Defense Date

2-23-2024

Graduation Date

Summer 8-10-2024

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Clinical Psychology

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Lori Koelsch

Committee Member

Jessie Goicoechea

Committee Member

Leswin Laubscher

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the place of the sibling in narratives of developmental trauma as well as the sibling relationship’s impact on the formation of sense of self. Another area of interest was the impact of congruence versus incongruence in the narrative between siblings. In other words, this study sought to illuminate the impact when the sibling is understood to have reached different conclusions about shared experiences of abuse and neglect.

This study is grounded in the literature on siblings from psychoanalytic, attachment, and family systems perspectives. A series of narrative interviews were conducted with participants who identified as survivors of childhood abuse and neglect and had a sibling in the home during these experiences. The data was then analyzed using a method of narrative analysis adapted from Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber (1998). The analysis was organized to address the relevant themes that emerged around the sibling as a figure in their story, as well as sense of self, sense of narrative congruence or incongruence with the sibling, and narrative form.

The sibling emerged as an ambivalent figure in the context of trauma, capable of facilitating growth and possibility or compounding the effects of the trauma through repetition of harmful dynamics. These elements were categorized into broader themes of foreclosure and themes of transformation. Another theme that emerged was that of meaning making. Cultural influence, particularly religion, gender, and race, were explored as crucial factors that shaped the meaning making process as well as sense of self.

Language

English

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