Changing Understandings of Sibling Relationships: Theory and Research

Abstract

There are three sections in this chapter. The first section looks at the early understanding of sibling relationships arising from psychoanalysis. The second section considers the early attempts by family therapists and psychologists to understand sibling relations, albeit in rather global terms. The third section looks at the developments within psychology over the last twenty years, during which there has been a period of renewed interest in sibling relationships, exploring their complexities in much greater depth than hitherto.

Siblings can serve as playmates, companions, agents of socialization, advocates with the peer group, and allies in dealing with parents, as well as models of both positive and negative behaviour. (Brody and Stoneman, 1994)