Two wild female bonobos adopted infants from a different social group at Wamba

Adoption, the act of taking another individual’s offspring and treating it as one’s own, is rare but widely observed in various mammal species and may increase the survival of adoptees. Adoption may also benefit adoptive mothers, for example they might care for close kin to gain indirect fitness or to learn caregiving behaviours. Here, we report two cases of a wild bonobo adopting an infant from a different social group, the first report of cross-group adoption in great apes. In one case, the adoptive mother was already a mother of two dependent offspring. In the other case, the adoptive mother was an old parous female whose own offspring had already emigrated into a different social group. The adoptive mothers provided various maternal care to the adoptees, such as carrying, grooming, nursing, and sharing food. No aggression was observed by group members towards the out-group adoptees. In both cases, adoptees had no maternal kin-relationship with their adoptive mothers. Both adoptive mothers already had experience of rearing their own offspring. Instead, these cases of adoption may have been driven by other evolutionary adaptive traits of bonobos, such as their strong attraction to infants and high tolerance towards immatures and out-group individuals.

Fictive Kin Networks among African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and Non-Latino Whites

Using data from the National Survey of American Life, we investigated the social and demographic correlates of fictive kin network involvement among African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and non-Latino Whites. Specifically, we examined the factors shaping whether respondents have fictive kin, the number of fictive present kin in their networks, and the frequency with which they received support from fictive kin. Overall, 87% of respondents had a fictive kin relationship, the average network size was 7.5, and 61% of participants routinely received fictive kin support. Affective closeness and contact with family, friends, and church members were positively associated with fictive kin relations. Age, region, income, and marital and parental status were related to fictive kin network involvement, though these associations varied by race/ethnicity. Collectively, findings indicate that fictive kin ties extend beyond marginalized communities, and they operate as a means to strengthen family bonds, rather than substitute for family deficits.

RELATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL SPATIAL ORDER OF SETTLEMENT WITH BATAK TOBA SOCIETY’S KIN RELATIONSHIP STUDY OBJECT: HUTA GINJANG VILLAGE, SIANJUR MULA-MULA SUB-DISTRICT

Abstract- Batak Toba tribe is an ethnic group that still holds tradition as an identity that distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Indonesia. Part of the culture that strongly influences society’s daily life is the kinship, as can be seen with the usage of family name and the philosophy of Dalihan na Tolu, which regulates attitudes and behaviors among society. Aside from the kinship, the traditional architecture is also a cultural identity of Batak Toba tribe, ranging from the order of settlements to organization of space in each dwelling. The research aims to study the physical spatial order of the settlements as a consequence of Batak Toba kinship system, to see the relation between settlement’s physical spatial order with the clan system and the philosophy of Dalihan na Tolu, and lastly to see the effect of modernization in the development of Batak Toba settlements.Huta Ginjang Village in Sianjur Mula-mula is an indigenous village that still holds Batak Toba tradition and culture. Residents are mostly from the Sagala clan and originated from one ancestor. Each house is inhabited by one nuclear family and the collection of several dwellings in a certain order forms a settlement that still knows the kinship of one another. Huta Ginjang Village consists of eight cluster of settlements that still have relation to each other, forming a small clan group.Data on the spatial physical order of the settlements in Huta Ginjang Village and the society’s kin relationship are obtained from literature studies, direct observation in the object of study, and interview with the villagers. The obtained data were analyzed qualitatively by using the relation theory in architecture.The result of the research shows the undeniable relation between physical spatial order of settlement in Huta Ginjang Village with the society’s kin relationship, either on the village, huta, or on the dwelling scale. One of the relation can be seen in the absence of hierarchy in dwelling placement, as the principle of the Dalihan na Tolu has no hierarchy between each of the components. The relation with the kin relationship cannot be seen from each of the building’s typology, because there are no special features that distinguishes each of the kinship groups. Key Words: relation, physical spatial order, kin relationships, Huta Ginjang Village

Making and Breaking Practical Kinship

This chapter explores how some patients adopt their care workers temporarily and to a certain extent, to acknowledge the intimacy generated through care. Techniques of connection with African care workers entail what Bourdieu called practical kinship, which can easily be denied and revoked when the kin relationship is no longer needed. Major financial gifts or support are given to care workers which approximate but are not equivalent to inheritance. Both care workers and patients use kin terms like “younger brother” (said seriously) or “second wife” (said jokingly). Practical kinship is subject to the acknowledgment of others in the patients’ and care workers’ social networks, including official kin and fellow residents of the continuing care community. Death is particularly significant because it marks the end of the practical need for the care worker and because the official kin of patients can deny the kinship of the care worker to their parent.

Female sociality and sexual conflict shape offspring survival in a Neotropical primate

Most mammals live in social groups in which members form differentiated social relationships. Individuals may vary in their degree of sociality, and this variation can be associated with differential fitness. In some species, for example, female sociality has a positive effect on infant survival. However, investigations of such cases are still rare, and no previous study has considered how male infanticide might constrain effects of female sociality on infant survival. Infanticide is part of the male reproductive strategy in many mammals, and it has the potential to override, or even reverse, effects of female reproductive strategies, including sociality. Therefore, we investigated the relationships between female sociality, offspring survival, and infanticide risk in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys using long-term data from Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. Female capuchins formed differentiated bonds, and bond strength was predicted by kin relationship, rank difference, and the presence of female infants. Most females formed stable bonds with their top social partners, although bond stability varied considerably. Offspring of highly social females, who were often high-ranking females, exhibited higher survivorship during stable periods compared with offspring of less social females. However, offspring of highly social females were more likely to die or disappear during periods of alpha male replacements, probably because new alpha males are central to the group, and therefore more likely to target the infants of highly social, central females. This study shows that female sociality in mammals can have negative fitness consequences that are imposed by male behavior.

Between the patient and the next of kin in end-of-life care: A critical study based on feminist theory

Background: For the experience of end-of-life care to be ‘good’ many ethical challenges in various relationships have to be resolved. In this article, we focus on challenges in the nurse–next of kin relationship. Little is known about difficulties in this relationship, when the next of kin are seen as separate from the patient. Research problem: From the perspective of nurses: What are the ethical challenges in relation to next of kin in end-of-life care? Research design: A critical qualitative approach was used, based on four focus group interviews. Participants: A total of 22 registered nurses enrolled on an Oncology nursing specialisation programme with experience from end-of-life care from various practice areas participated. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Service, Bergen, Norway, project number 41109, and signed informed consent obtained from the participants before the focus groups began. Findings and discussion: Two descriptive themes emerged from the inductive analysis: ‘A feeling of mistrust, control and rejection’ and ‘Being between hope and denial of next of kin and the desire of the patient to die when the time is up’. Deductive reinterpretation of data (in the light of moral distress from a Feminist ethics perspective) has made visible the constraints that certain relations with next of kin in end-of-life care lay upon the nurses’ moral identity, the relationship and their responsibility. We discuss how these constraints have political and societal dimensions, as well as personal and relational ones. Conclusion: There is complex moral distress related to the nurse–next of kin relationship which calls for ethical reflections regarding these relationships within end-of-life care.

Sexless babies, sexed grandparents

Languages that lack grammatical gender often still index the sex of humans and higher animates through lexical means (Braun 2001). In the Papuan language Nungon, natural sex is indicated lexically, with gendered person and kin terms. Certain person terms may also function as nominal modifiers. Indexation of sex in these person and kin terms is partially dependent on age. The older the speaker or focal person for the kin relationship, the more likely that his/her sex will determine the term chosen to refer to the addressee or secondary person in the kin relationship. Most kin and person terms for small children disregard the sex of the child; such terms instead employ the sex of the focal person to describe the relationship with the child. Unlike with children, there are no completely gender-neutral terms for adults, although the dedicated male person terms amna, “man” and ketket, “boy” function in certain contexts with generic reference, meaning “human” and “youth.” Generic application of amna, “man” relates to syntax: amna as object argument of deverbal participle expressions has generic reference, as does amna under negation. Thus, indexation of sex is seen to be partially dependent (per Aikhenvald & Dixon 1998) on negation.

The impact of motivations and meanings on the wellbeing of caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review

ABSTRACTBackground: The majority of people in the early and middle stages of dementia are cared for at home by non-paid caregivers, the majority of whom will be family members. Two factors which could have an impact on the quality of care provided to the care-recipient are the caregiver's motivations for providing care and the meaning s/he finds in caregiving. The aim of this review is to explore the potential impact of both meaning and motivation on the wellbeing of caregivers of people with dementia. The review also explores individual differences in motivations to provide care.Methods: This was a systematic review of peer-reviewed empirical studies exploring motivations and meanings in informal caregivers of people with dementia. Four studies were identified which examined the caregiver's motivations to provide care. Six studies were identified which examined the meaning that caregivers found in dementia caregiving.Results: Caregivers' wellbeing could be influenced by the nature of their motivations to care. In addition, cultural norms and caregivers’ kin-relationship to the care-recipient impacted on motivations to provide care. Finding meaning had a positive impact on caregiver wellbeing.Conclusions: The limited evidence currently available indicates that both the caregiver's motivations to provide care and the meaning s/he finds in caregiving can have implications for the caregiver's wellbeing. More research is needed to explore the role of motivations and meaning in dementia caregiving.