Incidence of Wife Abuse in Incestuous Families

THEORIES ON INCEST The exact number of children who are sciously pushing her daughter into the victims of incest is not known. The Na- act of incest. The literature also considers tional Center on Child Abuse and Neglect the mother to be culpable when fathers estimates that from 60,000 to 100,000 commit incest. For instance, Lustig et al. children are sexually abused each year; noted that the mother "appeared to be the other researchers estimate that an even cornerstone in the pathological family greater number of children are victims of system."3 And, Machotka, Pittman, and incest.1 Clearly, a problem of such magni- Flomenhaft emphasized that the mother is tude requires close scientific scrutiny, not guilty of compliance and claim that the merely to add to the body of knowledge mother's role as nonparticipant in the act in this largely uncharted area, but also itself is crucial to family dynamics.4 to suggest treatment modalities for inces- Mclntyre classified the literature's crit tuous families. The present study investi- icism of mothers of incest victims into gates a largely uncharted dynamic in the the following four areas: (1) the way the literature—the incidence of wife abuse mothers are involved in the incest, (2) the among incestuous families—and suggests personality characteristics the mothers that professional caregivers reevaluate possess, (3) the nonfulfillment of the moth conventional treatment modalities that are ers' roles as wives and mothers, and (4) based on certain assumptions regarding the mothers' reactions on discovering the the mother's role in incest. incest.5 He challenged in particular the criticisms concerning the mothers' non fulfillment of their roles because he under stood such criticism to arise from sexist The Role Attributed to Fathers assumptions about women's roles as sole Theories about incestuous family dy- nurturers in the family. Moreover, accord namics range from focusing solely on the ing to Mclntyre, it should not be assumed perpetrator to blaming all members of the that those mothers working outside the father-daughter-mother triad. Justice and home are escaping their duties as wives Justice classified fathers into four person- and mothers: instead it should be under ality groups—psychopathic, pedophilic, stood that for most working women, as symbiotic, and "other" (that is, psychotic for most men, work is fulfilling and that persons or members of subcultures that the income derived from working is needed, sanction incest). Of these four groups, the The literature, however, is not alone in group of men with symbiotic personalities propagating the notion that the mother is was the largest, constituting 80 to 85 per- responsible for the occurrence of incest, cent of all incestuous fathers. Men with but treatment as well is built on the con symbiotic personalities attempt to reverse cept of the mother's culpability. Since roles with their daughters, inappropriately 1971, Giarretto has treated incestuous seeking nurturing and caretaking from families, and one of the primary require their daughters instead of giving their ments of his therapeutic approach is that daughters these essentials. The research- the mother confess to the child her failure ers found that 20 percent of the symbiotic in the duty to protect her child. Justice fathers fall into the category of "tyrant," and Justice required that both parents the designation for men who use threats admit to the child their responsibility for of violence or actual physical abuse against the incest: both parents must also apolo