Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-48).

Sibling violence is a pervasive, yet poorly understood and substantially underreported phenomenon. Currently recognized as the most common form of intra-familial abuse, various estimates suggest that 30 percent or more of children in the general population experience severe acts of violence inflicted by a sibling each year. Given that many young people in the child welfare system experience the family conditions associated with abusive sibling violence, recent publications have implored child welfare to embrace the notion that it is a form of child maltreatment. Practitioners and policymakers have yet to reach agreement on what constitutes physical or emotional abuse between siblings, and the perspectives of young people with lived experience of abuse are largely absent from research and scholarship. I designed the study, grounded in Critical Realism, to increase understanding of how sibling violence manifests in child welfare, contribute to theory development, and identify actions to protect children from harm. Based on in-depth interviews with eight foster care alumni, I offer a refined definition of sibling violence and four family conditions associated with sibling violence in child welfare. The findings also supported a systems-based theory reflecting four stable family member roles. My recommendations seek to leverage the infrastructure of the child welfare system while taking into consideration the limitations imposed by neoliberal social and economic policy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

As various forms of interpersonal family violence receive more attention in the literature, sibling abuse is still in the background. Despite the increasing knowledge about the prevalence, causes, and effects of sibling abuse, many of us continue to relegate it to a childhood occurrence. Sibling abuse symptoms continue to go unrecognized and its demoralizing effects continue to be ignored (Wiehe, 1990). Minimization and denial of sibling abuse have also contributed to constraining the extent of knowledge related to this phenomenon. The present study seeks to add to the existing research confirming the existence of sibling victimization and its long-term impacts. This study has two primary purposes: 1) to capture the beliefs, feelings, and firsthand account of the abusive sibling experiences from the perspective of victims, and 2) to investigate the potential learned responses associated with sibling abuse and their possible impact on adult relationships by exploring participants' emotional and relational histories, and belief systems. This study presents data taken from a clinical sample of six adult female sibling abuse survivors. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and data analyzed using cross case analysis, constant comparison, and analytic induction techniques. Data suggests the long-term impacts of learned responses associated with sibling abuse can be detrimental to both interpersonal relationships and mental health. Emergent themes related to family functioning and environment and resiliency after abuse are also presented. Implications of findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-102). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

No description available.

Syftet med studien var att se hur skolkuratorer på gymnasieskolor kan arbeta förebyggande med syskonvåld inom det skolsociala arbetet. Studien har utgått från tre frågeställningar som berör hur skolkuratorerna arbetar förebyggande mot syskonvåld, vilka metoder som kan vara användbara samt hur de kan hjälpa elever som redan blivit utsatta för syskonvåld. Denna studie har utförts utifrån en kvalitativ ansats genom fyra fokusgruppsintervjuer med sammanlagt tio intervjupersoner som arbetar på gymnasieskolor. Studiens resultat visar att det råder mer kunskap om syskonvåld och det förebyggande arbetet kring detta än vad skolkuratorerna inledningsvis uppfattat. Genom diskussioner och reflektioner i fokusgrupperna har skolkuratorerna erhållit mer kunskap. Gymnasieskolorna har ett antal bra metoder som redan existerar inom verksamheterna som går att applicera både på det förebyggande arbetet och arbetet där syskonvåldet redan sker. Det går även att arbeta förebyggande där våldet redan sker genom att förhindra att våldet fortlöper och eskalerar. / The purpose of the study was to see how school counselors at high schools can work preventively with sibling violence within the school social work. The study was based on three questions that concern how the school counselors work preventively against sibling violence, which methods can be useful and how they can help students who have already been exposed to sibling violence. This study has been carried out based on a qualitative approach through four focus group interviews with a total of ten interviewees who work in high school. The results of the study show that there is more knowledge about sibling violence and the preventive work around it than the school counselors initially perceived. Through discussions and reflections in the focus groups, the school counselors have gained more knowledge. The high schools have a number of good methods that already exist within the activities that can be applied both to the preventive work and the work where sibling violence already is present. It is also possible to work preventively where the violence is already taking place by preventing the violence from continuing and escalating.

This study aims to explore the perspective of school counsellors on sibling violence, focusing on their understanding of the phenomenon through their professional experiences and their perceptions of their own abilities in addressing it. The study was conducted through a qualitative approach, where six school counsellors working with teenagers aged thirteen years and up were interviewed using a semi-structured interview method. The findings of this study suggest that school counsellors play an important role in identifying, responding, and promoting change in cases of sibling violence within the school system. Furthermore, their observations indicate that the family environment can be significant to the occurrence of sibling violence through the normalisation and perpetuation of the violence, be it directly or through a general culture of violence in the family. Additionally, the occurrence of sibling violence has also been observed to have some potential consequences for persons experiencing it, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and mistrust of others.

The current study investigated characteristics and case variables of sexually abused male children, and how those variables affect the outcome of cases investigated by Child Protective Services. Data was obtained from the RIverside County Department of Social Services, Child Welfare System/Case Management System. It was found that the largest percentages of perpetrators were the siblings of the victims.