The ‘parent’ category as an interactional resource in a sibling dispute over sharing

Bibliographic Data

ID12657138
AuthorsValeria Sinkeviciute (0000-0003-1217-0165, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-12-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614456251396402
OpenAlexW7117506714
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited55

Drawing on a combination of the analytical tools from interactional pragmatics and membership categorisation analysis, this paper explores a specific type of everyday family life – a sibling dispute, and how the ‘parent’ category is used as an interactional resource by parents and children during oppositional talk over sharing. The data comes from spontaneous video-recorded conversations in a Russian-speaking family living in Australia that includes two siblings, aged 2;10 and 5;7. The findings demonstrate how (1) children exploit the ‘parent’ category to mobilise support or denounce the other’s reportable transgression, and (2) parents intervene in the dispute and socialise children into sharing, gradually moving from suggestions and directives to a threat. This study contributes to our understanding of how sibling disputes unfold and how siblings construct their relationships

Construct (python library · Conversation analysis · Discursive psychology · Everyday life · Pragmatics · Resource (disambiguation · Sibling · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access