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Explain the difference between bilateral and unilateral descent. Using your own association with kinship, explain which type of descent applies to you? What shows do you watch that depict American families?
Descent refers to the socially recognized links between ancestors and descendants or one’s traceable ancestry and can be bilateral, or traced through either parents, or unilateral, or traced through parents and ancestors of only one sex.
Explain the difference between bilateral and unilateral descent. Using your own association with kinship, explain which type of descent applies to you? What shows do you watch that depict American families?
Residency and Lines of Descent. When considering their lineage, most Canadians look to both their father’s and mother’s sides. Both paternal and maternal ancestors are considered part of one’s family. This pattern of tracing kinship is called bilateral descent.
It follows a single line of descent, either matrilineal or patrilineal, to trace an individual’s kinship network. This system determines group membership and inheritance patterns, often leading to the formation of powerful social structures.
Jan 14, 2021 · Tracing one’s line of descent to one parent rather than the other can be relevant to the issue of residence. In many cultures, newly married couples move in with, or near to, family members. In a patrilocal residence system it is customary for the wife to live with (or near) her husband’s blood relatives (or family or orientation).
There are three types of unilateral descent: patrilineal, which follows the father’s line only; matrilineal, which follows the mother’s side only; and ambilineal, which follows either the father’s only or the mother’s side only, depending on the situation.
