Final answer:
Kinship in anthropology is a sociocultural system that outlines social and biological relationships. It surpasses genetic links, incorporating cultural norms that define familial ties and utilizes terms of reference and address to define social roles and statuses.
Step-by-step explanation:
Kinship is recognized by anthropologists as a complex web of social and biological relationships where individuals consider themselves related in multiple ways. The study of kinship is a core element of anthropology because it provides significant insights into how human beings form relationships, and family units, and manage social and economic resources. One milestone in the study of kinship was the work of Lewis Henry Morgan who identified key kinship systems. His studies were later expanded upon by later anthropologists like Bronislaw Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown who examined the institutional nature of kinship and its ties with other social structures such as politics and economics.
Anthropologists emphasize that kinship goes beyond blood ties and genetic connections, as it is shaped by cultural definitions that can include non-biological relations, such as in the case of adoption. Kinship relationships are defined by both terms of reference and terms of address, which specify the roles, responsibilities, and statuses of individuals within a society. Overall, it is the cultural context that dictates kinship relations rather than just biological descent.