Sibling Violence

Defining Sibling Violence

Defining sibling violence is difficult, due in part to its normalization in society and in part to differences in definitions used by clinical practitioners, the law, and researchers. Practitioners most often define abuse as a pattern of abusive relationships that often (but not necessarily) includes multiple acts of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse over time. Legally, sibling violence usually falls under statutes concerning child abuse. Although sibling violence is rarely specified in these statutes, the legal interpretation of child abuse has been sufficiently broad to incorporate most acts of violence between siblings in those rare cases that are prosecuted. In most cases, the parent or other adult custodian is held responsible for permitting a sibling to inflict harm upon another.

Definitions of sibling violence in research literature have been less than clear. Researchers such as Murray Straus, using survey data to investigate family violence, have defined physical domestic violence as comprising “acts of physical violence ranging in severity from slaps and pinches to the use of weapons against a family member, including a sibling.” A distinction is made between general acts of violence and potentially injurious acts of violence. Other studies have used multiple terms and multiple definitions for problematic sibling relationships. “Sibling conflict,” “sibling rivalry,” and “sibling aggression” have been used for a broad range of sibling interaction patterns, including not only violent behavior but also nonviolent behavior such as argumentation, jealousy, and other forms of conflict. The terms sibling abuse and sibling violence have been used interchangeably to refer to the most serious acts of aggression between siblings. Siblings have been defined as “biological or adopted full siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings who are part of one family and who have parents in common.”

Types of Sibling Violence

Three primary types of sibling violence have received attention in the literature: physical sibling violence, sibling incest and sexual violence, and psychological sibling violence.