Description
Book SynopsisThis original book gives a timely exploration of the importance of sibling relationships from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It presents for the first time an account of the work on brothers and sisters by Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein and Anna Freud, whose pioneering and vital work on sibling issues has not been systematically examined before. It also explores the important contributions to our understanding of siblings from developmental research, systemic therapy and attachment theory. Through infant observation and clinical work with children and young people, the book reveals the ways in which sibling relationships can be illuminated by these different perspectives. The book aims to stress the importance of multi-disciplinary thinking and to encourage further an interface between psychoanalytic thinking and other disciplines. It is a must for clinicians and other professionals working with children and families and of interest too to the general reader.
Trade Review'The editors have succeeded in their self-appointed task to, as they say in the Endpiece, bring together theory, research, and clinical work. They themselves and their chosen contributors more than fulfil this task-a difficult one, to say the least. To marshal and integrate what, from the outside, look like very disparate ways of thinking, to bring together the outer and the inner worlds of these complex relationships, is a huge achievement. Research and clinical work are not always easy bedfellows, but the editors' commitment to good practice sings through their own extensive contributions and those of their chosen authors with compelling force and professionalism.'- Margot Waddell from the Foreword
Table of ContentsSeries Editor’s Preface -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Psychoanalytic Perspectives -- Freud on brothers and sisters: a neglected topic -- Melanie Klein’s thoughts on brothers and sisters -- “From egocentricity to companionship”: Anna Freud’s understanding of sibling relationships -- Developmental, Attachment, and Systemic Perspectives -- Sibling relationships across the life-span -- Sibling relationships: an attachment perspective -- Keeping siblings in mind: family therapy with children and sibling relationships -- Aspects of Siblinghood from Early Childhood to Adolescence -- Reflections on the observation of infants and early sibling relationships -- Siblings in middle childhood -- Adolescence: issues for brothers and sisters -- Sibling Relationships in Different Family Contexts -- Siblings in the context of divorce and family re-ordering: the past and the future -- Brothers and sisters in care -- Clinical research: a psychotherapeutic assessment model for siblings in care -- Siblings in Adversity: Effects of Death and Illness on Siblings from Childhood to Adulthood -- The impact of sibling loss and illness -- Doubly bereaved -- Lost babies—lost siblings: the effect of perinatal loss in the next generation -- Endpiece
