# data[].attributes.body
How can parents best reduce conflict between siblings?

·        Conflict-reduction intervention – Parents can participate in intervention schemes like this to limit the amount of conflict between siblings. They focus on equipping children with an set of social and emotional competencies. Such interventions are generally successful, however, engaged sibling interactions do not emerge straight away and such interventions can also cause children to completely isolate themselves socially from each other.

·        Reinforcing alternate behaviours (Leitenberg et al ,1977) – Conditioning methods can be utilised by parents to reinforce actions between siblings that are not conflictual. When applied in the household, this could take the form of rewarding siblings with sweets/snacks if they are cooperating with each other or have not argued for a certain length of time.

·        Modelling appropriate behaviours – Parents can further model the social behaviours they want their children to enact.

However, as Kramer (2010) states, reducing conflict is perhaps not the most effective mechanism for improving sibling relationships. The absence of conflictual and competitive behaviours does not necessarily result in a positive and engaging relationship. Alternately, parents should focus on promoting healthy conflict between siblings. This can be done by:

·        Teaching siblings to respect each other – Through educating siblings on the importance of respect and boundaries it acts a framework to support future competitive interactions. With respect, siblings can empathise with each other further, allowing for healthier competitive interactions.

·        Encouraging siblings to display conflict in the right context – Parents can use encourage siblings to participate in activities such as sport. Through doing this children can learn to be competitive, however, without disrespecting each other and causing unhealthy conflict.

# data[].attributes.body
• Conflicts to an extent are crucial and overall positive
• If conflicts are eliminated in a sibling relationship, children, especially younger siblings, are likely to be deprived of social, emotional and cognitive development (Shantz & Hobart, 1989)
• Conflicts should occur in moderation. If not, it can also deprive children of the chance to acquire social and emotional competencies – an inability to deal with difficult social situations (conflicts) and an inability to deal with difficult feelings (Kramer, 2010)
• Essentially, eliminating conflict can deprive children of conflict management abilities (Hartup, Laursen, Stewart, & Eastenson, 1988; Vandell & Bailey, 1992)

References
Shantz, C. U., & Hobart, C. J. (1989). Social conflict and development.
In T. J. Berndt & G. W. Ladd (Eds.), Peer relationships in child
development (pp. 71–94). New York: Wiley.
Vandell, D. L. & Bailey, M. D. (1992). Conflicts between siblings. In
C. U. Shantz and W. W. Hartup (Eds.), Conflict in child and
adolescent development (pp. 242–269). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Hartup, W. W., Laursen, B., Stewart, M. I., & Eastenson, A. (1988).
Conflict and the friendship relations of young children. Child
Development, 59, 1590–1600.
Kramer, L. (2010). The essential ingredients of successful sibling relationships: An emerging framework for advancing theory and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 4(2), 80-86.

# data[].attributes.body
Vieru (2007)
- deteriorating relationships with each other later on in life
- most commonly seen in adolescent siblings - connection tends to suffer considerably --> impaired trust and communication between brothers and sisters

Mike Bundrant
- sibling rivalry is often filled with psychological and physical aggression, which can traumatize children, leading to higher instances of depression, anxiety, and anger later in life.
- sibling aggression may be more damaging than bullying.
- 2% of the children who were surveyed suffered aggressive behavior from siblings that caused them distress and anxiety. According to the lead author of the study, Corinna Jenkins Tucker, this should be treated just as seriously as peer bullying.

Those with positive sibling relationships tend to display greater moral maturity and more positive peer interactions. Siblings can also provide strong emotional support for each other, and they often grow closer in the face of difficult situations like parental divorce or remarriage – but this can be interrupted when there is too much conflict between siblings.

# data[].attributes.body
Codie

Dunn and Slomkowski (1992) - By engaging in conflict, children experience a powerful learning opportunity - pushes them to be motivated to defend their interests
-Without conflict, children would have less opportunities to explore their views and beliefs - sibling conflict allows a safe space to fight for and justify what the child believes in
- Further enhances their ability to articulate and justify; instead of stating a loose opinion without support, they are forced to find justifications to prove why for instance they are correct

Dunn (1997) - also suggested that conflict between siblings gave them listening and persuasive skills, along with understanding another's point of view (TOM?) and the ability to work towards a resolution
- if they are forced daily to understand someone of a similar age’s POV, this can give insight into what others are thinking, and the reasons behind their ideas

Bedford, Volling and Avioli (2000)

Positives - Katie
Volling & Bedford, 1998
- Found that sibling conflict can have positive effects on long term relationships, such as the child's parenting ability when they grow up
- Mothers with negative sibling histories were less likely to use
authoritarian parenting strategies, less likely to show favouritism toward one child
over the other, and more likely to be sensitive to how family conflict affected the
children’s relationships

Raffaeli (1990) - another benefit of high intensity sibling conflict is the opportunity to learn to tolerate negative sibling affect. This tolerance can often be recognised in adolescents, where they will often let disputes escalate, not repair the relationship BUT STILL be able to resume interactions without constantly referencing the dispute.
- this is an important life skill as it prevents relationships breaking down at the first hurdle, and gives practice in learning how to move on from disputes

Specific example of sibling conflict:
Potter (2013 - looked at two specific brothers.
- they felt their conflicts encouraged themselves to try more in activities than they would have without a sibling
- suggested that as long as there are adults around to supervise and guide interactions, then rivalry can be beneficial
- the rivalry between the brothers pushed them into sports, where they would argue, compete and engage in lots of conflict
- however this lead them both eventually into olympic careers, and it was due to this conflict that they were so motivated in the first place

# data[].attributes.body
Katie and Codie - Positives of conflict.
Dominykas and Karolina - Negatives of conflict.
Alastair and Penny - Advice for parents, how to best promote healthy conflict/reduce conflict.