Answer to Question #252832 in Sociology for Dr Bless

Question

The principles of inheritance, succession and residence have the propensity to impact kin relationships in traditional societies. Discuss

Answer 1

Property inheritance and succession are always sources of family conflict in all societies. Therefore every kinship has a responsibility to set rules and regulations to govern the process of property and status transfer in their respective societies. The principles of inheritance differ based on the social system, the inheritance, succession, and resilience policies in the unilineal system specify that the status and property are passed exclusively through the maternal or paternal line and normally in the context of group ownership of assets where every family member has equal access to properties. Therefore conflict may arise when a family member claim property for individual benefit or where the asset is limited then family members may have a conflict over getting access to the asset, for example, transfers of leadership from one member of the family to another.

However, an additional form of social system is the bilateral system where the property can be claimed from either or both parents and is usually subjected to individual ownership. The bilateral system results in the common trend toward the equal division of assets among children or siblings. Therefore the dispute may result when family members disagree on the rights of inheritance in case of limited resources or when rules of inheritance are not properly followd.