Siblings in South Asia
Subtitle: brothers and sisters in cultural context
By: Charles W. Nuckolls, editor.
Contributors: Nuckolls, Charles William, 1956-
Series: Culture and human development
Publisher: Guilford Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 247
Subjects: Brothers and sisters -- South Asia.; Brothers and sisters -- Cross-cultural studies.
Description: Do different types of households and family structures affect the development of sibling relationships? Are cultural concepts of personhood expressed in siblingship? How do brothers and sisters respond to the expectation that they should get along? Despite the obvious importance of sibling relationships in human development, questions such as these are not readily answerable for a number of reasons: To date, psychologists have not adequately considered the impact of culture on sibling relationships; anthropologists generally have not studied cultural processes as they unfold in individual development; and, perhaps most important, few studies of siblings outside the United States and Britain currently exist.^

Addressing the issues of greatest concern to psychologists and anthropologists alike, this interdisciplinary volume - including social and structural, developmental psychological, psychoanalytic, and ethnopsychological perspectives - examines the development of sibling relationships in several different regions. The book opens with an overview of sibling similarities and differences around the world and an introduction to the cross-cultural study of sibling relations. The volume is then divided into two parts. The first focuses on the organization of sibling relations in childhood and adulthood. Chapters analyze the organization of sibling relations as they relate to socialization practices, family economics and structure, and customs of marriage and dowry. The second part of the book focuses on the representation of cultural and psychological meanings of sibling relations through mythology, astrology, and life history.^

Rounding out the volume is a discussion of how this work contributes to the developmental literature. A groundbreaking work on the roles of brothers and sisters, this volume also constitutes one of the best available regional studies of culture and society. As such, it is invaluable reading for developmental psychologists, anthropologists, and students of Asian studies. Written in an accessible and engaging style, it also serves as an ancillary text for courses in culture and cognition and cross-cultural psychology, psychological anthropology, and family studies.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.