Sharing Our Stories: Experiences of Sibling Bereavement, 2020-2022

The sibling relationship is one of the longest and possibly most intimate relationships of a lifetime, capable of informing our sense of self and guiding how we are perceived by others. Due to the likely generational closeness of siblings and unique opportunity for shared familial experiences, brothers and sisters can be inimitably positioned within a person’s relational web. It therefore follows that the death of a sibling can have profound implications for any surviving brothers and/or sisters, initiating a bereavement experience unlike any other. Yet despite its potential significance, the sibling relationship is often overlooked within sociological study and the sibling bereavement experience is largely under studied in comparison to other familial relations. These interviews contribute to knowledge by prioritising lived experiences of sibling bereavement, as articulated by the 5 participants interviewed. They build upon a PhD study into sibling bereavement by focusing in further detail on the siblings' relationships with their parents following their brother or sister's death.