fictive kin

English

WOTD – 20 February 2017

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪktɪv kɪn/
• Hyphenation: fic‧tive kin

Noun

fictive kin (uncountable)

1. (anthropology, ethnography) Someone who, though unrelated by birth or marriage, has such a close emotional relationship with another that they may be considered part of the family.
   • 2005, John G. Bruhn, The Sociology of Community Connections, New York, N.Y.: Springer Science+Business Media, →ISBN, page 59:

     Ebaugh (2000) described three types of fictive kin (family-type) relationships, based not on blood or marriage, but rather on religious rituals or close friendship ties, that constitutes a type of social capital which many immigrants bring with them that facilitates their adjustment to the host society. […] Fictive kin are shared widely in Spanish-speaking countries, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.

   • 2006, Roberta L. Coles, “African American Families”, in Race & Family: A Structural Approach, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 166:

     Most studies indicate that Black family members live in proximity, in part an outcome of segregated communities. These close-knit communities helped to produce strong fictive kin relations with neighbors and fellow church members, which in turn provided support in the face of discrimination from the larger society.

   • 2007, Xiyi Huang, “Network of Social Relationships in Resource Distribution”, in Power, Entitlement and Social Practice: Resource Distribution in North China Villages, Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, →ISBN, page 143:

     In the socialist era […] [t]he custom of making fictive kin became less popular or went underground. Since the late 1970s, however, the custom has revived in Nanying. While many features of fictive kin relationships remain the same, the motive for establishing the relationship has changed. Most commonly, people attempt to improve household status through the establishment of fictive kin links.

   • 2011, Constance Dallas, “Fictive Kin Relationships”, in Martha Craft-Rosenberg and Shelley-Rae Pehler, editors, Encyclopedia of Family Health, volume 1, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, →ISBN:

     Attaining fictive kin status requires that a person have prolonged physical proximity to a family member in order to develop a relationship that is both interdependent and mutually beneficial. Persons generally obtain fictive kin status by consistently contributing to the emotional or material needs of an individual over time.

Related terms

• fictive kinship

Further reading

• fictive kinship on Wikipedia.Wikipedia