Parental Perceptions and Experiences of Physical and Emotional Violence between Siblings: A Mixed-Methods, Comparative Case Study (original) (raw)

, the definition of "agonistic" is of, relating to, or being aggressive or defensive social interaction (as fighting, fleeing, or submitting) between individuals usually of the same species. Of the three studies using this label, only two (Brody, Stoneman, & Burke, 1987; Roscoe, Goodwin, & Kennedy, 1987) provided definitions for how they were using the term. Brody, Stoneman, and Burke (1987) operationalized agonistic behavior between siblings as "hits, attacks, pushes, fights, threatens, quarrels, teases, insults, sarcasm, name calling, yelling, whining, protesting, frowns, cries, or uses negative facial expressions" (p.563) whereas Roscoe, Goodwin, and Kennedy (1987) used agonistic behavior to refer to verbal conflict between siblings.