TPC-Journal-V5-Issue3

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 3 397 natural and normal and healthy, and it helps us figure out life.” Holly shared, “In conflict, you learn a lot about how to resolve conflict with your siblings and it is normal to have conflict, especially minor conflict.” Participants shared that absence of a firm definition for where to “draw this line” between sibling rivalry and violence or abuse often negatively affected the ways in which they responded. Violence and abuse. Participants shared varying views on what differentiated sibling violence from abuse; however, most shared that sibling violence was a mutual act between siblings while abuse consisted of a power differential between siblings. Valerie stated, “Abuse is when one of them who is bigger, meaner, tougher, beats up the other one, and the other one can’t defend themselves.” She further explained, “When it’s violent, they can each give and take, but when it’s abusive, one of them can’t protect themselves or dish out as much as they get.” Participants struggled to define how often a behavior had to occur for it to be considered abuse. Tiffany asked, “Do they have to get punched in the face three times, does that make it abuse? So it’s just a weird line. Is there a line? I really don’t know.” Grace mentioned the need for “a clear definition for school counselors and maybe examples and how to go about addressing it.” Multiple victims and needs. The third theme that emerged from the participant data was multiple victims and needs . This theme was defined as participants’ shared attitudes and beliefs about responding not only to the primary victim of sibling abuse, but also responding to others such as the sibling offender or other victims. Participants believed that school counselors focus primarily on working with the student being harmed in cases of child abuse. However, participants felt equal responsibility for the sibling offender’s well-being and academic success as they did for the victim’s. Participants who had worked with sibling offenders in the schools noted concern that these students might also be “victim[s] of abuse themselves.” The following two subthemes emerged from the participants’ descriptions of multiple victims and needs: sibling offender and further victimization. Sibling offender. Beyond responding to the sibling victim, participants also were concerned with responding to the needs of the sibling offender. Participants shared that there may be multiple victims of abuse, and all family mental health needs must be addressed. As school counselors, they “would be concerned on both ends” for the mental health needs and potential victimization of students who were both the victim and the offender of sibling abuse. Holly stated, “I assume if they [the sibling offender] are picking on this person, we are going to find out they are victims.” Margaret shared, “Whoever the perpetrator is, is struggling with something, either a mental illness or they were bullied or a victim of abuse themselves.” Grace described, “I would be fearful that that is coming from somewhere else, like violence between each other.” Further victimization . Participants described their shared attitudes and beliefs that responding to sibling abuse without considering the needs of the sibling offender may result in the potential for further victimization, due to what participants described as a “trickle-down” effect. Ty stated, “You always pick on the next person down in the pecking order. It makes a lot of sense that she would go home and pick on the next one down.” Holly shared, “In reality, the perpetrators don’t think they did anything wrong and haven’t addressed it and worked through it.” Participants perceived that without intervention, sibling offenders might continue to victimize others and specifically mentioned cousins and peers as potential targets. Education and awareness. The fourth theme that emerged from the participant data was education and awareness. This theme was defined as participants’ shared attitudes and beliefs that an overall lack of awareness and education around the topic of sibling abuse has negatively influenced school counselors’ ability to respond to students. Participants shared that sibling abuse “does not come up