Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Satisfaction that can be derived from family harmony is rarely underrated and most would agree that an important ingredient is the presence of children who get along with each other. Under any circumstances, children's misbehavior is disturbing to parents but that which arises from jealousy can be especially troubling ( Eisenberg et al., 1999 ; Kramer, Perozynski, & Chung, 1999 ; Perlman & Ross, 1997 ; Volling, 2005 ; Volling & Blandon, 2005 ). Numerous works in which sibling conflict has been documented ( Dunn, 1986 ; Field & Reite, 1984 ; Stewart, Mobley, Van Tuyl, & Salvador, 1987 ) support widely held views that it is ubiquitous, potentially serious, and can lead to poor sibling relations which can be highly stable over time (G. H. Brody, Stoneman, McCoy, & Forehand, 1992 ; L. R. Brody, Copeland, Sutton, Richardson, & Guyer, 1998 ; Dunn & Kendrick, 1982 ; Goodwin & Roscoe, 1990 ; Miner & Clarke-Stewart, 2008 ; Steinmetz, 1977 ; Stillwell & Dunn, 1985 ). It has also been noted that parental concerns run deep ( Vandell & Bailey, 1992 ), reverberating with emotional intensity which, to some extent, stems from accounts of sibling rivalry as a recurring theme in religion and literature. It is noteworthy that perhaps the first written account of murder was a case of fratricide. According to both the Book of Genesis and the ... log in or subscribe to read full text