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PubMed1989

Incest survivors: the relation of their perceptions of their parents and their own parenting attitudes.

The present study examined the child-rearing attitudes of incest and nonincest child sexual abuse survivors and their perceptions of their own parents' behavior. From a sample of women with a history of child sexual abuse, 40 women with children completed questionnaires designed to assess their own and their parents' child-rearing behavior in terms of the dimensions of parental acceptance and control. The data indicated that women from incestuous backgrounds had more negative perceptions of their fathers and mothers in terms of acceptance and control than women abused by men who were not related to them. Moreover, incest victims who perceived their mothers negatively endorsed autonomy promotion in their own attitudes toward child rearing. The findings are discussed in terms of (1) the lack of positive parenting models when relations with both parents are experienced as negative, (2) incest survivors' conflicts about their own early maturity, and (3) the relation of these findings to the tendency for intergenerational repetition of father-daughter incest.

Attitude↗
PubMed1990

Incest victims: inadequate help by professionals.

Two surveys studied the inadequacies of professional assistance given to incest victims. In the investigation 130 professionals and 50 adult women victimized as children were interviewed. With respect to young, recent victims, the assistance given was hampered by institutional distrust, the inability of individual professionals to stop the ongoing incest, as well as the frequent breaking off of contact by the young girls themselves. The professionals who helped adult, former incest victims were hampered by shortcomings in knowledge and skills as well as their own emotional resistance. On the average, these adult victims consulted 3.5 professionals over many years. The "long march through the consultation rooms" and the various complaints of the women regarding the professionals are described. In conclusion, recommendations for improvement in assisting incest victims are suggested.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Sibling incest offenders.

Sibling incest is the least investigated but probably the most common form of incest. This study describes a predominantly Caucasian, middle-income sample of sibling incest offenders from primarily intact families. Demographics, behavioral dysfunction, psychiatric diagnoses, history of victimization, family characteristics, and abuse characteristics are presented. Findings included that 92% of the offenders had a history of being physically abused, whereas only 8% had a history of sexual victimization. Issues of parental denial and minimization and intergenerational transmission of abusive patterns are discussed. Sibling incest demands further attention from clinicians and researchers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Effects of mother-son incest and positive perceptions of sexual abuse experiences on the psychosocial adjustment of clinic-referred men.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to examine the long-term impact of mother-son incest and positive initial perceptions of sexual abuse experiences on adult male psychosocial functioning. METHOD: Sixty-seven clinic-referred men with a history of sexual abuse participated. The participants completed self-report measures regarding their current psychosocial functioning and described the nature of their sexual and physical abuse experiences during childhood. RESULTS: Seventeen men reported mother-son incest, and these men endorsed more trauma symptoms than did other sexually abused men, even after controlling for a history of multiple perpetrators and physical abuse. Mother-son incest was likely to be subtle, involving behaviors that may be difficult to distinguish from normal caregiving (e.g., genital touching), despite the potentially serious long-term consequences. Twenty-seven men recalled positive or mixed initial perceptions of the abuse, including about half of the men who had been abused by their mothers. These men reported more adjustment problems than did men who recalled purely negative initial perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: Mother-son incest and positive initial perceptions of sexual abuse experiences both appear to be risk factors for more severe psychosocial adjustment problems among clinic-referred men.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Incest, gamete donation by siblings and the importance of the genetic link.

Recently, several requests have emerged in which women wished to be impregnated with donor eggs fertilized with spermatozoa of their brother. An important argument advanced against such applications is that it is a kind of incest. Four definitions of incest are reviewed in this article to evaluate the acceptability of these demands. The first three (sexual intercourse, reproduction with gametes of first-degree relatives and symbolic incest) do not apply to the cases. However, when the sister and her brother intend to raise the child as social mother and father, these requests should be considered as "intentional incest". If the brother only functions as an uncle, the request of the woman resembles the currently accepted practice of oocyte donation from sister to sister. In that case, the wish to receive gametes from a first-degree relative is motivated by the wish to establish as far as possible a genetic link with the child.

Consanguinity↗
PubMed1999

The sexual preferences of incest offenders.

Inclusive fitness theory suggests that discriminative solicitude and inbreeding avoidance are important mechanisms regulating parent-children interactions. From an inclusive fitness perspective, sex with one's biological children is paradoxical. The authors hypothesized that incest can occur when these mechanisms are not activated (e.g., if a father is uninvolved in child rearing) or are overwhelmed by another factor, such as pedophilic interest. They predicted that biological fathers, who presumably have been the most involved in the rearing of their victims, would show greater phallometrically measured pedophilic interest than would other incest offenders against children (e.g., grandfathers, uncles, stepfathers). The prediction was not supported. A testable alternative hypothesis to explain biological father incest is presented and the importance of assessing pedophilic interest among incest offenders is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

The treatment of incest offenders--a hypnotic approach: a brief communication.

Incest has become more prominent in public awareness over the past 15 years. The major focus of this interest has been on the incest survivor. The incest offender has received less attention. A hypnotic approach to treating incest offenders is outlined that involves a seven-stage approach. A case example is presented and future research directions suggested.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Incest. Its causes and repercussions.

Throughout history, societies have circumscribed certain forms of intimacy in the family setting. Transgression has been punished by force of ecclesiastical rules and government statutes. However, no single definition of incest is widely accepted, as the degree of kinship in which marriage is allowed and the age of consent vary. Fueled in part by the current emphasis on child abuse prevention, the reporting of incest is increasing. The perpetrator in the majority of reported cases is a male adult, and most often the victim is a young girl. Other dyads do occur and are probably under-estimated in frequency. Disturbed family relationships generate a shift in individual responsibilities and expectations that can lead to incest. A lack of spousal sexual activity is a common preceding factor. The sequelae of this breach of family integrity are significant. Frequently, the family itself is destroyed; the destruction often begins before incest occurs. The victim faces a future characterized by emotional turmoil, diminished self-esteem, impaired interpersonal relationships, and impulsive acting-out behavior. Family and individual therapy, participation in support groups, and referral for chemical dependency treatment are essential if future problems in the lives of everyone involved are to be avoided.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Family interactions within incest and nonincest families.

OBJECTIVE: The study addressed the questions, What are the interactional patterns in families in which incest occurs? and Do these patterns differ from those of families with other clinical problems? METHOD: The families for the study were chosen from two outpatient clinics; the C. Henry Kempe, National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect provided access to families with incest, and the nonincest families each had a child seen in a university child psychiatry clinic. In each of these settings, 30 families were selected in the order of referral for evaluation. All families agreed to participate. Each family was given two tasks to perform during a structured interview. The interviews were videotaped, and 15-20-minute segments were rated independently by two of the authors, who used the Beavers-Timberlawn Family Evaluation Scale to assess interactional behaviors within each family. RESULTS: The incest families were significantly more dysfunctional in all but one area of family interaction. The distribution of power within a family did not differentiate the two types of families. CONCLUSIONS: The incest families dysfunctional patterns that seemed to support and maintain the incestuous behavior were a rigid family belief system, a dysfunctional parental coalition, parental neglect and emotional unavailability, and the inability to nurture autonomy in family members.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Consummated mother-son incest in latency: a case report of an adult analysis.

Reported cases of mother-son incest are very rare in the psychoanalytic literature; the fact of such incest, however, may not be so rare as has generally been believed. A detailed case report of the analysis of an adult with a history of severe physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, including consummated incest with his mother during latency, is considered in the context of other reported studies. The author raises some issues of resistance and countertransference that may influence the reporting, treatment, and perhaps even recognition of cases of mother-son incest.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Effects on an adult of incest in childhood: a case report.

Recognition of the widespread incidence of overt incest in childhood has significantly increased in recent years. The described long-term effects range from severe psychopathology and behavioral disorder to mild and subtle manifestations. The interplay of the child's sexual developmental processes and intrapsychic fantasies with the overtly incestuous behaviors adds complexity to the understanding of longterm effects. In this case presentation successful analysis revealed previously repressed extensive father-daughter incest resulting in typically autoplastic neurotic symptomatology and character formation. Effects on ego development and function were traced, and an attempt was made to develop recognition of cues suggestive of past overt incest. The case suggests that many additional factors contribute to the final long-term effects of overt incest in childhood.

Defense Mechanisms↗
PubMed1983

Is incest harmful?

Classically, incest has been considered from both a psychological and sociological point of view to have harmful consequences. Genetic research, though by no means lacking controversy of its own, generally supports the notion that inbreeding has untoward genetic consequences. The psychodynamics of all three parties to father-daughter incest seem to indicate that people who become involved in incestuous behaviour are often psychologically damaged before the fact, so that if they show subsequent evidence of psychological impairment the incestuous behaviour can be as plausibly viewed as a dysfunctional attempt at solving problems as it can a cause of subsequent psychopathology. Girls involved in the father-daughter incest present in one of half a dozen frequent clinical syndromes. The presentation is influenced by the degree to which the girl may have participated in ongoing incestuous behaviour as opposed to being the presumed victim of an older adult's coercive actions or her own temporary suspension of a behavioural taboo. Research is inconclusive as to the psychological harmfulness of incestuous behaviour, and evidence is reviewed on both sides of this complicated and controversial question. Quite apart from the general issue of the harmfulness of incest, a number of indicators can be derived from the nature of the incestuous episode and the early response to therapeutic assessment which aid in the clinical forecasting of probable outcome.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Father-daughter incest: 25 years of experience of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with the victims.

This study deals with the immediate and long lasting effects of father-daughter incest through the psychoanalytic-psychotherapeutic investigation of, firstly, a group of 12 adolescent girls during the violent crisis created by the sudden revelation of incest and, secondly, a group of 12 adult former victims with no apparent crisis in their development, the incest having remained unrevealed. Having been a practitioner of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with the victims of paternal incest for the last 25 years the author's main concern in this study is to try to establish the basic theoretical issues that would favour a better understanding of incestuous trauma and a more effective approach to its treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Incest, incestuous fantasy & indecency. A clinical catchment area study of normal-weight bulimic women.

This systematic study of 112 consecutive referrals of normal-weight bulimic women from a circumscribed urban catchment area found that eight patients (7%) reported sexual abuse involving physical contact. Four (3.6%) of these described incest, but only in two cases (1.8%) did the incest occur in childhood. Just over 5% of the sample reported unlawful sexual intercourse in childhood or gross indecency. Eighteen additional patients reported incestuous fantasies and two of these were partly acted out. The study indicates that incest and sexual abuse reported by bulimics is usually in those multi-impulsive patients who also abuse alcohol or drugs as well as food. The reported prevalences of incest and indecency in normal-weight bulimic women are only slightly higher than figures derived from general population surveys.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Incest, Freud's seduction theory, and borderline personality.

In the early 1890s Freud expressed the belief that many cases of hysteria had a basis in childhood incest. Later he expressed a different view, emphasizing childhood fantasies of sexual intimacies with a parent that never actually took place. Freud never totally repudiated his original seduction theory, however, maintaining to the end of his life that at least some cases of actual incest occurred and that these instances underlay certain types of psychopathology. In our era we have become aware that incest is frequently a forerunner of subsequent borderline disorders, especially in women hospitalized with borderline personality disorder (B.P.D.). All the clinical manifestations of B.P.D. can be related to the prior incest experiences.

Battered Child Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Incest: transference and countertransference implications.

It has not been the attempt of this paper to discuss the overall treatment of adults with a history of incest, but rather to elucidate and identify the various transference and countertransference implications that are emergent in psychoanalytic therapy. Despite this, some statements can be made regarding the analysis of these themes and the overall effectiveness of treatment with these patients. Analytically oriented treatment with adults with a history of incest concerns itself with three intertwined aspects. They are the reconstruction, integration, and validation of a past history of trauma (Alpert, 1991; van der Kolk, 1987), the analysis of its impact on self-identity and its effect on the person's object relations. This last component is deeply connected with the analytic relationship. This relationship is initially consciously and/or unconsciously consciously constructed by the patient as one that can typify his or her past and will be characterized by fears of abuse, neglect, and exploitation, as well as wishes and fantasies of merger, idealization, and reparation. "In the patient's psychic reality, the experience of the analytic situation then becomes the trauma, be it seduction or failure to protect" (Levine, 1990). The concept of projective identification explains how the patient may attempt to reenact his or her history and how this may be used as a vehicle for empathy and change. Throughout treatment, the analyst attempts to contain, understand, and make timely interpretations regarding herself, reactions to the patient, and their mutual interactive processes. Even when acting out inevitably occurs, it is hoped that it will be reflected on and eventually understood. At times, this process is shared with the patient and becomes a mutual endeavor. Individuals with a history of incest have been abused and exploited by those on whom they were dependent. The development of a realistic intimacy with the analyst that takes into account and respects each other's boundaries is a therapeutic goal in the treatment of adults who have been sexually abused. This can occur through the successful identification and analysis of transference/countertransference themes and the various projective identifications. Through this, the patient who has been a victim of incest is able to develop a new object relationship that is not characterized by deliberate abuse. As Horner (1987) states, the analyst and patient create a new history together, a new object relationship.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acting Out↗
PubMed1987

Incest: what do we really know about it?

The literature on incest is reviewed. Current knowledge rests on a very insecure scientific basis and has been mainly derived from small, highly selected clinical series. Recently, some important epidemiological studies of general populations have been reported, but the results of prevalence are inconsistent. Overall, however, it appears that incest, when defined in terms of sexual intercourse, occurs in less than 1% of the population, but other forms of intrafamilial sexual activity may affect 10% of females before they are 16 years of age. Some children are more at risk than others. Because information has generally been derived from court or treatment samples, we are unclear about the long-term effects of incest experiences but, overall, the impression is that incest has markedly adverse effects, especially if it is accompanied by violence and threats and is directed, as it usually is, at the young pre-pubescent child.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

A therapeutic recovery model for the female adult incest survivor.

As the prevalence of incest survivors seeking therapy continues to increase, clinicians must expand their knowledge and methods of treatment. This article discusses the development of incest within the family system, the resulting long-term effects, and a treatment model developed by the author to guide therapeutic intervention with the adult female survivor. The three-phase Incest Recovery Model provides direction regarding the issues and tasks that each survivor must confront before reaching the therapeutic goals. Phase 1 is conducted in a group setting; Phase 2 in individual therapy and sessions with the survivor's family of origin. Phase 3 concludes with a combination of individual and group sessions. Interruption and reentry of the model may occur at any time; consequently, survivors determine their individual progress. As the psychological burden of incest lessens, survivors are free to adopt healthier patterns of living.

Adaptation, Psychological↗