`Barter', `Deals', `Bribes' and `Threats'

Abstract

This paper investigates forms of strategic interaction between siblings during childhood. We argue that these interactions, characterised by notions of reciprocity, equivalence and constructions of fairness, are worked out in relation to responsibility, power, knowledge and sibling status. Birth order and age are not experienced as fixed hierarchies as they can be subverted, contested, resisted and negotiated. To explore these issues, in-depth individual and group interviews were conducted with a sample of 90 children between the ages of 5 and 17, drawn from 30 families of mixed socioeconomic backgrounds in central Scotland with three siblings within this age range.

Foster Children’s Sense of Sibling Belonging

“…Caring about biological siblings, rivalry and conflict with biological siblings, or having to compare oneself with the foster parents' own children strengthens the children's perception of themselves and their identity, and a sense of belonging becomes a central feature. Similarly, in line with McIntosh and Punch's (2009) finding that children may view their siblings as a source of rivalry and conflicts, the children in my study define their sibling relations from biology, relations, intimacy, and whether or not they have cohabitated. These findings confirm and build upon findings from prior research on siblings and stepfamilies (Berge Fjøsne, 2007;Bray, 1999;Cicirelli, 1995;Edwards et al, 2005;Hegar, 2005a;Levin, 1994;Mitchell, 2003).…”

“…This observation agrees with the changing positions that Mauthner (2002) describes in his research on sistering, wherein role reversals take place between the "big sister" role of caregiver and "little sister" position of receiving care. Changes in sibling status may reflect strategic interaction, as McIntosh and Punch (2009) have noted.…”

“…This piece of research considers the extent to which children draw on siblings as a source of support-both inside and outside the family. The author has since gone on to investigate the ways in which children consider siblings to be a source of problems (in the forms of rivalry and conflict) and how they negotiate outcomes to such tensions (McIntosh & Punch, 2009). The experience of new family arrangements is not exclusive to children in foster homes.…”

“It’s Just the Abuse that Needs to Stop”: Professional Framing of Sibling Relationships in a Grounded Theory Study of Social Worker Decision Making following Sibling Sexual Behavior

“…The marginalization of sibling violence as a harmless form of family aggression may be due to its being normalized as an expected and inevitable part of growing up (Caffaro & Conn-Caffaro, 2005;Khan & Rogers, 2015), with no clear definition to distinguish it unequivocally from sibling rivalry (Perkins, Coles, & O'Connor, 2017). Sibling rivalries, jealousies and quarrels may perform useful developmental functions (Sanders, 2004), but an analysis of power is often absent (McIntosh & Punch, 2009), which belies the lived experiences of sibling violence victims (Meyers, 2015).…”

“…In addition, the language of siblinghood, of fraternity and sorority, is in itself incommensurate with abuse, and historically has been used extensively to affirm a sense of alliance, devotion, friendship and, in particular, equality, among non-related individuals and groups (Calvi & Blutrach-Jelin, 2010). Sibling relationships are often described as 'lateral' rather than 'vertical' relationships (referring to parent-child relations), implying an equality that disregards the power relationships between siblings (McIntosh & Punch, 2009;Mitchell, 2003). Sanders (2004) further contends that, whilst there has been evidence for some time that sibling relationships may be abusive, the archetypes of sibling relationships include siblings as allies (e.g.…”