Sibling Family Practices: Guidelines for Healthy Boundaries

Abstract

A questionnaire was given to 500 mental health and child welfare professionals asking for maximum acceptable ages for siblings to engage jointly in certain family practices related to hygiene, affection, and privacy. A large proportion of respondents felt it was never acceptable for siblings to take showers together (40%), kiss on the mouth (37%), or toilet together (32%). Some significant differences occurred based on the gender of the older sibling within sets of same gender or mixed gender pairs, with older brothers being acceptable up to lower ages than older sisters. The effects of child abuse, age, race, and the amount of education on the respondents' answers are investigated. The limitations of the age guidelines are discussed.

Perceptions of Intra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse and Intimate Parent-Child Interactions

“…Given increased concerns about the problem of intra-familial CSA, scholars have suggested the importance of distinguishing culturally acceptable intimate parent-child interactions (IPCI) from sexually abusive behaviors within the family (Johnson, 1999;Johnson & Hooper, 2003;Johnson, Huang, & Simpson, 2009). Overstepping the boundaries of normal or commonly acceptable IPCI in families may result in serious problems, such as problematic sexual behaviors of children and even CSA (Friedrich, 2002;Gil & Johnson, 1993;Johnson, 2005).…”

“…Overstepping the boundaries of normal or commonly acceptable IPCI in families may result in serious problems, such as problematic sexual behaviors of children and even CSA (Friedrich, 2002;Gil & Johnson, 1993;Johnson, 2005). Determining normal IPCI within a given cultural context can establish benchmarks for assessing the risk of CSA and provide valuable information or evidence for child welfare professionals to make decisions about child protection (Johnson, 2007;Johnson et al, 2009). Socio-cultural context is critical in the discussion of normative IPCI because standards of family practices with children and the propriety of interpersonal touching behaviors vary considerably in different cultures (Dibiase, & Gunnoe, 2004;Okami, 1995;Rothbaum, Morelli, Pott, & Liu, 2000;Tahhan, 2008).…”

“…Socio-cultural context is critical in the discussion of normative IPCI because standards of family practices with children and the propriety of interpersonal touching behaviors vary considerably in different cultures (Dibiase, & Gunnoe, 2004;Okami, 1995;Rothbaum, Morelli, Pott, & Liu, 2000;Tahhan, 2008). Socio-cultural factors may impact not only IPCI, but also how people perceive certain interactions and socially construct sexually abusive behaviors (Hestick & Perrino, 2009;Johnson et al, 2009;Reynolds, & Birkimer, 2002). According to the Social Norm Theory (Berkowitz, 2003), people internalize a perceived social norm and then evaluate their own behaviors in relation to the internalized sense of what is right and wrong.…”

Sibling sexual abuse: why don't we talk about it?

“…Johnson et al . () surveyed 500 mental health and child welfare professionals about their views on the acceptability of a range of sibling family practices, finding, for example, that the respondents would not consider it acceptable for opposite‐sex siblings to bathe together beyond the age of four, or to share a bed together beyond the age of five, albeit that there was some variation across the sample of respondents. However, whereas 37% of the respondents thought that it would never be acceptable for siblings to kiss each other on the mouth, 23% of the respondents thought that this would be acceptable at any age.…”

“…Despite a lack of evidence about normal sibling sexual behaviour, it is a commonly held view that older siblings should not engage in sexual behaviour with each other. Johnson et al (2009) surveyed 500 mental health and child welfare professionals about their views on the acceptability of a range of sibling family practices, finding, for example, that the respondents would not consider it acceptable for opposite-sex siblings to bathe together beyond the age of four, or to share a bed together beyond the age of five, albeit that there was some variation across the sample of respondents.…”