The Sibling Relationship

A Force for Growth and Conflict

This book focuses on the role that siblings play in each other's development, on the ways in which they may enrich or cast a shadow over each other's lives, and on how their internalized influence can be recognized and dealt with in the clinical setting. Drawing from observational research and clinical experience, Joyce Edward considers how brothers and sisters, as important attachment figures, may contribute to each other's development of a sound sense of self and to their capacities for establishing satisfying social relationships. Edward also examines how excessive sibling envy, jealousy, and rivalry or physical, sexual or emotional abuse at the hands of a sibling can impede an individual's development and contribute to pathology. Detailed treatment examples demonstrate how essential it is to give siblings a place in the therapeutic situation, to recognize them not only as displacement figures for parents but also as persons who hold an important place in the minds of patients, exerting influence on the way they relate to their mates, their children, their friends, and their therapists.