NEGOTIATING PRINCIPLES OF ENTITLEMENT IN SIBLING PROPERTY

Sibling property disputes were observed in 40 families, each with a 2- and a 4-year-old child, to study the application of principles of ent itlement. Conflict outcomes, parent support, and justifying arguments were each analyzed in disputes involving ownership, possession, sharin g, and property damage. Ownership and possession each influenced the c onduct and outcomes of disputes, with ownership taking precedence over possession in children's arguments and in dispute outcomes. Parents d id not clearly support either principle on its own and were as likely to argue in terms of possession as ownership rights. Parents supported children's sharing and prohibited property damage, but conflict outco mes upheld these principles only when parents intervened. Analyses rev ealed the strong influence of young children who argued, with increasi ng differentiation and sophistication, for principles of entitlement t hat were not strongly endorsed by their parents.