The system of Kinship refers to a set of persons recognised as relatives, either by virtue of a blood relationship, technically called consanguinity, or by virtue of a marriage relationship, that is through what is called affinity.
Everyone has very strong ideas too, about what is the correct and proper behaviour of different kin towards each other, such as deference, respect, familiarity, avoidance, kindliness, protectiveness and so on, as the case may be. All such aspects of kinship relations tend to be taken for granted unless, or until, one is confronted with the kinship practices of other peoples. It is a fact that, however strange other people’s kinship practices may at first appears to be, a closer look will usually show them to be functional. They are useful for the maintenance of the society as a-whole, contributing to its continuity over time and containing the conflicts that might potentially disrupt it.
Kin means relative and the study of kinship is the study of biological relationship based on the fundamental fact that man is a mammal. This means that man produces through social relations and the children have to be matured and nourished. Thus, there are two kinds of biological relationships. First there is a relationship between man and women which is relationship of marriage and there is the relationship between parents and children which is a blood relationship. Sociologists have given technical terms of relations by marriage and by blood relatives. And these are a final relationships and descent relationships respectively. But kinship is not merely study of biological relationship because it is quite possible for a man to adopt children which are not biological his own and so kinship must be redefined as a study of social aspect of biological relationship. Such a study involves three aspects which are interrelated. Each biological relation is given a name in society, i.e,
(a) It is denoted by a kinship terms
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(b) It has a normative behaviour that is expected from those in that relationship.
(c) Group may be formed on the basis of such relationships and family, joint family, clan, lineage, etc.
Before going into the study of these aspects of kinship, it must be noted that relationship by marriage may be either direct or indirect. Direct relationships being those between husband and wife and shared relationships being co-husbands or co-wives, other relationships of direct descent between parents and a child or there may be relationships of shared descent between many children who are brothers and sisters. These later shared descent relationships can also include cousins and then they are referred to a co-lateral relationship on both sides of father and mother. All these relationships are given kinship terms and there is a direct connection between kinship terminology and kinship behaviour.