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Aggression in Siblings Exposed to Domestic Violence by Rose-Marie Aggression in Siblings Exposed to Domestic Violence by Rose-Marie Tachie A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Family Social Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2010 by Rose-Marie Tachie SIBLING AGGRESSION ii Acknowledgements This research project was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant to Caroline Piotrowski, Principal Investigator (Award 410-96-0311). I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly supported me in bringing this thesis to a successful completion. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Caroline Piotrowski, for the relentless effort in bringing my academic ambitions to a successful end. Thanks for your patience and kindness, and for believing in me. Sincere thanks to my committee members, Dr. Rosemary Mills and Dr. Hiebert-Murphy. I would not have reached this far in my academic endeavors without your support, expertise and valuable and insightful feedback. I would also like to thank all the professors within and outside this department that I came into contact with, for their enormous support and guidance. Sincere thanks to all my fellow colleagues in the Graduate Room for the continuous support and encouragement throughout my stay. I am also grateful to the administrative staff, Pam, Jodi, Sheri and Margaret. Thanks for the warm and prompt response any time I approached you. I wish to express profound gratitude to my parents and siblings. Your continuous blessings and good will for me have brought me this far. To my husband, Mark-Francis and to my children, Mark, Kevin and Chelsea, I cannot thank you enough. The academic journey came with some challenges. Thanks for standing by me throughout, and even during those trying moments. Special thanks, to the Huletey, Aluko, Amoako, Adzanu Babalola, Barnes and Ganah families and to all other close friends and family members. Your good wishes, prayers and consistent support have definitely paid off. SIBLING AGGRESSION i Abstract Exposure to domestic violence in childhood has serious consequences for children’s health and well-being and is an important predictor of domestic abuse. However, as compared to other forms of domestic abuse, the effects of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of sibling interactions have been relatively underexplored. The major objective of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of the sibling relationship, and to better understand the influence of age and gender on sibling aggression. Social learning theory and family systems theory were the guiding frameworks for this study. Participants consisted of 47 school- aged sibling dyads with a history of exposure to domestic violence recruited from the community. Aggressive behaviour was measured by standardized questionnaires completed by mothers and children and by observations of naturalistic sibling interactions. As predicted, analyses of observed aggression which controlled for exposure to domestic violence revealed brothers were significantly more aggressive than sisters or mixed gender dyads. Unexpectedly, analyses of observed aggression found that boys were significantly more aggressive with their siblings than their female counterparts when exposure to maternal violence was taken into account. Findings indicate that children exposed to domestic violence, especially boys, may be at greater risk for aggressive behaviour. Results are expected to be useful for practice and future research. Keywords: exposure to domestic violence, aggression, siblings SIBLING AGGRESSION ii Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………i Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………....ii List of Tables ………………………………………………………………….................vi CHAPTER I………………………………………………………………......................1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………....................1 CHAPTER II………………………………………………………………......................4 Literature Review ……………………..............................................................................4 Effects of Exposure to Domestic Violence……………………..............................4 Defining Domestic Violence, Exposure to Domestic Violence and Aggression…...........................................................................................................4 Prevalence of Children Exposed to Domestic Violence ………………………….7 Outcomes of Exposure to Domestic Violence…………………………………...11 Aggressive Behaviour…………………………………........................................13 Theoretical Perspectives…………………………………....................................14 Social Learning Theory………………………………….........................15 Family Systems Theory …………………………………........................17 Gender…………………………………………………….......................19 Age…………………………………………………….............................22 Age and Gender………………………………………….........................23 Sibling Relationships………………………………………….............................24 SIBLING AGGRESSION iii Sibling Aggression…………………………………................................25 Aggression versus Abuse…………………………..................................26 Sibling Aggression in Children Exposed to Domestic Violence...............28 Summary……………………………………………………................................30 Purpose of the Present Study……………………………….................................31 Hypotheses………………………………………………….................................31 Gender Differences………………………………....................................32 Age Differences……………………………….........................................32 Age & Gender Differences…………………............................................32 CHAPTER III…………………......................................................................................33 Method…………………...................................................................................................33 Recruitment……...................................................................................................33 Procedures…………….........................................................................................33 Participants…………............................................................................................34 Children.....................................................................................................34 Mothers…..................................................................................................34 Measures……........................................................................................................35 Measures administered to mothers............................................................35 Violence history.............................................................................35 Child Exposure to Violence...........................................................36 Quality of Sibling Relationship.....................................................36 Measures administered to Siblings............................................................36 SIBLING AGGRESSION iv Quality of Sibling Relationship.....................................................36 Unstructured Observation.............................................................37 Sibling Interaction Observation Coding Scheme..........................38 CHAPTER IV…………………......................................................................................39 Results…………………...................................................................................................39 Data Analysis………….........................................................................................39 Gender Differences Analyses …….......................................................................39 Hypothesis 1…………..............................................................................39 Hypothesis 2…………..............................................................................40 Age Differences Analyses…….............................................................................41 Hypothesis 1…………..............................................................................41 Age and Gender Differences Analyses..................................................................42 Hypothesis 1…………..............................................................................42 Hypothesis 2…………..............................................................................42 Hypothesis 3…………..............................................................................42 Gender Differences in Aggression relative to Exposure to Maternal Violence....43 CHAPTER V…………………........................................................................................45 Discussion…………………..............................................................................................45 Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research..................................................51 Implications for Practice……............................................................................................54 Conclusion…….................................................................................................................56 SIBLING AGGRESSION v References…….................................................................................................................58 Tables……........................................................................................................................75
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