Family, Kinship Structure, and Modernization in Latin America

Abstract

This Paper Analyzes Family and Kinship Patterns in Latin America Among distinct socio-economic groups in urban and rural settings. The literature on which the analysis restsisalso critically examined. Much of the focusison those aspects of the material which deal with extended family (parentesco) relations and with fictive kinship (compadrazgo) ties; less attention is given to studies and components of the nuclear family. The central theme developed in the essayisthat familial ties and the institution of fictive kinship are not breaking down under the impact of modernization, despite theories and interpretations of urbanization and industrialization which maintain that the opposite is true. Our position and findings on his matter are summarized in the conclusion.