent is one-lined, or only by the male and the female
line. Normally and not always, it is forbidden and considered an offense of clans
that are exogamous or out-married like a clan's union. Clans may break into sub
clans or lines, and genealogical records or myths may alter to include new clan-
unbalanced members.

3. What type of kinship system do Filipinos have?

Filipino kinship uses the generational structure of kinship terms to
describe the family, which means that one's genetic affiliation or bloodline is
often overridden by the desire to show proper respect for the age of the Filipino
community and the essence of the relationship that is considered to be more
significant. As an example, a teenage girl would call her older brother "kuya". She
would also tend to call her older male cousin "kuya". That he is an older, blood-
related male is more important than that a brother is not genetically related to the
same degree that a cousin is. It can be seen in social settings like Facebook, where
Filipino teenagers include contemporaries in the "brothers" and "sisters"
categories the equivalent of a "best friend" in U.S. culture.

III. What Have I Learned So Far?

1. How can marriage create kinship relations?

Marriage is an institution that admits men and women to family life. The
bond of blood or marriage that brings people together in a group. The Kinship
system includes socially-recognized relationships based on both supposed and
real genealogical links. Such relationships are the result of social contact and are
accepted by society. Marriage also consists of the rules and regulations that define
the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.

2. What are the different forms of marriage?

Matrifocality is a concept referring to households that consist of one or
more adult women and their children without the presence of fathers. Patrifocality
refers to the social system in which a married couple resides with or near the
husband's parents. Monogamy is officially defined as "the practice or state of
having a sexual relationship with only one partner" while polygamy is established
 as "the state of having more than one mate at one time." In most of society,
monogamy is regarded favourably, while polygamy is often judged.

3. What are the functions of marriage?

Marriage's function is to control the sexual relationship between men and
women and socially validates them. It is the way to satisfy people's sexual
appetite for reproduction. This way, the marriage institution fulfils human beings '
biological function.

IV. What Have I Learned So Far?

1. How can economic capacity affect the post marital residence decision of a
couple?
Family is a fundamental unit of economic cooperation and stability,
consisting typically of at least one parent or parent replacement and children.
Families provide their members with financial as well as social assistance.
Economic capacity can greatly affect the post marital residence decision of a
couple as it has something to do with the capacity of the couple to sustain their
need and buy their wants.

2. How can the choice of residence affect the creation of lineages?

A person’s choice really depends on his or her financial status. Wealthy
people tend to exclude themselves from the general population. This is done for a
variety of reasons such as protection from the outside world, being accustomed to
the fine life or it may be just personal, or even introversion. Assuming that a
family have the ability to maintain the lifestyle, the family would have a better
chance of providing a more favourable life for their children. The choice of the
residence affects the creation of lineages in a negative or positive way.

3. Which residence pattern is more practiced in the Philippines?

The most common type of residence pattern practiced in PH is the
transnational family which is due to globalization and transnational movements of
the residence, families tend to practice alternative forms of residency patterns that
are not based on linage perpetuation, but more so often economic reasons such as
job offers, educational advancement, and job placements. This creates
transnational families or families whose members reside separately across
territories. Considerable number of Filipinos contribute to the growing number of
transnational families as Filipino parents reside outside the country to work while
their children remain in the home country to study.
Daryl Kyle G. Doles

XII – Saint Pope John Paul II

Beyond walls 8.1

Many traditional values and traditions are jewels to be preserved, but maybe not so much
for some others. Women were never liberated from the shackles of marriage. A man who excels
in business and neglects his family can still be seen as successful, a woman who does so is a
failed wife and irresponsible mother. For so many people, gender equality means that a devoted
wife should always be as diligent as her husband and take care of everything at home. Women
have had to give up their sovereignty in marriage for thousands of years and behave as
subordinates. Such traditional values are so deeply ingrained in Chinese culture that women
renounce their rights because they believe it is a wife or woman's natural obligation.

In today’s society, women and man compete on somewhat of the same level. It’s hard to
imagine not even one hundred years ago women lacked a voice not only in society but also in
everyday life. Male dominance is consistently practiced throughout the world; some women
choose to fight that which oppresses them while others are too timid to accept the challenge.
Today women can do everything men can if they want to. Women have equal rights, more
opportunities to succeed into today’s society, and benefits. Women did have to fight for these
rights throughout history but our society is not male dominated any more.

Beyond walls 8.3

1. Why is polyandry practiced in the area?

One reason why polyandry is practiced in Tibet in for the sake of not allowing
land to be split between brothers, Tibetan families retained farms sufficiently large to
continue supporting their family. Another reason for polyandry is that the mountainous
terrain makes some of the farm land difficult to farm, requiring more physical strength.
Women take multiple husbands because they are strong and able to help tend their land.

2. How does the wife manage her roles and responsibilities?

The wife takes her roles and responsibilities equal to all brothers. She also has to
understand the older brother's nature and the younger brother's nature. The best example
is the concern over the delicate question of which children are fathered by which brother
falls on the wife alone. As her responsibility, she may or may not say who the father is
because she does not wish to create conflict in the family.
3. How do the husbands feel about their situation?
The eldest brother is normally dominant in terms of authority, that is, in managing
the household, but all the brothers share the work and participate as sexual partners.
Tibetan males and females do not find the sexual aspect of sharing a spouse the least bit
unusual, repulsive, or scandalous, and the norm is for the wife to treat all the brothers the
same. If their wife is smart, jealousy cannot be felt among the brothers as for example she
will take turns each night for the brothers.