Violence in sibling relationships: abuse or par for the course? : A qualitative interview study on the perspective of school counsellors on sibling violence

Sammanfattning: This study aims to explore the perspective of school counsellors on sibling violence, focusing on their understanding of the phenomenon through their professional experiences and their perceptions of their own abilities in addressing it. The study was conducted through a qualitative approach, where six school counsellors working with teenagers aged thirteen years and up were interviewed using a semi-structured interview method. The findings of this study suggest that school counsellors play an important role in identifying, responding, and promoting change in cases of sibling violence within the school system. Furthermore, their observations indicate that the family environment can be significant to the occurrence of sibling violence through the normalisation and perpetuation of the violence, be it directly or through a general culture of violence in the family. Additionally, the occurrence of sibling violence has also been observed to have some potential consequences for persons experiencing it, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and mistrust of others.