Sibling violence is believed to be the most common form of family violence, more common than spousal or parent-child abuse. Because many victims of sibling abuse do not speak up about the matter, it is the least reported and the least studied. It is normal for siblings to fight and have what some commonly refer to as a rivalry, but at a certain point this conflict may turn into a power struggle as one sibling becomes the dominant, controlling figure and the other becomes a victim. While we did not have much knowledge of sibling abuse in the past, more and more cases are being heard in recent times. In 2010, a man was sentenced to nine years in prison for assaulting his younger siblings during the 1970s and the 1980s. Three sisters admitted
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She depicts incidents where her 7-year-old curiosity got the best of her and she examined her 1-year-old sister’s vagina. To Dunham, this is average behavior for a curious 7 year old. She claims that her mother did not question her behavior, because she was an interested child. She also explains how she used to bribe her sister for affection because she wanted to feel needed (McDonald, 2014). Also a breaking story this year was the uncovering of Josh Duggar’s molestation of 5 young girls when he was 14. Two of his sisters, who were also his victims, came to his defense claiming that he was just a confused teenager. Jessa Seewald explained, “He was a boy, young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls… But, really, the extent of it was mild, inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while girls were sleeping” (Helsel, 2015). Unfortunately, Duggar’s parents saw in their best interest to send their son to a counseling program instead of alerting authorities. This also minimizes the effect on the victims by calling this serious crime a childhood …show more content…
It was found that a large percentage of these now adults who had been victimized as children experienced depression as adults. They also attributed the depression directly to the abuse they experienced as children. In Wiehe’s study of people involved in a violent sibling relationship, 26% of respondents required hospitalization for their depression, and 1/3 of the respondents had attempted suicide at least once. These data suggest that the negative effects of sibling abuse may develop shortly after the onset of abuse and may be long lasting (Mackey, Fromuth, & Kelly, 2009).
While we do not know much about the prevalence of sibling abuse today, we know more about the topic than we did decades ago. We have gotten better at acknowledging and accepting that child abuse is something that is happening everyday. Our society has to become better at recognizing abuse, not only abuse from a parent but abuse by another sibling. Adults must take a more active role in their parenting and must intervene when appropriate. This is the only way that we can end this
She depicts incidents where her 7-year-old curiosity got the best of her and she examined her 1-year-old sister’s vagina. To Dunham, this is average behavior for a curious 7 year old. She claims that her mother did not question her behavior, because she was an interested child. She also explains how she used to bribe her sister for affection because she wanted to feel needed (McDonald, 2014). Also a breaking story this year was the uncovering of Josh Duggar’s molestation of 5 young girls when he was 14. Two of his sisters, who were also his victims, came to his defense claiming that he was just a confused teenager. Jessa Seewald explained, “He was a boy, young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls… But, really, the extent of it was mild, inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while girls were sleeping” (Helsel, 2015). Unfortunately, Duggar’s parents saw in their best interest to send their son to a counseling program instead of alerting authorities. This also minimizes the effect on the victims by calling this serious crime a childhood …show more content…
It was found that a large percentage of these now adults who had been victimized as children experienced depression as adults. They also attributed the depression directly to the abuse they experienced as children. In Wiehe’s study of people involved in a violent sibling relationship, 26% of respondents required hospitalization for their depression, and 1/3 of the respondents had attempted suicide at least once. These data suggest that the negative effects of sibling abuse may develop shortly after the onset of abuse and may be long lasting (Mackey, Fromuth, & Kelly, 2009).
While we do not know much about the prevalence of sibling abuse today, we know more about the topic than we did decades ago. We have gotten better at acknowledging and accepting that child abuse is something that is happening everyday. Our society has to become better at recognizing abuse, not only abuse from a parent but abuse by another sibling. Adults must take a more active role in their parenting and must intervene when appropriate. This is the only way that we can end this