Sisterhood Narratives

Abstract

Research was conducted to explore stories of adult sister relationships and their perspectives of original family interactions. With a combined feminist/narrative theoretical approach in a qualitative format, the researchers asked a series of conversational questions to biological/adoptive adult sisters together concerning their various perspectives of interactions in their original families. The research project, known as The Sister Narratives Research Project, was ongoing for five years and researchers interviewed 36 sister teams, ranging in age from 24 to 85 years of age, at the time of the interviews. Further, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial mix of participants added an important dimension to the data gathered. A follow-up was conducted with approximately one-third of the sister teams to glean further information. Results showed that interviewing sisters together provides a powerful, creative process that allows for important understanding of the potent mix of anger, love, competitiveness, and protectiveness that sisters reflect in their historical views as well as in the current research interview interaction. Data analysis has given the family therapy field some important understandings and support of important feminist issues in adult female sibling relationships.

Key Words:

• Sibling
• qualitative research
• narrative
• feminist research