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| Father-Daughter Incest: A Review
of the Literature
Introduction
In 1896, Freud announced, with the publication of The Aetiology
of Hysteria and Studies on Hysteria , that he had solved the problem of
female neurosis: The origin of hysteria, he claimed, was childhood sexual
trauma. Although in these works Freud managed to lay blame for these traumatic
incidents in girls’ lives at the feet of governesses, nurses, maids, and assorted
family friends of the victims, he spoke privately and wrote letters to colleagues in which
he pointed to seduction by the father as the essential factor in the development of
hysteria (Rush, 1977). Apparently troubled by the social implications of the
revelations of sexual abuse by his women patients from prosperous, overtly conventional
families, Freud claimed that concern for discretion led him to disguise incestuous fathers
in his writings as "uncles"(Rush). Finally, after a period of painful
introspection about his own incestuous feelings toward his daughter, Freud came to the
conclusion that his patients’ descriptions of sexual abuse by their fathers was
simply fantasy. He theorized that such accounts were merely incestuous wishes
experienced by both boys and girls, resulting from the Oedipus (Electra) complex that
originates during the phallic stage of development.
For half a century after Freud renounced his seduction theory, clinicians and academics
maintained a discrete silence about father-daughter incest. Deutsch’s Psychology
of Women (1944) avoided the topic altogether. However, in the middle of
the 20th century, when social scientists began the widespread use of the survey
and the questionnaire, women were again asked about their sexual lives.
Interestingly, although the psychiatric community continued to estimate the incidence of
father-daughter incest at one case per million (Williams & Wilkins, 1975), social
scientists such as Finkelhor (1979) found that one woman in one hundred reported a sexual
experience with her father or stepfather.
Actually, even Finkelhor’s (1979) estimates may have been low since the studies upon
which his estimate was made were almost entirely based upon the reports of white, middle
class women. Because poor and minority women are more generally vulnerable and
typically subjected to more violence and abuse than the population at large, it seems
likely that data from these under-assessed groups would swell the rate of the incidence of
incest (Herman, 1981).
And Then Came the Feminists
The
women’s movement of the 1970s brought widespread attention to the issue of
incest. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey told the story of her victimization to a
television audience of millions. Leading figures in contemporary fiction took up the
subject of incest (e.g., Toni Morrison in The Bluest Eye, 1972). And four
large, independent studies (Justice & Justice, 1979; Lukianowicz, 1972; Maisch, 1972;
Meiselman, 1978) of more than 5,000 women from geographically and socioculturally
disparate areas were commissioned and conducted during this decade. All of their
findings, as well as those of studies conducted in Ireland, France, Germany, and Japan,
supported the conclusion that an overwhelming proportion of incest victims are females,
and the majority of their perpetrators are the victims’ fathers (Herman, 1981).
In fact, the most recent survey (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996) suggested that 216,000
children were sexually abused in the United States during 1995 and that approximately
one-half of that number were victimized by their fathers, stepfathers, or other father
figures. It also seems important to consider, when assaying incidence statistics for
incest, that estimates based upon cases reported to or investigated by child welfare
agencies are likely to underestimate significantly the actual number of females victimized
since only 10% of victims (Russell, 1986) report their abuse before they have escaped
their fathers’ intimidating demands for loyalty, silence, and sex.
Judith
Herman (2002), in the second edition of her landmark book, which initially refuted the laissez-faire
view of incest as harmless and its prohibition puritanical, argued for the assumption
of a feminist perspective on father-daughter incest:
While conceding that incest is much more
common than previously thought, some commentators have attempted to understand the problem
apart from the context of male dominance. They point out, quite rightly, that not
all perpetrators are men (only some 90 percent of them), and not all victims are girls
(boys are also sexually abused in significant numbers, mostly by older boys and
men). Nevertheless, a feminist analysis remains the only one capable of explaining
how such widespread abuses visited by one sex upon the other could be so long denied or
condoned. Only a feminist analysis explains why so many are men of power and
respect. . . . And only a feminist analysis explains why such a bitter conflict arises any
time a serious effort is made to hold incest perpetrators accountable for their
crimes. (p. 220)
Herman (1981, 2000) has adopted a perspective on the subject of father-daughter incest
that seems to have a clear political agenda focused upon blaming. The review that
follows attempts a more objective examination of the literature related to the primary
family members involved in and affected by father-daughter incest, a taboo act in most
cultures for millennia.
The Mother
Assumption of a feminist
perspective on father-daughter incest means conceptualizing the mother in incest families not as frigid, unloving,
and collusive, but as herself a victim of familial and social patriarchy. Review of
the literature about the maternal figure, who often serves simultaneously as the object of
blame for failing to control the perpetrator and protect her children and the vessel of
hope for rescuing the victim(s) and maintaining a sense of home, reveals that the mother
has been the subject of considerable opinion-based literature but the subject of much less
empirical research.
In a
recent meta-analysis of this literature, Tamraz (1996) categorized all of the available
opinion-based work around seven variables most frequently associated with nonoffending
mothers: a) physical problems, b) psychological problems, c) marital role, d)
maternal role, e) history of sexual abuse, f) subjection to battering, and g) reaction to
incest disclosure. Tamraz also reviewed all available empirical studies in these
areas, all 32 of them. Opinion-based literature suggested that nonoffending mothers
suffer from a variety of physical illnesses and disabilities that impedes the fulfillment
of their marital and maternal functions. None of the empirical studies addressed
physical problems in nonoffending mothers. Opinion-based literature suggested that
psychological problems ranging from depression to emotional dependency to psychosis
characterize the nonoffending mother. Findings in the nine empirical studies of
nonoffending mothers’ psychological functioning were inconsistent. Origin of
psychological problems was unclear and whether problems preceded, coincided with, or
followed the incest was not investigated. In the opinion-based literature, citations
commonly invoked mothers’ inadequate marital skills or unfulfilling interpersonal
relationships. In the research-based literature, findings suggested a conflict
between the mother’s allegiances to her daughter and to her husband. In the
opinion-based literature, mothers were typically described with missing or inadequate
parenting skills. The nature of the father’s parenting skills was rarely
addressed. In the research-based literature, one study was found indicating
mother-daughter role reversal is a common phenomenon in incest families. The
literature noticeably lacked, however, any investigation of factors that might promote the
development of role reversal. Although speculation about the mother’s history
of sexual abuse was rampant in the opinion-based literature, suggesting the
intergenerational transmission of sexual abuse, only three empirical studies investigated
histories of sexual abuse among nonoffending mothers. Findings of these studies
supported intergenerational transfer, but factors promoting such transfer have not been
investigated. Nonoffending mothers’ subjection to battering was widely reported
in the opinion-based literature where they were characterized as frightened into
submission and, accordingly, exhibited low self-esteem. Three empirical studies
documented nonoffending mothers’ subjection to battering; however, it remains unknown
whether a mother’s propensity or vulnerability for engaging in abusive relationships
puts her child at risk for sexual victimization. Finally, opinion-based literature
asserted that the nonoffending mother is often aware of the sexual abuse of her daughter,
but emotional upheaval related to disclosure of the incest was rarely mentioned. In
contrast, data from empirical studies suggested that nonoffending mothers are generally
unaware and experience high levels of emotional distress following disclosure (Tamraz).
The Father
No
similar meta-analysis of studies of incest perpetrators has been conducted. Williams
and Finkelhor (1990) found that no single profile of incest fathers exists, citing the
complexity of the offending behavior and the heterogeneity of sexual offenders against
children as complicating factors. These researchers, however, suggested that some
common characteristics of incest fathers might be postulated from data collected on
incarcerated offenders. They described incest fathers as having passive-dependent
personalities; physical or emotional maltreatment in their families of origin,
particularly rejection by fathers; marital dissatisfaction; sexual dissatisfaction and
arousal problems with adults; and deficits in empathy and bonding.
Offenders’
motivation has been the subject of some research interest. Finkelhor (1984)
suggested that, for incest to occur between father and daughter, the offender must have
some motivation to abuse a child sexually. Ward, Hudson, and France (1993) narrowed
this rather vague generalization by concluding from their interviews with incarcerated
offenders that the two most frequent motivators for incest fathers were unfulfilled sexual
needs and unmet needs for intimacy/closeness. Ward, Fon, Hudson, and McCormack
(1998) examined the dysfunctional cognitions of incarcerated offenders and found that the
motivators most frequently cited were lack of sex with an adult partner, life stressors,
and feelings of loneliness or the seeking of affection. Phelan (1995) studied incest
fathers’ thoughts and interpretations of their incestuous contact while it was
occurring. Two-thirds of the men interviewed in her study reported sexual
gratification as the primary thought or motivating factor in the sexual contact with their
daughters. Ames and Houston (1990) concluded that incest offending likely results
from a variety of needs, motives, and impairments, and even within individuals is
multicausal.
Identifying
incest offenders’ thoughts about, or perceptions of, their motives to offend is
critical in the implementation of effective therapeutic interventions (Hall &
Hirschman, 1992; Ward, Hudson, & Johnston, 1997). As motives are the precursors
to action, understanding motives can play a significant role in relapse prevention.
When a therapist can assist an offender in identifying the underlying thoughts, feelings,
and actions constituting a motive, or offense precursor, the therapist may be able to help
the offender anticipate and circumvent relapse (Abel, Osborn, Anthony, & Gardos, 1992;
Pithers, 1990). Successful relapse prevention also includes a detailed exploration
of the offender’s history in order to help him identify and understand the connection
between poor attachments in childhood and subsequent sexual offending. Marshall
(1993) found that most offenders who participated in his study failed to see the
connection between their histories of vulnerability and their motives to offend.
Marshall encouraged clinicians who work with incest fathers to engage in extra therapeutic
work in this area in order to help offenders fully understand why early vulnerabilities
such as poor parental relationships, abuse, and rejection put them at high risk for
relapse.
Another
component of comprehensive offender treatment is intimacy enhancement. This
technique, described by Marshall, Bryce, Hudson, Ward, and Moth (1996), focuses upon
enhancing intimacy in offenders’ ongoing sexual relationships with adults.
Phelan (1995), however, warned that intimacy enhancement in offenders’ adult
relationships must be accompanied by therapeutic work designed to develop empathy and
understanding of the child’s feelings.
Scott (1994) suggested a general consensus that group treatment is the central treatment
modality for this population. And, according to Becker and Murphy (1998), "At
the current time, the most accepted forms of treatment [for incest offenders] are
cognitive-behavioral therapies within a relapse prevention model, with, at times,
adjunctive use of certain psychopharmacologic approaches" (p. 128). These
authors dismissed analytically derived treatment as "antiquated" and overly
concerned with the resolution of early life conflicts.
Despite Becker and Murphy’s (1998) earlier pronouncements of consensus
regarding the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches with incest offenders,
Stukenberg (2001) recently published a description of his object relations treatment model
for working with court-mandated incest offenders, primarily fathers. He
characterized the transference-countertransference paradigm central to his group work with
this population:
The dominant
transference-countertransference paradigm is an internal expectation that the therapists
will be harsh and critical authority figures. Through
role induction and projective identification, and
because of reality based needs of the legal system, therapists feel strongly pulled to
enact the transferentially
expected role. Successful treatment . . . requires that the treaters work to engage
the offenders in a new interactional paradigm that will ultimately be internalized.
However, there are two countertransferential traps that can derail this process.
Therapists can become too closely identified with the authority figure role, and, at the
other
end of the spectrum, they can distance themselves too far from taking appropriate
responsibility for management of the group as a way to avoid identification
with
the authority role. (p. 452)
The Victim (Sometimes, the Survivor)
Courtois (1997)
described incest as the most virulent form of child abuse, with "a potential for serious psychological
sequelae in childhood and adulthood" (p. 467). Although statements about
definitive causal relationships between significant abuse histories and specific patterns
of aftereffects cannot be made based upon the currently available self-report and
nonexperimental data, researchers (e.g., Briere & Elliott, 1994) have documented
certain patterns when abused and nonabused subjects were compared: Abused subjects
reported more depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms along with irrational guilt,
shame, and self-blame, anxiety reactions, dissociation, somatization, suicidality and
self-harm, revictimization, relational disturbances, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse
and other addictive-compulsive behaviors, major cognitive distortions, and polarities of
behavior than do nonabused subjects (Breichtman, Zucker, Hood, et al., 1991; Breichtman,
Zucker, Hood, et al., 1992; Briere & Runtz, 1988; Bryer, Nelson, Miller, & Krol,
1987; Gelinas, 1983; Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993; Polusny &
Follette, 1995).
Herman (2000) described the adult female survivor of incest: "Suvivors of childhood abuse develop . . .
complex deformations of identity. A malignant sense of the self as contaminated,
guilty and evil, is often observed. Fragmentation in the sense of self is also
common, reaching its most dramatic extreme in Multiple Personality Disorder [Dissociative
Identity Disorder]" (p. 386). A number of clinicians have speculated about and
documented an overlap between a history of childhood sexual abuse and symptoms of
Borderline Personality Disorder (Gabbard & Wilkenson, 1994; Kroll, 1993; Linehan,
1993; Ross, 1987; Ross, 1997). In addition, researchers have recognized an overlap
between Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Hazard, 1993;
Kroll, 1993).
Researchers have also described factors they believe moderate or ameliorate the effects of
incest on the child victim. Factors that might, to some degree, insulate the child
include personality make-up and personal resilience; perpetrator acknowledgment versus
perpetrator denial; effective intervention when abuse is disclosed with no reoccurrence;
firm reassurance to the victim that she is not to blame; healthy relationship with or
attachment to another adult at the time of the abuse; trauma-related beliefs; other
dysfunctional features of family life, e.g., substance abuse (Morris, Lipovsky, &
Sanders, 1996; Spiegel, 1986; Wyatt & Newcomb, 1990).
One of the first comprehensive treatment
models for women with a history of incestuous abuse was published in Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in
Therapy (Courtois, 1988). In general, this
model, as well as others in this "first generation" of treatment
guidelines for incest victims, was posttraumatic in perspective and emphasized abuse as a
significant but not exclusive focus of treatment. These models stood in sharp
contrast to the predominant therapeutic perspective of the period, which minimized the
importance of the abuse or treated it as the fantasy of a victimized child (Briere,
1989).
Courtois (1997) described her own current treatment model for this population as typical
of second generation conceptualizations of the treatment process:
At present, a strong consensus is evident among trauma experts with regard to the
treatment of complex dissociative posttraumatic conditions. In contrast to the
earlier model that placed more emphasis on an abreactive or traumatic resolution approach,
this model continues to attend to the trauma but does so with much more attention given to
the characterological/developmental, personal functioning, and environmental issues.
These are defined broadly to encompass issues of self-development and identity
stabilization, object relations and attachment style, cognitive and emotional schema, and
attention to other life circumstances, past or present. (p. 475)
The treatment of adult survivors of incestuous abuse generally proceeds through four
sequenced stages: a) pretreatment assessment, b) preliminary phase devoted to
alliance building, safety, and stabilization, c) middle phase devoted to de-conditioning
and mourning of incest trauma and its consequences, d) late phase devoted to further
integration of posttraumatic material with self and relationship development (van der
Kolk, McFarland, & van der Hart, 1996). Although these stages are presented in a
linear fashion, patients progress through them in a nonlinear fashion, moving within and
between stages as their clinical conditions, needs, tolerances, and life circumstances
dictate (van der Kolk, McFarland, & van der Hart).
A variety of treatment traps along with transference, countertransference, and vicarious
traumatization issues have been described in the literature. Therapists who work
with survivors of incest have been urged to develop an understanding of the relational
demands made by women whose characterological development may have been compromised by the
abuse they experienced. Therapists who work with survivors of incest have also been
urged to recognize the critical role of consultation, formal and informal, in helping the
therapist to maintain perspective when overwhelmed by a patient’s pain, psychological
condition, or life circumstances as well as his/her own countertransference issues (Chu,
1988; Davies & Frawley, 1995).
Conclusions
Although scholarly interest in this topic has increased since the inception of the
women’s movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, empirical research
specifically focused upon the participants in this abuse does not seem to have
proliferated. Opinion pieces, both articles and books, are readily available.
But, researchers and clinicians alike seem too often to have been titillated and
sidetracked by one of the more florid aftereffects of incest trauma, namely Dissociative
Identity Disorder. The general media and some academic journals have apparently
relished the in-print sparring between trauma theorists/therapists and proponents of the
False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Despite a generally enhanced awareness of this
issue, much information must still be gleaned from more general reports of sexual abuse in
which father-daughter incest receives only passing mention.
Although recognizing some
progress in social concern and research interest, Herman (2000) obviously believed her
description of the field in 1981 continued to be pertinent when she reiterated the
following in the most recent edition of her work:
The concept of regression might be more aptly invoked to describe the social response to
the reality of incest. Until the resurgence of the women’s
liberation movement, even the most courageous explorers of sexual mores simply
refused to deal with the fact that many men, including fathers, feel entitled to
use children for their sexual enjoyment. Nevertheless, this fact is
established by now beyond any reasonable doubt. (p. 21)
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