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Michelle Price asserts that survivors of incest “achieve a sense of identity and a sense of self at great expense.” Their early environment is described as a “developmental paradox”: the victims of incest are in the care of those who are responsible for both their physical and psychological harm. In order to cope with this paradox, the child must rely on a host of adaptations and defenses that render such circumstances tolerable, generally leading to both cognitive and affective distortions.
Initially, such distortions are necessary in order to provide “an illusionary sense of safety” and to maintain a relationship with a parent who, although an abuser, is necessary for survival. These children therefore develop rigid adherences to early self and object representations that permit the child some sense of mastery and control of his or her world. “Unfortunately this causes later interpersonal and emotional difficulties. It limits the individual's sense of freedom and choice in life and causes constriction, rigidity, isolation, and various affective disorders.”
While Price alluded to the great variety of defensive strategies employed by incest survivors, including splitting, denial, projection, dissociation, and identification with the aggressor, her presentation focused on the mechanism of idealization. More specifically, she explicated the manner in which the victim utilizes idealization to cope with a pathological environment. “In discussing incest we are not just discussing the sexual act or the sexual trauma … but the entire family environment that allows for it.