Blood brothers,ugly sisters: School counselling and sibling dynamics1

This article explores the particular relevance of sibling dynamics for counsellors working in schools. School, when viewed as a large ‘lateral’ organisation, both reflects and reactivates sibling dynamics. This thinking about school counselling is based on the ‘whole school’ approach, in which a school counsellor works with staff and students, and with organisational dynamics, seeking to understand the unconscious emotional life of the school system, as well as those within it. The initial sections of the article are concerned both with the place of siblings in psychodynamic theory, and with challenges which sibling dynamics present for a counsellor working in a school context. There follow three linked sections in which the invitation to ‘think sibling’ is illustrated with some clinical examples, drawn from the specific context of a boarding school. All identities have been changed and anonymised to protect confidentiality. The article concludes with a discussion of sibling dynamics in practice, within the context of schools.     

同胞冲突及其解决:家庭子系统的影响

同胞冲突是指在一个完整的家庭中, 具有相同生身父母的两个或多个人在行为、目标或活动上所表达出的不相容, 其通常表现为争吵和敌对情绪以及相互间的攻击行为。父母干预同胞冲突的方式分为孩子中心策略、控制策略和不干预策略。家庭系统理论指出, 家庭是一个有等级结构的、动态的系统, 这个系统中的子系统(包括父母婚姻关系、亲子关系和同胞关系)是相互联系、相互影响的。基于这一理论, 探讨家庭子系统对同胞冲突的影响, 整合建构同胞冲突的理论假设模型, 以便从多路径的角度去分析同胞冲突的产生机制。未来的研究需要对同胞冲突及其相关概念进行区分或整合, 关注父母干预同胞冲突的方式的影响因素, 并且以发展的眼光去看待同胞冲突。     

Counselling Australian baby boomers: examining the loss and grief issues facing aging distance-separated sibling dyads

It has long been recognised that mature-aged sibling dyads provide each other with emotional support. What has yet to be determined is whether this support function is maintained within the baby boomer generational cohort of sibling dyads who through economic relocation/migration have become separated by distance. As such, this paper highlights the need for research to be conducted into the experiences of baby boomers dealing with sibling loss and grief-related issues without the support of their nuclear and extended family members.     

Family Stress and Children's Rejection by Peers: Do Siblings Provide a Buffer?

We present two studies examining the role of siblings as possible buffers against the negative impact of family stress on children's peer relations. In Study 1, we examined associations between stress, sibling status, and peer rejection in a sample of 206 children in grades 3–5 in a majority African-American, rural, lower SES sample. In this low-income sample, higher stress was associated with more peer rejection, but having a sibling did not appear to buffer children against rejection by peers. In Study 1, we examined associations between stress, sibling status, and multiple dimensions of peer relations in a sample of 47 children in grades 3–6 in a majority Caucasian, urban, middle SES sample. In this middle-class sample, stress was unrelated to peer rejection but was associated with higher aggression, which often leads to rejection. In addition, the results from the middle class sample suggested that having a sibling may act as a buffer under high-stress conditions. The results are discussed in terms of current conceptualizations of buffering, contextual influences on family–peer links, and the need to assess multiple dimensions of children's peer-related functioning.     

Israeli kindergarten children's gender constancy for others' counter‐stereotypic toy play and appearance: the role of sibling gender and relative age

To test divergent theoretical predictions as to the impact of having a younger or older, same‐sex sibling or opposite‐sex sibling on other gender constancy, Israeli kindergarten children in two‐child families responded to a gender constancy task in which a male and female picture target engaged in counter‐stereotypic toy play and adopted counter‐stereotypic appearance. Children were also asked whether the target child could change sex at will and to explain the difference between boys and girls. Relative age of sibling, both independently and in interaction with participant sex, was associated with greater gender constancy in the face of counter‐stereotypic toy play. Relative age of sibling and sibling sex was independently associated with greater gender constancy in the face of counter‐stereotypic appearance. In both cases, children with a younger sibling evidenced greater gender constancy. Boys, especially ones with a male sibling, referred most explicitly to target's birth sex in accounting for his or her being unable to change sex at will. Genital and anatomical differences between boys and girls were cited more often by children who referred explicitly to target's birth sex and had a younger sibling. The results were discussed in the context of theories of gender development and the socialization of gender within the family. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Narrative Analysis of Sibling Grief

Sibling grief is linked to serious physical and mental health outcomes, yet remains the least researched of all family bereavement. This exploratory study created a shared sibling grief narrative. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 27 participants who lost a sibling. Primary themes included Shared Life: Identity Within the Sibling Arrangement; Sibling Death: Pivotal Moments in Time; Life After Sibling Loss: Emotional Suffering, Life After Sibling Loss: Missing Roles & Changing Relationships; and The Sibling Lives On. The following study findings clarify the overlooked impact that sibling death has on the surviving sibling and demonstrate the crucial need for more sibling loss research.     

同胞关系及其与儿童青少年社会性发展的关系

同胞关系是指兄弟姐妹之间分享与彼此有关的知识、观点、态度、信念和感受的所有互动,具有平等互惠性和补充性。同胞关系质量分为同胞温暖与冲突、界限黏结与解离、积极与消极同胞关系。亲缘选择和家庭系统理论从进化和环境视角解释同胞关系。同胞关系对于儿童青少年内外化问题行为和人际关系等具有重要影响。未来应关注特殊儿童青少年同胞关系的特点,深入探讨同胞关系对儿童青少年社会性发展的作用机制和干预措施,加强本土化研究。     

Attitudes toward the unconscious

As a keynote to a conference bringing together psychoanalysts and analytical psychologists, this paper addresses different mythic attitudes toward the unconscious, Starting with the caricatures of Oedipus and Narcissus that the author feels Jung and Freud originally projected onto each Other in the course of their quarrel. He moves on to the fairytale-like stories of Perseus and Beauty and the Beast to discover mote complex images of the stance taken in relation to the unconscious by present-day analysts: working within both die Jungian and the Freudian traditions.     

Convergence of Sibling Risk Among Children of Parents with Serious Mental Disorders

We examined child psychiatric diagnoses, behavioral problems, overall symptom impairment, global psychological functioning, intellectual ability, and adaptive behavior in 83 sibling pairs whose mothers were diagnosed with a serious mental disorder. Sibling pairs were assessed for the extent to which they converged on the presence or absence of risk on each adverse outcome and then examined under conditions of high vs. low/moderate family stress. Consistent with the study hypotheses, we found that on each outcome assessed there was evidence for sibling convergence of risk. In addition, family stress was found to significantly moderate sibling risk convergence. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding sibling convergence of risk in these families and for clinical and preventive intervention.     

Relationship Quality of Aggressive Children and Their Siblings: A Multiinformant, Multimeasure Investigation

Sibling influence on the learning and enactment of aggressive behavior has been consistently demonstrated in studies of sibling relationships. Available evidence suggests that, compared with nonaggressive children's sibling interactions, the sibling interactions of aggressive children are marked by more frequent, intense, and prolonged aggressive behaviors. Although research on normative and aggressive children's sibling interactions has increased recently, a number of limitations in this literature were addressed in this study by: (1) including both an aggressive and nonaggressive comparison group, (2) examining both positive and negative features of sibling relationships, (3) employing a multimethod/multiinformant approach to data collection, and (4) utilizing an improved self-report method. In support of our hypotheses and consistent with previous research, results showed that aggressive children's sibling relationships were marked by higher levels of observed conflict and lower levels of self-reported positive features. When gender was examined, results showed that older brother/younger sister dyads were characterized by higher levels of negative features and lower levels of positive features.     

Sibling loss, guilt and reparation: A case study

Psychoanalysis has shown that the death of a sibling is likely to have a long-standing impact on the character development of a surviving child. Among common adult manifestations are the identifi cation with the deceased sibling, repetitive self-punitive behaviors, and the development of masochistic trends. In treatment, these patients can become entrenched in a negative therapeutic reaction that compromises the outcome of their analysis. In this paper, the author discusses the analysis of a woman with a history of losses that included the loss of a sibling at an early age. A critical part of the treatment focused on helping this patient overcome a negative therapeutic reaction that emerged as she became aware of hostile and vengeful fantasies, not only as they related to her deceased brother but, more importantly, as they related to her parents.     

Relationship Quality as a Moderator of Anxiety in Siblings of Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Down Syndrome

The purpose of this study was to examine typically-developing adolescents’ perceived relationship quality with their developmentally-disabled sibling, specifically siblings diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Down syndrome (DS). The 119 eleven through seventeen-year-old adolescent participants (M = 13.32, SD = 1.90) completed an online survey that assessed demographics, sibling relationship quality, and anxiety. Results showed that siblings of children with DS have a greater overall sibling relationship quality than do siblings of children with an ASD. Results further indicated that reporting more negative interchanges within the sibling relationship was related to higher levels of anxiety regardless of sibling disability type. Lastly, sibling relationship quality moderated the relation between sibling disability type and anxiety. These findings promote greater understanding of the sibling dynamic in families with children with developmental disabilities and suggest the need for establishing more research and greater clinical evaluation in this area. Furthermore, the current study suggests that therapeutic intervention to address the sibling relationship quality within children diagnosed with ASDs and their typically-developing siblings would be beneficial in order to increase social support within the relationship as well as decrease the amount of negative interchanges within the sibling relationship. Results also suggested that decreasing the amount of negative interchanges within the sibling relationship may decrease the level of anxiety the typically-developing sibling reports.     

Time-Out for Sibling Aggression: An Analysis of Effective Durations in a Natural Setting

Abstract

Time-out is a ubiquitous strategy to reduce problem behaviors. The current study sought to find the shortest effective duration(s) of time-out for sibling aggression in a community sample of girls ages 3–7. All participants reached a minimum reduction in sibling aggression of 60% after experiencing a 1-minute time-out. The majority (75%) of participants also demonstrated clear reversals of behavior when returned to the baseline condition. The current findings suggest that a 1-minute time-out may be sufficient for low-level sibling aggression in children as old as seven. Limitations include the presence of a graduate assistant during sibling play and unclear generalizability.     

Sisterhood-Brotherhood is Powerful: Sibling Sub-Systems and Family Therapy

Sibling interaction is an often overlooked aspect of family functioning. Individual development and many family behavior patterns may be attributed to autonomous activities within the sibling sub-system.
A number of phenomena in which siblings have profound influence upon one another are explored. Siblings collude and align with each other, at times help each other resist the powerful vertical influences of parents. Other sibling systems serve to enmesh the youngsters even more with parents. Important sib-behavior patterns include: the death or departure of siblings; the interplay between the sibling sub-system and the parenting system; and the roles that "well" siblings play vis-à-vis their "sick" siblings during family crises. The sibling relationship is seen as a life-long process, highly influential throughout the life cycle.
Understanding of sibling sub-system structure and dynamics can lead to more flexible therapeutic interventions. Direct work with siblings provides the therapist with more options and greater leverage in producing change for all siblings, as well as for other family members.     

The evolved function of the oedipal conflict

Freud based his oedipal theory on three clinical observations of adult romantic relationships: (1) Adults tend to split love and lust; (2) There tend to be sex differences in the ways that men and women split love and lust; (3) Adult romantic relationships are unconsciously structured by the dynamics of love triangles in which dramas of seduction and betrayal unfold. Freud believed that these aspects of adult romantic relationships were derivative expressions of a childhood oedipal conflict that has been repressed. Recent research conducted by evolutionary psychologists supports many of Freud’s original observations and suggests that Freud’s oedipal conflict may have evolved as a sexually selected adaptation for reproductive advantage. The evolution of bi-parental care based on sexually exclusive romantic bonds made humans vulnerable to the costs of sexual infidelity, a situation of danger that seriously threatens monogamous bonds. A childhood oedipal conflict enables humans to better adapt to this longstanding evolutionary problem by providing the child with an opportunity to develop working models of love triangles. On the one hand, the oedipal conflict facilitates monogamous resolutions by creating intense anxiety about the dangers of sexual infidelity and mate poaching. On the other hand, the oedipal conflict in humans may facilitate successful cheating and mate poaching by cultivating a talent for hiding our true sexual intentions from others and even from ourselves. The oedipal conflict in humans may be disguised by evolutionary design in order to facilitate tactical deception in adult romantic relationships.     

Sabina Spielrein's Siegfried and other myths: facts versus fictions

Sabina Spielrein's life events became known to posterity through a private correspondence with Freud and Jung, and through her diaries. Based on a misinterpretation of the documents, a myth, a fiction, was created about an alleged sexual affair with Jung and a case of misconduct during treatment. Another myth was that her relationship with Jung was a cause of the historic break-up between Freud and Jung. The biographical facts described by the author in a number of publications show that her treatment ended when she left the hospital to become Jung's student in the medical school, a situation with its own ethical rules. Furthermore, the alleged “scandal” was no public matter: it turned out to be no more than a personal quarrel. Before, during, and after that turbulent episode, Spielrein and Jung maintained a long and tender friendship and correspondence that included sharing creative ideas that enriched psychoanalysis. In these exchanges, a special role was played by the myth of Siegfried and other themes in Wagner's operas.     

二胎家庭的父母养育

随着我国全面二胎政策的实施,关于二胎家庭父母养育的问题越来越受到社会的广泛关注。但是,在我国这方面的研究极度稀缺。本文就二胎家庭父母养育的表现形式、影响因素及作用机制进行论述。二胎家庭父母养育的表现形式包括父母差别对待、协调同胞关系等。二胎家庭父母养育的影响因素包括父母养育第一胎的经验、婚姻质量、协同养育、儿童特点等。二胎父母养育的作用机制包括父母差别对待造成的儿童心理发展问题,以及父母在协调同胞关系中的作用。此外,本文结合已有文献,提出了一个"二胎家庭父母养育的过程机制"模型,揭示在二胎家庭情境下,各种因素是如何影响父母的养育模式,又通过哪些作用机制对家中的两个孩子产生影响。最后,强调未来我国的研究者应该重视本土化,关注社会变迁中二胎父母养育的特点。     

Making Sense of Abuse: Case Studies in Sibling Incest

This case study focused on the process of making sense of abuse in two Latino families experiencing sibling incest. Participants included five male children ranging in age from 8 to 15 that were members of two families dealing with the issue of sibling incest. The purpose of this study was to build understanding of how families experience sibling incest and its role in their families. Clinical data from therapy sessions was analyzed to reveal that families made sense of the incest in different ways including abuse as normal and abuse as a mistake. Central concepts that explained how the families responded to the sibling incest included (1) level of family cohesion, (2) role of secrecy, and (3) view of outside systems. The findings suggest that treatment needs to include an in-depth assessment regarding these issues.     

Will You Miss Me When I Am Gone? Death and Our Significance to Others: A Discussion of Frommer’s “Death Is Nothing at All”

In this discussion of Martin Stephen Frommer’s admirable project to fill in the gap in Freud’s thinking with regard to death anxiety I critique Frommer’s emphasis on what minds need from other minds to confront death as overly cerebral. When viewed from within the embodied, emotional immediacy of our subjectivity, there is validity in dreading the transition from something to nothing. To help us overcome our fear of becoming nothing, we must feel that our offerings have been internalized as significant contributions in the hearts and memories of others so that we are remembered when we are gone. In the treatment with Karen, Frommer’s generous personal accessibility allowed Karen to feel reborn as a significant presence in his life and thereby helped modify her extreme fear of death.     

How translations of Freud’s writings have influenced French psychoanalytic thinking1

Translations of Freud ’s writings have had a lasting influence on psychoanalytic thinking in France. They have, all the same, given rise to some conceptual distortions as regards the ego and the id, the ideal ego and the ego ideal, and splitting. Lacan’s ‘return to Freud ’ certainly reawakened interest in Freud ’s writings; however, by focusing mainly on Freud ’s early work, Lacan’s personal reading played down the importance of the texts Freud wrote after his metapsychological papers of 1915. The fact that there is no French edition of Freud ’s complete works makes it difficult for French psychoanalysts to put them in a proper context with respect to his developments as a whole. The Oeuvres Complètes [Complete Works] edition may well turn out to be the equivalent of the Standard Edition, but it is as yet far from complete – and, since the vocabulary employed is far removed from everyday language, those volumes already in print tend to make the general public less likely to read Freud. In this paper, the author evokes certain questions that go beyond the French example, such as the impact that translations have within other psychoanalytic contexts. Now that English has become more or less the lingua franca for communication between psychoanalysts, we have to face up to new challenges if we are to avoid a twofold risk: that of mere standardization, as well as that of a ‘Babelization’ of psychoanalysis.