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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1991

Women, alcohol and incest: an analytical review.

This study examines the historical treatment of two phenomena that impact negatively on the lives of millions of women--incest and alcoholism--and explores the similarities in characteristics of alcoholic women and women with histories of incest. Prior to the early 1980s, incest histories were rarely mentioned in the literature on alcohol. Similarly, the literature on incest makes only passing references to alcohol abuse among adolescent and adult survivors. Hence, formal research comparisons between the alcoholic woman and the incest-surviving woman are lacking. The purpose of this study is not merely to illustrate the similarities between the alcoholic woman and the incest-surviving woman, but also to present a persuasive argument that multidisciplinary research efforts are essential in order to promote more effectively the identification, diagnosis and treatment of women who suffer both alcoholism and incest. To accomplish these goals, this study presents parallel reviews of (1) women and alcohol and (2) women and incest, then develops a comparative profile of the alcoholic woman and the incest-surviving woman. Additionally, the relatively sparse information on the alcoholic incest-surviving woman is reviewed. This study points to the need for further research in order to address the compelling question that emerges: Why do some incest-surviving women become alcoholic while others do not?

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1990

Marital relations in incest offenders.

The study compared 92 incest perpetrators to 40 (noncriminal) married males on two marital inventories, the Clarke Martial Relations Questionnaire (CMRQ), and the Sexual Behavior and Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (SBMSQ). Results showed that marital disharmony, in the form of mistrustfullness, lack of mutual friends and time together, emotional instability (in both partners), but not sexual relations, were predominant factors in incest perpetrators' profiles. A discriminant function analysis correctly classified 91.3% of incest offenders, but only 30.0% of controls, into their a priori group. Incest perpetrators reported less mutual give-and-take in disagreements with their spouses, a trend to confide less in their wives, and being more lonely in their marriage. Incest offenders reported they knew their spouses less well prior to marriage, despite the lack of any between-group differences in length of marriage or number of prior marriages. No differences emerged with respect to the range of sexual behaviors experienced or the degree of satisfaction with them. There were no group differences in the frequency of coitus nor in sexual dysfunction. In general, the lack of a satisfying emotional relationship between the incest offenders and their wives appeared as the most prominent factor in their marital relationships. The prominent aspects of their marital disharmony and sexual relations identified in the study reflect, in part, the inherent treatment goals needed for the incest perpetrator.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Effects of older brother-younger sister incest: a study of the dynamics of 17 cases.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of older brother-younger sister incest from the perspective of the women who experienced it in childhood or adolescent years. Dynamics in the families-of-origin were also explored, as these related or contributed to the effects from the incest. Seventeen women were interviewed, using an in-depth, semi-structured interview. Four self-report objective instruments were also administered that measure dynamics in the family-of-origin and symptomatology that is often associated with the effects of trauma. Interview and objective data were analyzed by systematically organizing the women's perceptions and conceptualizations into common themes. All of the women's families of origin were described as dysfunctional. Common effects reported included mistrust of men and women, chronic low or negative self-esteem, sexual response difficulties, and intrusive thoughts of the incest. Women regarded individual therapy, talking with supportive family and friends, and validating themselves as victims at the time of the incest as ways in which they have helped themselves to deal with the effects of the incest. These results have important implications for therapy, including serious consideration of the impact and contribution of this kind of incest on reported symptomatology, and on emerging issues and conflicts in the therapeutic process.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

"Incest--see under Oedipus complex": the history of an error in psychoanalysis.

This paper is intended as a contribution to the understanding of errors in our field. The title refers to the index entries "incest" in several classic psychoanalytic texts. In a way that is analogous to the defenses utilized by survivors of incest, psychoanalysis has both known and not known, avowed and disavowed, the traumatic impact of actual incest. It is argued that psychoanalysis erred in (a) focusing too heavily on the implications of incest for the Oedipus complex instead of its implications for every stage of development, and (b) missing out on the full and detailed description of the clinical pictures of incest victims and of treatment issues, including transference and countertransference. The author presents an overview of the history prompted by Masson's original attack on Freud for abandoning the "seduction hypothesis." Topics covered are: Freud's early papers, the Freud-Ferenczi controversy (1932), and the state of psychoanalytic awareness in the 1960's of the importance of actual incest. Certain features of our field make it all too likely that new errors can be generated that may similarly take decades to recognize and undo. These include the politics of our discipline, and negative attitudes toward systematic gathering and assessment of evidence.

Austria↗

PubMed1991

An exploration of family and individual profiles following father-daughter incest.

This paper presents the results of a range of psychometric assessments which attempted to identify family and individual variables associated with father-daughter incest. Psychometric self-report measures were used to examine differences between families in which incest had been confirmed and a matched comparison group. Significant differences between the members of the incest and the comparison groups included behavioral and self-esteem problems in the daughters and differences in the familial environments of the two groups. Daughters who had been sexually abused reported lower levels of self-esteem about their intellectual and school status. Mothers in the incest group reported that their daughters had more conduct problems than the comparison mothers. The incest families were generally reported to be higher in conflict and organization and lower in cohesion, expressiveness, and active recreation. No differences between groups were found for levels of marital adjustment, self-esteem in mothers, or overall level of psychopathology in the perpetrators.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1992

Parenting difficulties among adult survivors of father-daughter incest.

Women with a history of father-daughter incest as children often report difficulty in parenting their own children. This study examined the self-reported parenting experience and practices of women who were incest victims as children. Since many incest victims are also children of alcoholics, we compared their reports of parenting with those of women whose fathers were alcoholic but not sexually abusive, and to women who had no known risk during their childhood. The findigns were that incest survivors reported significantly less confidence and less sense of control as parents than nonrisk mothers. In addition, they reported significantly less support in the parental partnership with their spouses, and reported being less consistent and organized, and making fewer maturity demands on their children. The findings are discussed in terms of the incest survivor's sense of inefficacy and loss of control, the potential of the marital relationship to buffer the adverse effects of growing up in the dysfunctional, incestuous family, and future research directions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

The specific effects of incest on prepubertal girls from dysfunctional families.

In a study addressing controversies regarding the impact of incest, we postulated that clinical consequences (a) are not solely due to family dysfunctionality, (b) need not appear with global measures, and (c) are demonstrated when specific zones of functioning are examined. These hypotheses were tested with a clinical sample of 57 girls, aged 8 to 14 years, from multiproblem families, half having experienced incest. The Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL; Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1979), the Piers-Harris (1984) Self-Esteem measure and the Harter and Pike (1984) Self-Competence Scale were completed and questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted with both the girls and their clinicians. Their dossiers were analysed as well. As hypothesized, there were no differences on global measures (CBCL). In specific areas, however, the girls having undergone incest demonstrated significantly lower self-esteem, more troubled relations with their mothers, more sexualized attitudes and behaviours and more aggression turned inwardly than girls not having undergone incest from equally dysfunctional families. The powerful impact of incest on the prepubertal child is thereby underscored.

Child↗

PubMed1992

Psychic loss in adult survivors of father-daughter incest.

Studies show that adult survivors of childhood incest comprise a significant percentage of female psychiatric patients. The varied and multidetermined presenting symptomatology of these patients frequently leads to misdiagnosis and treatment interventions that fail to address core issues of the incest experience. One such issue is the child's experience of the psychic loss of a physically present parent that is part of the emotional trauma of incest. The goal of this paper is to discuss psychic loss as a core element of the incest experience, particularly in father-daughter incest, and to describe the conditions of childhood mourning that inhibit successful resolution of this loss. Attention is addressed to the psychoanalytic understanding of mourning as a basis for interventions in the treatment of adult survivors.

Adult↗

PubMed1976

The incest taboo and family structure.

The evolutionary advantage of outbreeding has influenced the family structure and the mating, attachment, and dominance behaviors of all animals. Nature has selected for those species that have evolved family structures with detachment and dominance patterns that create a relatively intact incest barrier. Man inherits from his animal forebears the biological imperative of an incest barrier but brings to it his special complexity of psychology and symbolization--incest barrier becomes incest taboo. We present a discussion of human patterns of speparation-individuation and Oedipal conflict and relate this to the detachment and dominance behaviors of animals. This is an interface between psychoanalysis, family theory, and ethology. In addition, we pursue in detail the asymmetrical operation of the incest taboo within the family: that it is stronger for mother-son than for father-daughter than for brother-sister.

Dominance-Subordination↗

PubMed1977

Multiple overt incest as family defense against loss.

A case report of father-daughter incest is presented that illustrates the way in which overt incest can function as a multi-determined familial defense against separation and loss. The case is further distinguished by: (a) multiple incest and (b) family therapy--an approach infrequently described in the literature on this problem. The authors have adopted the psychodynamic view that incest expresses the collective psychopathology of all the family members as well as their common adaptational capacities. Specifically, we have attempted to demonstrate that separation anxiety was a shared dread in this family and that incest defended against this painful prospect.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Posttraumatic stress symptoms in victims of childhood incest.

The relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the experience of severe childhood incest was investigated in a comparison of 97 adult female victims of incest and 65 matched controls. It appeared that 62% of the incest victims and none of the controls met the DSM-III-R criteria for PTSD. The best predictor for the development of PTSD appeared to be the subjective reaction at the time of the event, consisting of anxiety, freezing and dissociation. The incest victims also displayed other psychiatric symptoms, such as self-mutilation and conversions. Although the relation incest-PTSD is quite obvious, the diagnosis may easily be missed because the symptoms may be masked by other psychiatric phenomena.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Psychiatric correlates of incest in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to describe more precisely the type of psychiatric illness associated with incest during childhood. METHOD: The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was administered to 52 adult women who had been victims of incest during childhood and to 23 age- and race-matched comparison subjects from local self-help agencies. RESULTS: The prevalence of 19 psychiatric disorders was higher in the incest group than base population rates. Rates of anxiety disorders (panic disorder, agoraphobia, social and simple phobia), major depression, and alcohol abuse and dependence were significantly higher in the incest group than in the comparison group. More severe types of incestuous abuse were associated with a higher risk for the development of psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSIONS: There was an association between incest and psychiatric disorders in this community-based treatment population. All patients, especially those who present with these specific psychiatric disorders, should be queried about childhood sexual abuse during the history.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

Incest and the family physician.

This paper is a review of incest from epidemiologic, familial, and individual points of view. The incest taboo has characterized almost every culture and society throughout the ages. Respect for the incest barrier is a cultural demand made by society and is not a physiological or biological imperative. Overt incest occurs in a dysfunctional family through tension-reducing "acting out." The family physician is in a unique position to observe and understand the family dynamics which both help maintain defenses against the incestuous wishes as well as, in some families, contribute to the practice of incest. For 2,000 years physicians have taken the Hippocratic oath, with its explicit love relationship clause, as a reminder of their ethical responsibilities towards their patients. Examples of para-incestuous relationships between vulnerable individuals and authoritative helping figures are cited. A psychodynamic rationale is offered as to why sexual relationships between patients and their family physicians are not therapeutically beneficial. Clues for assessment and ten preventive measures are presented to enable physicians to monitor themselves and the families in their practice.

Acting Out↗

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↗

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↗

PubMed1990

[To begin to believe. Working notes on a mother-daughter incest case and its implications on the formation of the pre-transitional object].

Most psychoanalytic literature dealing with incest holds the premise that the act took place between a parent and a child of opposite sex. Incidentally, most of these cases involve a father-daughter incest (e.g. research by Julien Bigras). However, this is only one of four mathematically possible combinations. For instance, we tend to underestimate the occurrences and, consequently, the repercussions of mother-daughter incest relationships. The biological and psychological importance of the mother in the child's development radically influences the mother-daughter incest. In the reactualizing of transference, analysts, especially if they are female, often find themselves confronted with some of the most fundamental choices in the life of an infant, such as to live or to die, to grow or to cease to grow. It then becomes crucial to understand the most primitive components of the infant's early life. In such a case, an analyst must consult some of the most complex theoretical work covering the subject. The author, for her part, has greatly referred to the experiences of Renatta Gaddini, who insists on the importance of developing a pretransitional space during the analysis. This pretransitional space, however, is useless if the analyst is unable to follow it up by becoming a transformational object in the eyes of the patient, in the way described by Christopher Bollas: an object suggesting that the patient relive the steps leading from pre-thought to thought, from real to symbolic. Indeed, Bollas' research has allowed the author to develop a more accurate vision of what is at stake. At the same time, she was able to assess the amount of work still needed in that area of study, an area which, up to this day, offers only very little research to support the author's exploration.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1979

Endogamic incest and the victim-perpetrator model.

Traditionally incest has been seen as the aggressive act of a deranged adult perpetrator against a child victim. While this conceptualization is true for some cases of incest, it ignores the family dynamics and the underlying affectional neglect and deprivation that the child has experienced in the home environment. It can lead to interventions such as immediate incarceration of the perpetrator in all cases, which may cause more harm than good; furthermore, it may permit the state to provide no therapeutic services to the child. By using a more realistic conceptualization of prolonged endogamic incest, useful interventions and therapeutic plans can be designed.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Stress, coping, and adjustment in female adolescent incest victims.

Although previous literature on incest has dealt extensively with the nature, parameters, and effects of such abuse, it has not focused on the role of coping in the psychological adjustment of victims. Forty-five female adolescent incest victims in treatment completed questionnaires regarding their current adjustment, characteristics of their molest, their perceptions of the stressful aspects of the molestations, how they appraised the molestations, and how they coped with the fact that it occurred. The majority of the girls in this study had been sexually abused by a father figure (82%). The coping strategies of wishful thinking and tension reduction, the lack of maternal support at the time of reporting, and appraisals of threat and "holding self back" accounted for 70% of the variance in self-reported distress. The coping strategies of detachment, seeking social support and appraisal of hold self back accounted for 38% of the variance in adolescent's global psychopathology as rated by their therapists. In light of these findings, the implications of the need to address appraisals and coping efforts in research and therapy with incest victims was emphasized.

Adaptation, Psychological↗