TPC-Journal-V5-Issue3

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 3 398 a lot” and that there is an attitude of either “obliviousness or acceptance” around the topic of sibling abuse. In addition, this theme of education and awareness was further described as a potential contributing factor to the high rates of sibling abuse that might go unaddressed or unreported due to a lack of awareness or education. Based on these findings, this theme has been placed in both overarching categories. Three subthemes emerged from the participants’ descriptions of education and awareness—personal awareness and education, parental perceptions and societal norms, and educating students. Personal awareness and education . For many participants, this study was the first time they had thought about sibling abuse, and all counselors shared that they had little to no training or education in this area. Lee shared, “It has been eye-opening to me to consider it because I have never given it any thought prior to this, so that in and of itself has been huge.” Margaret also mentioned being more aware after participating in this study, saying, “It is definitely something that is on my radar. . . . I am almost embarrassed to be naïve, but it never came up before.” Grace described, “It is something that I will look for more now when working with youth because I don’t think it was something that I thought much about before talking with you.” Parental perceptions and societal norms . Participants shared perceptions about students’ home lives and attributed the lack of awareness or education on the part of parents as a factor contributing to sibling abuse. Holly shared, “I think a lot of parents and other adults just think it is normal.” She further stated, “I don’t think they recognize when it goes too far. . . . I think it is awful to have a bully in the house that you are stuck with, and they should do everything they can to intervene.” Laura emphasized school counselors should be “focusing a lot on parenting skills and how we can help parents to learn things that would help.” Educating students. Participants perceived that it is the school counselor’s role to educate students and provide them with support. Valerie stated that when it comes to sibling abuse, “Kids maybe have this misperception that ‘I should be able to handle this.’” Ty noted, “They [students] don’t even know they need help because it’s been going on so long. . . . It still makes me sad that most kids don’t realize it oftentimes until it is too late, and there will be permanent scars from it.” Laura added, “They don’t have an easy way to fix it or don’t know what to do if the sibling is a lot bigger and has a lot more power; naturally then you are kind of stuck.” Factors Contributing to Sibling Abuse Sibling bond. The fifth theme that emerged from the participant data was sibling bond. This theme was defined as participants’ shared attitudes and beliefs about the importance of the sibling relationship and bond that exists between brothers and sisters. Participants noted the “powerfulness” of this sibling bond, which they believed might create an attachment as important as, or more important than, other family or peer relationships. Many participants discussed the influence of their own sibling relationships and shared that they thought “fondly” of their siblings and that therefore the sibling relationship should be “cherished and preserved at all costs.” School counselors’ belief that the sibling relationship should be preserved no matter what might interfere with their ability to recognize sibling abuse with students and therefore contribute to the problem. On the other hand, participants noted that this sibling bond also could create a sense of unhealthy “family loyalty,” which might lead to siblings becoming protective of one another to a fault. This protectiveness might contribute to the continuation of sibling abuse or violence due to fear that their “family is going to get torn apart” if reported. Two subthemes emerged from the participants’ descriptions of the sibling bond—preservation and perseverance, and family secrets.