Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Incest”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Effects of isolation on sibling recognition in prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster.

Traditionally, sibling recognition in prairie voles has been inferred by incest avoidance or lack of reproduction among littermates. Previous studies have shown that isolation of sibling prairie voles for 8-15 days causes the breakdown of incest avoidance. However, in a re-evaluation of these studies, using social interactions within sexes (amicable versus agonistic behaviours), rather than incest avoidance, we found that incest avoidance might not be the best criterion for inferring sibling recognition in this species. When sibling prairie voles were isolated for less than 20 days, same-sex siblings still showed evidence of recognition in social encounter tests. Only after 20 days of isolation did sibling prairie voles show low levels of amicable behaviours and very high levels of agonistic behaviours; therefore, treating their siblings in the same way that they treated nonsiblings. Sibling recognition should be seen as a continuum, which can be inferred and detected experimentally at different time intervals by different approaches (incest avoidance or social interactions). Our results help to elucidate the effects of isolation on sibling recognition and help to determine the possible mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of social memory for recognition cues after periods of isolation. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

How do societies and "corporate" groups delimit themselves? A puzzle common to social and medical anthropology.

Classic anthropological theories define the first but neglect the second condition of social life. When they assume that the universal effect of the incest taboo is the opening of the consanguinial groups to the others, to exchange, they do not explain the closure of their sphere of reciprocity, i.e., the delimitation of the society. Hence the question: How, by which means, are stateless societies delimited or do they delimit themselves? Among the Senoufo of Ivory Coast (Nafara), one of the main acts of male initiation ceremonies--to the Poro, which is the very basis of the Senoufo's ethnic identity--is a ritual intercourse between the neophytes and their symbolic mother who has just given birth to them. This rite materializes the initiatic axiom: Senoufo men reproduce themselves by incest. In this case, the prescription of ritual incest is a means by which the society "closes" the field of reciprocity "opened" by the prohibition of actual incest. The return of the forbidden--at the heart of the institution which reproduces its identity--is the basic principle of the ritual delimitation of this society. Despite appearances, the delimitation of the so-called "corporate groups"--for example, an African lineage--is neither more "natural" nor more jural than that of the society which contains them. The limits of these groups are traced and retraced notably in the course of traditional "therapies" and by means of etiological entities which share several common, distinctive properties. (1) They cannot operate outside of the group delimited by them. (2) They are polyvalent and their effects are permutable from one group-member to another. (3) They act periodically: they have to dismantle the group periodically from the inside in order to be able to delimit it constantly from the outside. This phenomenon of spatio-temporal inversion (inside-outside; periodic-continuous), observable in any process of ritual delimitation, deserves our attention insofar as its closer analysis could lead us to rethink our present theories of ritual.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed1982

Incestuous experiences within homosexual populations: a preliminary study.

The incidence, frequency rates, and effects of both homosexual and heterosexual incestuous experiences within lesbian and male homosexual populations are examined. Twenty-nine female homosexuals and 54 male homosexuals from diverse demographic backgrounds were administered a 16-page anonymous questionnaire designed to capture a wide range of demographic, personality, life history, and attitudinal information. Differences in family characteristics that exist between individuals who have experienced nuclear family incest, extended family incest, and those who have never experienced incest are investigated. Differences that exist between the two populations, incest and nonincest, were also studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Abuse in the investigation and treatment of intrafamilial child sexual abuse.

This paper examines the effects of current practice in the investigation and treatment of documented incest abusers on the offenders and families involved. Fifteen offenders attending the Utah Parents United group completed a questionnaire on the sequence of events in the investigation and prosecution of their cases and the concomitant results of the investigation on their job status, living and financial situations, family and social relationships, and media reporting of the abuse. Results indicate that there is great variability in the investigation and prosecution of incest cases and the public announcement of abuse convictions. The consequences of the abuse investigation are devastating for offender and his family in terms of job loss; need for public assistance; family disbandonment through removal of the offender, victim, or both from the family, marital separation, and foster care for nonabused siblings; changes of residence, and the public announcement of the abuse in the media. Results also show that offenders receive little, if any, social support from family or friends. Changes in the current approach to the investigation and prosecution of incest offenders are proposed and include the following: banning the publication of convictions for child abuse; streamlining the legal process so that it is consistent from case to case; and developing diversion programs as alternatives to prison for offenders. Suggested are self-help, court-ordered therapeutic programs, such as Parents United, that are designed for the treatment of families involved in child sexual abuse and incest. The desired outcomes of such a diversion program are low offender recidivism, avoidance of the offender's family being placed on welfare, less reliance on foster care placement for the offender's children, involvement of the offender's family in moving toward reunion when feasible, and the use of existing half-way houses in lieu of incarceration when necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Masking and unmasking the sexual abuse of children: perceptions of violence against children in "the Badlands" of Ontario, 1916-1930.

This article explores the legal and social understandings of incest in early-twentieth-century Canada, examining the way in which sexual abuse was identified in sensational court cases but ideologically masked in social consciousness. First, the legal treatment of incest is examined through court cases, with special focus on one case that animated a grand jury report on a rural area where incest and violence supposedly flourished. Second, the grand jury's legal, medical, and social assumptions about incest, reflecting eugenic priorities as well as class and gender prejudices, are surveyed. Third, the actual use of the grand jury report in subsequent cases is probed. The report became a generalized explanation for all kinds of familial violence placing blame for violence on poor, degenerate, and immoral parents but ignoring the structural problems of power and patriachy.

Canada↗
PubMed1992

Legal and therapeutic interventions with incestuous families.

Explanations for the occurrence of incest can be grouped into four general categories. Although some authors and clinicians have stated that one category of explanations best explains incest, the literature contains empirical and case report support for each category. In this article, it is argued that each category of explanations is useful for understanding incest, and that a single category can explain only a small minority of incest cases. Most cases are more effectively characterized by a combination of explanations. Assessing which of the explanations describes a particular incestuous family will provide valuable guidelines for determining the most appropriate legal and therapeutic interventions for that family.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Young adult women who report childhood intrafamilial sexual abuse: subsequent adjustment.

Young adult women who had experienced incest and a matched comparison group were examined for differences in interpersonal functioning, sexual functioning, self-esteem, and emotional adjustment. Those reporting incest reported significantly poorer general social adjustment, especially in dating relationships. They had significantly lower levels of sexual satisfaction, lower self-esteem, and distorted body images, as well as greater depression and lower positive affect. These characteristics may be related not only to the incest experience but to the general family environment in which incest occurred, as significant differences in family characteristics were also observed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Discriminant analysis of a sexual-functioning inventory with intrafamilial and extrafamilial child molesters.

Several suggestions have been offered by clinicians who work with sex offenders concerning etiological distinctions between incest offenders and extrafamilial child molesters. In this study we hypothesized that nonincestuous child molesters would have more sexual problems in general than would incestuous offenders. Ninety-five incest offenders and 127 nonincestuous child molesters were administered the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), a self-report instrument. On the global Sexual Functioning Index the total sample of child molesters scored below the first percentile compared to the normative sample. In a direct discriminant analysis of the 10 subscales, satisfaction, fantasy, and experience were the principle variables discriminating between incestuous and nonincestuous offenders. Incest offenders were higher on experience and satisfaction and lower on fantasy. However, the discriminant analysis failed to yield clinically relevant distinctions between the sexual problems of extrafamilial and intrafamilial child molesters. DSFI scores for both groups indicated that their overall level of sexual functioning is poor relative to the general population.

Child↗
PubMed1982

A comprehensive child sexual abuse treatment program.

The number of families troubled by parent-child incest in the typical community is much larger than suspected by professional helpers. If left unattended, the victim(s) and the family as a whole will be critically traumatized. Parental incest in the nuclear family can be likened to terminal cancer in the individual. The community must encourage the incestuous families to seek treatment and must provide comprehensive in-depth therapy to all members of the family. The etiology and dynamics of parental incest and the treatment method developed by the Directors of the Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program of Santa Clara County (CSATP), California, are discussed. Over the past ten years the CSATP has provided therapy to over 4,000 children and their families (about 14,000 individuals), by far the largest number so treated by any single organization. About 90% of the children have been returned to their families; and the recidivism rate in the families who have completed the treatment program remains at less than 1%.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Laboratory evidence of unsuspected parental consanguinity among cases of disputed paternity.

A search was conducted to find evidence of possible incestuous unions between the biologic parents of children involved in 2500 paternity cases. Suspicion was raised when either (1) a mother and her child possessed identical HLA phenotypes, or (2) the child appeared to be possibly homozygous for one maternal haplotype (i.e., one of the child's HLA haplotypes was a blank). These mother-child HLA-haplotype dualisms (MHDs) occurred in 5% of all cases. Frequency of exclusion of the accused men in cases demonstrating MHD, was compared with the remaining paternity cases. No significant difference was found in overall exclusion rates between MHD cases and controls when exclusion produced by HLA and red cell antigen systems were observed. However, there was a greater rate of exclusion in MHD cases when comparing exclusions produced by red cell antigen systems regardless of whether HLA tests excluded paternity (p less than 0.025). MHD cases involving teenaged mothers differed from control cases in frequency of exclusion of paternity only on the basis of red cell antigen phenotyping (p less than 0.005). The HLA system's usefulness in paternity testing is diminished when there is MHD; multiple, independently-inherited systems are relatively more useful in these circumstances. The search method detects only half of potential incest cases; proof of incest requires more extensive testing for homozygosity among other polymorphisms. Since calculations of likelihood of paternity are inappropriate in cases involving close consanguinity, detection and follow up studies are important. Data suggest that one-fifth of MHD cases may involve first degree consanguinity and that the incest rate among paternity cases may be as high as 2%.

Alleles↗
PubMed1992

Substance abuse among sexually abused adolescents and their families.

The concurrence of substance abuse and history of sexual abuse among adolescents has prompted this study of substance abuse patterns among families of adolescents who report incest or extrafamilial sexual abuse. A total of 3,179 ninth-grade students in a rural midwestern state completed a survey that included questions about individual and family substance abuse. Adolescents who had been sexually abused were more likely to report substance abuse for themselves as well as for members of their immediate families. They were also more likely to report that they used substances because of family problems, school problems, and because they were sad, lonely, or angry. Adolescents reporting a parent with an alcohol or a drug problem were more likely to use cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, or "speed." Adolescents experiencing extrafamilial abuse reported more alcohol abuse and more alcohol-related problems than those who experienced incest. There were similar reports of parental and familial alcohol and drug problems among these experiencing incest and those experiencing extrafamilial abuse. Those with drug-abusing parents, however, were most likely to report some kind of sexual abuse history.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

African-American women who smoke crack cocaine: sexual trauma and the mother-daughter relationship.

This study evolved from previous writings that linked sexual abuse to the quality of the mother-daughter relationship. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the mother-daughter relationship among African-American women who abuse crack cocaine by comparing three different groups: women who have not experienced incest but have experienced sexual abuse; women who have experienced incest; and women who have not experienced sexual abuse. A convenience sample of 64 African-American women was used, 35 of whom were in drug abuse treatment and 29 of whom were abusing crack cocaine. Using analysis of variance studies, significant differences were found between the three groups in terms of the mother-daughter relationship. Differences were also found between the group that experienced incest and the group that experienced nonincestuous sexual abuse in terms of the amount of abuse and first age of abuse. This preliminary investigation indicates the need for further study of specific populations in this area--most notably, African-American women who abuse crack cocaine.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

The sexually exploited child.

Sexual exploitation of children (under 14 years of age) is a common occurrence, although actual numbers are unknown. There are three major forms of sexual abuse: (1) incest, ie, sexual activity between consanguineous family members; (2) sexual assault, such as rape or molestation by adults not related to the child; and (3) habitual sexual exploitation for purposes of financial reward or perverse sexual satisfaction. Brother-sister incest has the highest incidence in the middle and upper socioeconomic levels and is probably the least damaging, psychologically, to sexual adjustment later in life. Father-daughter incest is more common in the lower socioeconomic levels and is thought to produce major disorders in the psychosexual area. Sexual assault of children, if handled supportively and with understanding by the surrounding adults, including parents, physicians, teachers, law enforcement officers, and others, can result in minimal sequelae; however, often the situation is handled with emotional reactions ranging from disgust to hysteria which result in the child's being victimized and traumatized unnecessarily. These latter situations lead to sexual acting-out in adolescence, promiscuity, perversions, or frigidity in adult sexual life. Teachers, physicians, and child welfare workers need to be attuned to the possibility to sexual abuse in the children they serve.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1981

Psychologic responses of incestuous daughters: emerging patterns.

Our review of the literature on the impact of paternal incest with the daughter showed several patterns of results. Past studies of girls soon after the termination of or exposure to incest suggest guilt, depression, behavior disorders, and occasionally hysterical "seizures" as possible reactions. Those exploring the long-term consequences point toward deficits in sexual functioning and sexual identity. A third group of studies, however, indicates that some victims of father-daughter incest exhibit no apparent psychopathology. The contribution of prevailing knowledge to current therapeutic practice is discussed.

Behavior↗
PubMed1994

Treating the sexually abused child: a recursive, multimodal program.

This article describes a recursive, multimodal therapy approach for children who have been sexually abused by members of their family. The different therapeutic modalities (family, group, and individual) are conceived of as different "communities" that provide a variety of relationships, information, and perspectives on the incest experience. The child's involvement in these different communities allows her or him to develop a multiplicity of self-accounts. Meaning is further expanded through the recursive transfer of material across modalities. By determining the content that is discussed in any particular session, and by participating actively in decisions about transferring material across modalities, the child both develops an enhanced sense of personal agency and a connection to trustworthy family members. This approach is designed to allow each child's unique experience with incest to emerge. Clinical examples are provided, along with a description of the program that provides the setting for our multimodal approach to incest.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Long-term effects of incestuous abuse in childhood.

The authors studied two groups of adult women with histories of incest, a nonclinical sample (N = 152) and an outpatient sample (N = 53). Women in the community sample reported a range of long-term effects from the incest. The great majority said they had been upset by their incest experiences, but about half said they had recovered well from their trauma. Most women who had suffered forceful, prolonged, or highly intrusive sexual abuse, or who had been abused by their father or stepfather, reported long-lasting negative effects. The patient sample reported histories comparable to the most severe traumatic histories in the community sample.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Incest/child sexual abuse: historical perspectives.

After identifying that social scientists and historians have long believed (and vigorously defended) that the only universal trait found in every known culture is the prohibition against incest, occurrence of incest and child sexual abuse is traced first through Western culture from antiquity to the present with special emphasis on Sigmund Freud's "reversal." It then is traced through Eastern culture from ancient to modern times. Contemporary trends of self-disclosure of incest and child sexual abuse are examined, and current incidence data are provided. The backlash phenomenon is then explored, and conclusions are drawn.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Male homosexual psychodynamics and the Rorschach test.

A review of contradictory findings regarding Wheeler's Rorschach content signs of male homosexuality suggested that negative findings may have resulted from a focus on homosexual populations characterized by minimal arousal of underlying unconscious conflicts. It was hypothesized that activating these unconscious psychodynamics would enhance the discriminative power of the Wheeler signs. Inkblot protocols obtained in an earlier study from matched groups of homosexuals and heterosexuals under two experimental conditions -- involving subliminal exposure of either an incest-related or a neutral control stimulus -- were scored for Wheeler signs. The incest condition brought about a significantly greater incidence of the signs in homosexual records only, suggesting that the intensification of unconscious incest wishes stimulates homosexual reactions, consonant with psychoanalytic formulations.

Adolescent↗