Incest: Some Clinical Variations on a Classical Theme

Extraordinary Disorders of Human Behavior

“…In a case of mother-son incest recorded by Berry (1975), the son had always seen himself as the mother's special confidant in the struggle with a distant, hostile father. Throughout his childhood the mother had periodically inspected her son's penis to see if "it's growing properly."…”

The effects of maternal support and non-support on the family concepts of sexually abused girls

“…Incest offenders have often experienced emotional deprivation and desertion in their youth, especially by their mothers (Cavillin, 1966;Lustig et al, 1966). These men are immature (Berry, 1975;Taubman, 1984) and have fragile egos which are capable of regression. If regression occurs, sexual acting out may occur (Gentry, 1978;Lustig et al, 1966).…”

“…Mothers in incest families are described as dependent, masochistic, having low self-esteem, angry, afraid of intimacy, lacking in social skills, not psychologically invested in their children, and prone to use denial as a defense mechanism (Berry, 1975;Lustig et al, 1966;Spender, 1978;Taylor, 1984;Zuegler & Reposa, 1983). Taubman (1984) found these women to be weak and submissive, frigid or promiscuous, and indifferent to the needs of others.…”

Families of Incest: a Collation of Clinical Impressions

“…Most items involved the respondent's impression of the frequency of a given characteristic or the extent to which a particular factor was involved in father-daughter incest. Most responses were made on either a four or six point scale with 1 generally being either &dquo;never&dquo; or &dquo;not at all&dquo; and 4 or 6 being either &dquo;always&dquo; or &dquo;to a great extent&dquo;.2 2 The items were conceptually organized into 5 areas as follows: 1. perceptions of the incestuous relationship itself, 2. perceptions of the fathers, 3. perceptions of the daughters, 4. perceptions of the mothers, and 5. perceptions of family relationships. Specific items in these areas were generated through a review of the available literature on father-daughter incest.…”