THE "INCESTUOUS FAMILY" REVISITED: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FAMILY THERAPY MYTHS

From a feminist perspective, the family therapy literature concerning incest fails to perceive the patriarchal context of abusive behavior and consequently blames the victim. This paper critiques the family therapy literature by drawing on the feminist discourse concerning incest. Several pervasive myths are identified: (a) that fathers and mothers are pathologically disturbed or inadequate; (b) incest is caused by separation and loss; (c) family isolation or a rigid external boundary explains incest; and (d) incest serves a function in maintaining family organization. By analyzing the contradictions arising from these polemical positions, we propose criteria for developing an adequate clinical account of incest.     

Some Epidemiological Characteristics of Perpetrators and Victims of Incest in Contemporary Ghana: Analysis of Media Reports

ABSTRACT

In Ghana, incest is considered sinful, taboo, and illegal. However, recent media reports show that incest has become a daily reality in Ghana. This study is a situational analysis of the pattern of incest in Ghana as reported in the media from January 2008 through July 2015. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on 48 incest news reports in Ghana. The findings showed that father–daughter incest was most frequent across the study period. Forty-seven females aged 3 to 25 years and a male aged 3 years were identified as victims. Generally, the incest lasted between 1 day and 13 years before disclosure. Perpetrators employed psychological and/or physical methods to coerce their victims. Marital difficulties, diabolical control, and seduction by victim featured prominently as alleged motives behind the abuse. The study observes that the recent increase in father–daughter incest warrants an immediate shift of research attention onto men’s mental health in Ghana.     

Incest and women of color: a study of experiences and disclosure

Clinical literature on incest trauma assumes a homogeneity of experience of all incest survivors including women of color. Experiences relating to community, culture, and family need to be acknowledged as salient aspects of the experiences of women of color who are also incest survivors. Twelve participants were interviewed regarding their experiences related to disclosure and coping. Participants described value systems, community mindedness, social attitudes, negative consequences amongst other social and cultural issues as factors affecting incest disclosure. Participants described cognitive reframing, determination and separation from the perpetrator as ways of coping with incest.     

A clinical practice model for treatment of college-aged incest survivors

Adult incest survivors frequently exhibit signs and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Many clinicians have geared their group treatment of incest survivors to address these manifestations. Given the nature of the sexual abuse, the early developmental periods in which some trauma occurs, the past and current relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, and the dynamics inherent in this violation and betrayal of trust, love, and power within the family unit, additional clinical concerns and safeguards must be considered. In addition, the struggles of college-aged incest survivors to come to terms with their history of sexual abuse often mirror the developmental tasks faced by their peers--autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and formation of personal values and ethics. To focus solely on the incest without also considering these developmental issues may solidify a gridlock between inadequate resolution of the developmental issues and the continued victimization of the student incest survivor. The author discusses a time-limited group treatment for college-aged incest survivors that uses a modified posttraumatic stress disorder model as a conceptual framework and addresses both sets of concerns.     

The effects of mother-son incest

Parsons has popularized the myth that mother-son incest is the most damaging form of incest. A review of sixteen cases casts doubts on this belief. It was found that responses to this type of incest are multi-dimensional, representing an extraordinary range of behavior not foreseen by Parsons. This leads to the conclusion that motherson incest does not trigger some innate biological response, but that the effects are more directly related to the symbolic meanings attributed to this act by the participants.Leslie Margolin received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.Address reprint requests to Leslie Margolin, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.     

Sister–Sister Incest: Data from an Anonymous Computerized Survey

Retrospective data were entered anonymously by 1,521 adult women using a computer-assisted self-interview. Thirty-one participants were victims of sister–sister incest, 40 were victims of brother–sister incest, 19 were victims of father–daughter incest, 8 were victims of sexual abuse by an adult female (including one mother), and 232 were victims of sexual abuse by an adult male other than their father before reaching 18 years of age. The rest (1,203) served as controls. The victims of sister–sister incest had significantly more problematic outcomes than controls on many measures as adults. Victims of sister–sister incest were more depressed and more likely than controls to be distant from the perpetrator-sister and to have traded sex for money, experienced an unplanned pregnancy, engaged in four different types of masturbation, and engaged in 13 different same-sex behaviors. Our findings were consistent with other reports of early eroticization and persistent hypereroticization of incest victims.     

ATTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS OF THERAPY WITH INCESTUOUS FAMILIES*

This study examines the effects of a self-help program, Parents United, on the members of families in which incest has occurred. Fifty-six male incest offenders, including three grandfathers, and thirty-five spouses were studied to assess the impact of the program on participants' attributions of responsibility for incest, changes in family relationships, and subsequent referral and recidivism. The program was successful in increasing participants' feelings of responsibility, and decreasing recidivism, but less successful in keeping the families together.     

Surviving incest: Feminist theory and practice

Abstract

In the last few years it has become inescapably clear that incest is relatively common and that it is mainly young girls who suffer this violence from men in their families. This article is based on in-depth interviews with Icelandic and English incest survivors. The material is analysed from a feminist perspective. My understanding of the experience and the effects of incest on the survivors lives, and opens new possibilities for social workers working with them. Consciousness-raising, the women's strength and resistance on the one hand, and equality and validation of their experiences on the other, are the basis of the work. Finally, I maintain that feminist theories and practice open new and timely possibilities for better social work practice generally.     

Bisexuality in the male

Research into factors pertinent to incest is hampered and confused as a result of lacking clear‐cut definitions. A distinction is made here between consanguine and affinal relationships, and it is suggested that biological consequences as well as psychological problems allegedly resulting from incest could be more clearly determined, and the effectiveness of the incest taboo, its origin and psychological internalization could be studied more effectively. Instances from literature are cited to exemplify these concepts.     

Couple and Familial Characteristics of Father-Child Incest Families

Couple and familial characteristics of father-child incest families are often described in the sexual abuse clinical and theoretical literature. However, few of these ideas have been tested empirically, and the limited research on the systemic functioning of incest families has resulted in contradictory findings. Results from a study describing couple and family system characteristics of 54 father-child incest families are reported. Both mothers and father perpetrators in the families were assessed. Findings from this study indicate that when compared to normative scores parents in incest families report greater than average social isolation, higher levels of family control and moral-religious emphasis, and lower emphasis on personal independence and individuation. Support was not found for an enmeshed level of family cohesion, as is often reported in the clinical literature. Nearly one-half of the couples reported clinically significant relationship distress and high levels of desired behavior change by their partner. Over one-half of the couples also reported substantial sexual discord in their relationships. The clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Long-Term Consequences of Childhood Incestuous Victimization upon Adult Women's Psychological Symptomatology

Current estimates of the prevalence of incest suggest that 16-20% of the women in the United States may be victims of such sexual abuse by the age of 18. The long-term consequences of incestuous victimization appear lo be numerous, producing in its victims feelings of powerlessness, stigmatization, and betrayal many years after the abuse. Some of the diagnostic consequences of childhood sexual abuse include affective disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder. and sexual dvsfunction. Therefore. the vumse of the present study was to comp&e adult women who were'viciims of childhood incest to various control groups to determine whether there were differences in psychological symptomatology. The results of this study suggest that the long-term consequences of incest are numerous and varied. Adult incest survivors reported greater levels of psychological distress as well as more types of symptomatology when compared to all three control groups. Overall. the data describing the incest survivors indicated that they were significantly more dcpressed, alienated, inhibited. socially introverted, and yet interpersonally more sensitive than other groups studied.     

Disenfranchised Grief After Incest The experience of victims/daughters,mothers/wives

In the literature on incest, the experience of grief and loss has been under-explored. In this article we identify the way in which recognition and resolution of grief after incest is frequently not socially sanctioned and may become ‘disenfranchised’. The concept of disenfranchised grief is used to understand the experiences of young women who have been victims of father-daughter incest, and their non-offending mothers. The nature of their grief is discussed, along with the complex and multiple relationships within their families. Finally we look at the clinical implications of the therapist recognising the complex and contradictory nature of their experiences and attending to their losses.     

Factors that affect a victim's self-disclosure in father-daughter incest

Out of concern about the underreporting of father-daughter incest, the author has conducted a study in Virginia to test certain observations in the literature about the relatively small number of cases that come to light voluntarily. The findings point clearly to contributory case characteristics that can sensitize practitioners to the possibility of undisclosed incest.     

Traumatic bonding: clinical implications in incest.

The concept of traumatic bonding, taken from the literatures on trauma, victimization, and exploitation, holds promise for explaining some of the more confusing dynamics of incest. This article offers a definition of traumatic bonding, demonstrates how it can be applied in cases of incest, and discusses the implications of this concept for therapeutic intervention.     

Clinical assessment of mother-son sexual abuse

This paper explores the possibility that cases of mother-son incest are underreported in the literature on child sexual abuse. Clinical cases of mother-son incest are presented and factors which may account for an underreporting of such cases are discussed. A cultural bias viewing mothers as asexual and males as sexual aggressors is suggested as the primary reason that cases of maternal sexual abuse are rarely identified or reported. Guidelines are provided for clinical assessment of possible cases of mother-son sexual abuse.     

THE FEMALE EXPERIENCE OF SIBLING INCEST*

The occurrence of sibling incest is underrecognized, and its impact is debated. Professionals may be inadequately sensitized to its occurrence since it is considered less traumatic to victims than other forms of incest and assigning responsibility in such contact between minors is difficult. Survivors may be unlikely to reveal such a history because of guilt and shame. Four case presentations of females who expereinced sibling incest illustrate problem areas, including issues of enforced secrecy, interpersonal power differentials, influences on sexual development, individual aftereffects, disturbance in family dynamics, and genderbased differences in relationship styles. Recommendations for identification and treatment are included.     

Sibling incest in the royal families of Egypt,Peru, and Hawaii

Analysts of the incest taboo who believe that cultural determinants alone are a sufficient explanation of human incest avoidance frequently cite alleged sibling marriages in the royal families of Egypt, Hawaii, and Peru as supporting evidence. If full‐sibling incest were common in intact families in several populous societies (where mates other than siblings were available) incest avoidance theories involving genetic components, and natural selection theory itself, would be seriously challenged because there would then exist successful societies which employ a relatively inefficient reproductive strategy. This review of historical sources regarding the actual practices of royal families reveals that full‐sibling marriages were extremely rare, except during the Ptolemaic reign. Futhermore, succession to the throne was almost never by an offspring of siblings. Brother‐sister marriage was frequent among commoners in Roman Egypt during the first two or three centuries after Christ. Because it is the only example, and because little is known about the marriages, this clear, but solitary, exception is an insufficient basis for rejecting the interactionist thesis.     

Patriarchy and incest in William Faulkner's 'Absalom! Absalom!' and Juan Rulfo's 'Pedro Páramo'

Abstract

This article presents a comparative analysis of patriarchy and incest in the work of William Faulkner and Juan Rulfo. Focusing primarily on Absalom! Absalom! and Pedro Páramo, I argue that Rulfo adopts and, at the same time, interrogates Faulkner's patriarchal model of the family: the incestuous relationships that characterize Absalom! Absalom! reappear, under different disguises, in the Mexican writer's novel. My analysis also suggests that both Faulkner and Rulfo were intrigued by the symbolic implications of incest, and exploited these implications in order to talk about the collapse of the patriarchal and cultural order in the post-Civil War South and early 20th century Mexico respectively. The conclusion maintains that, despite Rulfo's reluctance to acknowledge Faulkner's impact on his artistic consciousness, the intertextual dialogue between the two writers should be read both as a form of incest, and as a quest for a new social structure.     

Groups for Incest Survivors; A New Context

This article outlines a new context for group work with young women who have experienced incest. It describes how ideas from the work of White, Epston, Kamsler and de Shazer on the evolution, maintenance and resolution of problems can be applied to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of group work with teenage survivors of incest. Externalisation, exploration of beliefs and restorying are found to assist the young women greatly to reconnect with their own resourcefulness.     

Incest: Self‐report findings from a nonclinical sample

Self‐reports of incest experiences from a nonpatient, nonoffender sample of 100 individuals are described. The purpose is to document the wide range of incest types by correlating the negative‐to‐positive perceived outcome of the experience with sex, age, exploitation, and guilt. A 23‐item questionnaire was administered to respondents contacted through nationally circulated classified advertisements. Respondents, were categorized as perpetrators, victims, and consenting participants. Incestuous experiences with age peers, adult or child, constitute 42% of the accounts. Of the cross‐generational reports, 33% are from adult males describing incest with children, and 63% are from adults retrospectively describing childhood incest with adult males. Both exploitative and nonexploitative experiences are perceived by some respondents as negative and by others as positive. There was no correlation between positive‐to‐negative outcome and type of erotic activity, consanguinity, or sexual orientation.