Incest “Rediscovered”

In studies of childhood sexual abuse, the consensus is that incest refers to sexual contact—genital, oral, or anal—between surrogate (stepfather, older brother, uncle, grandfather) and child; or between parent and child—whether father-son, mother-son, mother-daughter, or father-daughter, though father-daughter is more frequent. Inherently, these are unequal relationships since the parent-figure is in the more powerful and controlling position, the child in an emotionally and physically dependent role. When sexual abuse continues for an extended period of time, involves bodily penetration, or is accompanied by force or violence; when the parents have an unsympathetic reaction to disclosure; when the child or adolescent participates or responds to some extent and is in addition aware of the cultural taboos—the effects of the sexual abuse are more hurtful.

Assessments of women who have had extended psychoanalysis and who have been sexually molested as children, indicate that despite severe emotional disturbances and complex transference-coun-tertransference impasses, the women respond well to treatment. Concerning family dynamics, Steele and Alexander (1981), Eisnitz (1984), Cohler (1987), Ehrenberg (1987), and Nachmani (1987) point to the triangular nature of the incestuous situation and depict family constellations where the mother may be depressed, cold, ineffectual, or unempathic to the needs of the daughter; where the roles of mother and daughter are reversed; where the needs of father and daughter enmesh in that both seek a maternal relationship. Burland and Raskin (1990) suggest that when the sexual abuse occurs earlier than age 3, before resolution of separation-individuation issues, the “phallic-oedipal child” is at serious risk, so that difficulties in ego development and object relationships, and interruption of the “normal oedipal situation” eventuate. Sherkow (1990) finds that the ego