Descent

Descent is the sociological affiliation of children to their parents.The reckoning of descent is said to be a cultural rule.A rule of descent affiliates an individual with a particular group of kin through known or presumed common ancestory.Descent rules determine group membership,inheritance of property and succession to titles and offices.A rule of descent affiliates an individual with a particular group of kin with whom he is especially intimate and to whom he is privileged to turn first for certain kinds of services including support and help that he cannot demand of other kin.

Each society has devised its own means and ways of reckoning descent.Kin groups are broadly divided as unilineal and non unilineal.The term cognatic is generally used to refer to non- unilineal descent groups in an attempt to avoid negative terminology and employ positive connotation.The unilineal descent systems may be further classified into simple and complex structures.The former comprises of Patrilineal and Matrilineal structures while the latter comprises of double descent groups and bilinear kin groups.The non-unilineal or cognatic descent system may either be ambilineal or bilateral.