Managing Sibling Conflicts: The Obvious and Hidden Battles

Not all sibling conflict is overt, and the hidden battles may be devastating.

A lot has been written on sibling rivalry, particularly about name calling, arguing, provoking, physical fighting, and other forms of overt hostility.


Almost every article suggests that this is inevitable and normal. In drawing comparisons, writers often reference the animal kingdom—baby birds throwing weaker siblings out of the nest, carnivores snatching a sibling’s food or pushing them away from mom’s breast. After all, Darwin’s notion of survival of the fittest is a major part of evolution.

And while we don’t really know the personal experience of other parent creatures on our planet, we have a sense of how human parents commonly react: with frustration, irritability, sadness, feelings of powerless or overwhelm. Human parents simply want the fighting to stop.


We want our kids to love and care for each other, and we want to be effective parents when conflicts arise.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/inside-out-outside-in/201904/managing-sibling-conflicts-the-obvious-and-hidden-battles


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