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1.19 SIBLING ABUSE -- TYPES AND CATEGORIES OF ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR

==== Sibling Abuse

MEANING: The abuse of one sibling by another sibling such as an older brother abusing a younger brother, an older sister abusing a younger brother, etc. In addition to suffering the abuse, the abused often have other complex and painful feelings such as feeling abandoned by their parents. They may also suffer from betrayal trauma, a trauma in which the abused denies the existence of the abuse because the abused needed the abuser in order to survive at a young age. Often the abuser cannot admit the abuse until the abused person is far from the situation both in space and time.

PERSONAL NOTE FROM RICK DOBLE: Having suffered at the hands of my older brother from the time I was born, I am especially sensitive to this issue. I believe that sibling abuse is the least understood and most under reported of all abuse categories. Parents may not see the damage being done when an older brother beats up his sister when she comes home from school, for example, as was reported on the Starting Over reality show. Years later the damage still lingers. Parents are reluctant to deal with this at any point. This is because at the time it seems like sibling rivalry that is impossible to resolve and later in life parents may feel guilty because they did not do anything.

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