Resources
- How to Foster Positive Sibling RelationshipsIt’s normal for parents to feel overwhelmed by family dynamics when we find ourselves refereeing the latest he said-she said debate. How did this argument start, anyway? And why did it end in tears?
- How to Maintain Sibling RelationshipsSiblings are often the only people with whom we have lifelong relationships. For many people that means a built-in best friend for life. But deep, lifetime connections like that can be … messy at times, even in the strongest of bonds.
- Navigating Sibling RelationshipsSibling relationships are important. While friendships come and go, you’re stuck with your siblings. This relationship is oftentimes one of the longest relationships in a person’s life.
Research & Reference
- Siblings: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on siblings. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
Siblings
-
Sibling relationships present complex issues. This video untangles the inner dynamics of those relationships, with a focus on birth order and its role in personality development. (22 minutes)
Source: Films on Demand
Perspectives
The Sibling Effect
A senior writer at Time magazine explores what scientists and researchers are discovering about sibling bonds, the longest- lasting relationships we have in our lives. Nobody affects us as deeply as our brothers and sisters-not parents, not children, not friends. From the time we-and they-are born, our siblings are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They teach us how to resolve conflicts and how not to, how to conduct friendships and when to walk away. Our siblings are the only people we know who truly qualify as partners for life. In this groundbreaking book, renowned science writer Jeffrey Kluger explores the complex world of siblings in a way that is equal parts science, psychology, sociology, and memoir. Based heavily on new and emerging research, The Sibling Effect examines birth order, twin studies, genetic encoding of behavioral traits, emotional disorders and their effects on-and effects from-sibling relationships, and much more. With his signature insight and humor, Kluger takes big ideas about siblings and turns them into smart, accessible writing that will help anyone understand the importance of siblings in our lives.
Mom Still Likes You Best
The author of Walking on Eggshells turns her wisdom to the sometimes heartbreaking but always meaningful bond between brothers and sisters-a must-read for anyone blessed with the gift (or burden) of a sibling. Therers's a myth out there that good relations between brothers and sisters do not include conflict, annoyance, disagreement, or mixed feelings. Isay believes this is a destructive myth, one that makes people doubt the strength of the connection with their siblings. Brothers and sisters may love and hate, fight and forgive, but they never forget their early bonds. Based on scores of interviews with brothers and sisters young and old, Mom Still Likes You Best features real-life stories that show how differences caused by family feuds, marriages, distance, or ancient history can be overcome. The result is a vivid portrait of siblings, in love and war.
The Birth Order Book
Dr. Kevin Leman's ever-popular book on birth order is getting a new look and updated writing. With insight and wit, Dr. Leman offers readers a fascinating and often funny look at how birth order affects personality, marriage and relationships, parenting style, career, and children. Birth order powerfully influences the way people interact with others, whether they're at home or on the job. This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn more about how they react to their world. Dr. Leman even shows readers how to overcome ingrained tendencies they never thought they'd be rid of, all by focusing on their birth order.
The Secret Power of Middle Children
This myth-busting book shows how "forgotten" middle children can-and do-rule the world. In this counterintuitive book, psychologist Catherine Salmon and journalist Katrin Schumann combine science, history, and real-life stories to reveal for the first time that our perception of middle children is dead wrong. Using unpublished and little-known research from evolutionary psychology, sociology, and communications, The Secret Power of Middle Children illustrates how adaptive strategies middleborns develop during childhood translate into stronger friendships, lasting marriages, successful careers, and effective parenting. Over seventy million adult Americans are middle children, and forty percent of young American families have middle children. With constructive advice on how to maximize the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of being a middle child, Salmon and Schumann help middle children at any age (and their parents) use birth order as a strategy for success.
Born to Win
Firstborns are the natural movers, shakers, and leaders of the world. They can accomplish anything they set their minds to. They're the high achievers, the benchmark setters, the business moguls, the concert violinists, the heads of the PTA. But if they're out of balance, they can be overly perfectionistic, driven, and critical. They can become controllers (everything has to go their way) or pleasers (they exhaust themselves in meeting the demands of others). Now available in trade paper, "Born to Win" identifies the qualities of firstborns . . . and there's a catch. Just because someone is the firstborn child in the family doesn't mean they'll have a firstborn personality. They can be third in a group of four siblings and still have a firstborn personality Dr. Kevin Leman reveals why. He helps firstborns understand their natural advantages--while becoming aware of their weaknesses and learning how to sidestep them--for the highest level of personal success at home, at school, at work, and in relationships. And he helps those who live or work with firstborns to understand them better. This fun, informative, and practical book will keep readers engaged and provide many "aha " moments.
Siblings
Brothers and sisters are so much a part of our lives that we can overlook their importance. Even scholars of the family tend to forget siblings, focusing instead on marriage and parent-child relations. Based on a wealth of family papers, period images, and popular literature, this is the first book devoted to the broad history of sibling relations, spanning the long period of transition from early to modern America. Illuminating the evolution of the modern family system, Siblings shows how brothers and sisters have helped each other in the face of the dramatic political, economic, and cultural changes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The book reveals that, in colonial America, sibling relations offered an egalitarian space to soften the challenges of the larger patriarchal family and society, while after the Revolution, in antebellum America, sibling relations provided order and authority in a more democratic nation. Moreover, Hemphill explains that siblings serve as the bridge between generations. Brothers and sisters grow up in a shared family culture influenced by their parents, but they are different from their parents in being part of the next generation. Responding to new economic and political conditions, they form and influence their own families, but their continuing relationships with brothers and sisters serve as a link to the past. Siblings thus experience and promote the new, but share the comforting context of the old. Indeed, in all races, siblings function as humanity's shock-absorbers, as well as valued kin and keepers of memory. This wide-ranging book offers a new understanding of the relationship between families and history in an evolving world. It is also a timely reminder of the role our siblings play in our own lives.
Special Siblings
In this absorbing and candid book, Mary McHugh reveals what she experienced as the sister of a man with cerebral palsy and mental retardation--and shares what others have learned about being and having a âeoespecial sibling.âe#157; Weaving a lifetime of memories and reflections with relevant research and interviews with more than 100 other siblings and experts, McHugh explores a spectrum of feelings--from anger and guilt to love and pride--and helps readers understand the issues siblings may encounter in childhood--such as dealing with their own needs for attention and information, identifying with their parentsâe(tm) grief, understanding their siblingâe(tm)s disability, and coping with their own feelings adolescence--such as participating in family discussions, fitting in with peers, searching for their own identity, and talking to a counselor or therapist adulthood--such as building a support system, navigating adult relationships, deciding whether to have children, and planning for their siblingâe(tm)s future care Emotional and enlightening, this book is a must-read for teen and adult siblings--and all professionals who support people with disabilities and their families.