Q. What is kinship? Briefly explain G. P. Murdock’s contribution to the study of the kinship system.

Model Answer:

Kinship and G.P. Murdock’s Contributions

Kinship is a fundamental social institution organizing human relationships through networks of rights and obligations based on blood (consanguinity), marriage (affinity), and adoption. This cultural construct defines social groups, governs inheritance and succession, and shapes individual status and roles within society.

G.P. Murdock’s Key Contributions

1. Cross-Cultural Comparative Method
Murdock revolutionized kinship studies through systematic comparison of hundreds of societies in his landmark work ‘Social Structure’ (1949). Using the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), he moved beyond single-case studies to identify universal patterns in social organization.

2. Statistical Analysis
He pioneered applying statistical methods to establish correlations between social phenomena. Notably, he demonstrated strong relationships between descent rules (e.g., patrilineal) and post-marital residence patterns (e.g., patrilocal), revealing functional interconnections.

3. Kinship Classification Systems
Murdock refined and popularized the classification of kinship terminology systems—Eskimo, Iroquois, Hawaiian, Crow, Omaha, and Sudanese. This standardized typology enabled anthropologists to compare how cultures categorize relatives, reflecting underlying social structures.

4. Nuclear Family Universality
He argued that the nuclear family exists universally as society’s fundamental unit, serving four essential functions: sexual regulation, reproduction, economic cooperation, and socialization.

5. Incest Taboo Analysis
Murdock identified universal incest taboos and their variations across cultures, contributing to understanding social regulation of sexuality.

6. Ethnographic Atlas
He created the comprehensive Ethnographic Atlas coding cultural traits of 1,267 societies, providing invaluable data for comparative research.

Conclusion: Murdock’s empirical and positivist approach transformed kinship from descriptive ethnography to scientific analysis, establishing a robust framework for structural-functionalist understanding of social institutions globally.