Integrating the In‐Laws

Class and Kin Support Within Marriage in Urban Kenya

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6015467
AutoresKirsten Stoebenau (0000-0002-6531-1892, Department of Behavioral and Community Health University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA, autor de correspondencia), Nikita Viswasam (0000-0003-2387-5056, Department of Sociology University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA), Estelle M Sidze (African Population Health Research Center (APHRC) Nairobi Kenya), Madhavan (0000-0001-6216-3612, Department of African American & Africana Studies and Sociology University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA), Sangeetha Madhavan (0000-0001-6086-0027)
Año2025
Volumen88
Número3
Páginas777-790
Fecha de publicación2025-11-16
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Marriage and the Family (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-2445 • E-ISSN: 1741-3737
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jomf.70039
OpenAlexW7105822891
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas46

Objective This study compares affinal kin relationships in low‐income and higher‐income families in Nairobi, Kenya. Background In most studies of kinship structure and relationships in sub‐Saharan Africa, culture serves as the basis upon which norms and expectations of kin are differentiated. While important, within the context of increasing economic inequality, it may be that marriage and kinship expectations and practices are also increasingly differentiated by social class, reflecting increasing social stratification in family formation and organization. Method Narrative and thematic analysis were used on qualitative data from 46 in‐depth interviews with 28 low‐income, and 18 middle‐ and high‐income women and men, married or living with a partner, to understand class‐based differences in kin integration by gender. Results Across class, among women, the levels of affinal kin integration varied; among men, those in the low‐income category described very limited affinal‐kin integration due to economic constraints, whereas their higher‐income peers were able to maintain close ties with affinal kin mainly attributable to having advanced in the union formalization process. At the same time, however, higher‐income participants—both men and women—expressed a desire for greater couple‐level autonomy in decision‐making. Conclusion There are emerging class‐based differences in the structure and value of support from and relationships with affinal kin, which, in turn hold important implications for the reproduction of social stratification

Autonomy · Context (archaeology · Fictive kinship · Kin selection · Kinship · Social class · Social integration · Value (mathematics · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Land Rights and Reforms