Enduring Ties: An Exploration into the lives of Adult Siblings

Enduring Ties: An Exploration into the Lives of Adult Siblings examines adult sibling relationships and the changes that occur throughout one's lifespan and between generations, employing the lenses of Anthropology and English. There is an abundance of scholarship on siblingship in childhood, but siblingship is only sporadically researched into adulthood. This thesis addresses that gap in research and provides individual perspectives on how sibling relationships change over time. To uncover how sibling relationships evolve throughout the lifespan, I interviewed twelve people from three different age groups: young adulthood (18-23), middle age (40-60), and elder adulthood (60-80). These interviews were conversational and focused on narrating the story of interviewees' sibling relationships in childhood and how they had subsequently changed throughout their adult lives. Combining ethnographic and literary analysis practices, I focus on the themes and consistencies across the different age groups as well as those that transcend life stages. I uncovered cultural models of kinship that suggested that people believe siblings should have an enduring tie and should "have each other's backs," despite the fact that many people face a reality of having little in common with adult siblings and spending little time with them. In addition, the interviews highlighted a variety of sibling dynamics, such as: biological relation, age difference, and friendship, all of which emphasized the fact that a socially acceptable definition of siblingship is complicated and filled with myriad intricacies. I close with a personal essay delineating my own sibling relationships in order to situate my own position within this research. Through the interviews and my own exploration, I find what replaces the mental and physical proximity of childhood and what is often necessary to hold a sibling relationship together across the lifespan.