Psychology Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Register
in: Pages using ISBN magic links, Articles with unsourced statements, Sexuality and society,
and 11 more

Changes: Incest

Back to page
Sign in to edit
(update WP)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{ClinPsy}}
  
{{ClinPsy}}
  +
{{PsyPerspective}}
−
'''Incest''' is [[sexual activity]] between close [[family]] members. Incest is considered [[taboo]], and forbidden (fully or slightly) in the majority of current [[culture]]s. The precise meaning of the word varies widely, because different cultures have differing notions of "sexual activity" and "close family member". Some cultures consider only those related by birth, while others include those related by [[adoption]] or [[marriage]]. Some prohibit sexual relations between people who grew up in the same [[household]], while others prohibit sexual relations between people who grew up in related households.
 
  +
'''Incest''' refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family) that is illegal or socially [[taboo]]. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo vary with culture and jurisdiction. Some societies consider it to include only those who live in the same [[household]], or who belong to the same [[clan]] or [[lineage]]; other societies consider it to include "blood relatives"; other societies further include those related by [[adoption]] or [[marriage]].<ref>''Elementary Structures Of Kinship,'' by Claude Lévi-Strauss. (tr.1971).</ref>
   
  +
The most frequently reported type of incest is father-daughter incest.<ref name=Herman>{{cite book | last=Herman | first=Judith | title=Father-Daughter Incest | publisher=Harvard University Press | date =1981 | location= Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=282 | isbn=0-674-29506-4}}</ref> Incest between adults and prepubescent or adolescent children is a form of [[child sexual abuse]]<ref name= Wolf170/> that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood trauma, a trauma that often does serious and long-term psychological damage, especially in the case of parental incest.<ref name= Courtois>{{cite book|title=Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy|last= Courtois|first=Christine A.|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|pages=p208|year=1988|isbn= 0393313565}}</ref> Prevalence is difficult to generalize, but research has estimated 10-15% of the general population as having at least one incest experience, with less than 2% involving intercourse or attempted intercourse.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nemeroff, Charles B.; Craighead, W. Edward |title=The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2001 |pages= |isbn=0-471-24096-6 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> Among women, research by Russell (1986) and Wyatt (1985) has yielded estimates as high as twenty percent.<ref name= Courtois/>
−
Incest can occur between same-sex as well as opposite-sex relatives. It can also occur between related children as well as between parents and their children. In addition, there have been cases of incest between adult relatives.
 
   
  +
Consensual adult incest is very rare.<ref name= Wolf170>{{cite book|title=Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century |first= Arthur P. |last=Wolf |coauthors=William H. Durham |year= 2004 |publisher=Stanford University Press |pages=p170-172|isbn=0804751412}}</ref>
−
Incest between close blood-relations is a [[crime]] in most nations, although again the extent of the definition of "close" varies. However, since incest is an interpersonal act that takes place in private, it is a difficult law to be enforced. There are wide differences between nations as to how serious the crime of incest is. In some countries, such as Australia, incest is a serious [[indictment|indictable]] offence, while in others it is a minor crime with much less serious consequences.
 
  +
Consensual incest between adults is criminalized in most countries, although it is seen by some as a [[victimless crime]].<ref name="spiegel">{{citeweb|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,540831,00.html|title="German High Court Takes a Look at Incest"|author=Hipp, Dietmar|date=2008-03-11|publisher=''Der Spiegel''|accessdate=2008-04-12|}}</ref>
   
  +
Most societies have some form of incest avoidance.<ref>Brown, Donald E., ''Human Universals''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991, p. 118-29</ref><ref name=Turner>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Relationships Across the Lifespan|last=Turner|first=Jeffrey S.|year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |pages=p92|isbn=031329576X}}</ref> The [[incest taboo]] is and has been one of the most common of all cultural [[taboo]]s, both in current nations and many past societies,<ref>''Incest: The Nature and Origin of the Taboo,'' by Emile Durkheim (tr.1963)</ref> with legal penalties imposed in some jurisdictions. Most modern societies have legal or social restrictions on closely consanguineous marriages.<ref>''Kinship, Incest, and the Dictates of Law,'' by Henry A. Kelly, 14 Am. J. Juris. 69</ref> However, in some societies, such as that of [[Ancient Egypt]], brother–sister, father–daughter, and mother–son relations were practiced among royalty.<ref>[[Maurice Godelier]], Métamorphoses de la parenté, 2004</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://newleftreview.org/?view=2592 |title=New Left Review - Jack Goody: The Labyrinth of Kinship |accessdate=2007-07-24}}</ref> In addition, the [[Balinese people|Balinese]]<ref name= Bateson>{{cite book|title=Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology|last= Bateson|first=Gregory|publisher=University Of Chicago Press|pages= |year=2000|isbn= 978-0226039053}}</ref> and some [[Inuit]] tribes<ref name=JBriggs>{{cite book|title=Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family|last= Briggs|first=Jean|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages= |year=2006|isbn= 978-0674608283}}</ref> have altogether different beliefs about what constitutes illegal and immoral incest.
−
==Inbreeding among animals==
  
−
[[Biology|Biologically]], animals may have an aversion or inclination to inbreeding based on specific local circumstances and [[theory of evolution|evolutionary]] trends. In some species, most notably [[bonobo]]s, sexual activity, including between closely related individuals, is a means of [[dispute resolution]] or even a [[greeting]]. Incest between family members, including parents and children occurs; however, incest between a mother and immature sons, who are less than four years old, has not been observed.
 
   
  +
==Types==
−
The pattern of parenting behavior combined with the structure of dominance hierarchies among many species of animals serves to discourage inbreeding. For example, offspring, in some cases only the male offspring, are often driven away by the mother at about the same age they reach sexual maturity.
  
  +
===Sexual abuse of children===
  +
{{Main|child sexual abuse}}
  +
Incest perpetrated by an adult of either gender against a child is called "[[Child sexual abuse#Intrafamilial child sexual abuse|intrafamilial child sexual abuse]]". The most-often reported form of incest is of this inherently abusive form. Father-daughter and stepfather-daughter incest is most commonly reported, with most of the remaining reports consisting of mother/stepmother-daughter/son incest.<ref name=Turner /> Father-son incest is reported less often, however it is not known if the prevalence is less, because it is under-reported by a greater margin.<ref>{{cite book|title=Don't Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys |first=Michel |last=Dorais|coauthors=Translated by Isabel Denholm Meyer|year=2002 |pages=p24 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=0773522611}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy |first=Christine A.|last= Courtois |year= 1988 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=0393313565}}</ref> Prevalence of parental child sexual abuse is difficult to assess due to secrecy and privacy; some estimates show 20 million Americans have been victimized by parental incest as children.<ref name=Turner />
   
  +
According to the [[National Center for Victims of Crime]] a large proportion of [[rape]] committed in the United States is perpetrated by a family member:
−
==Distinctions between incest and inbreeding==
  
  +
<blockquote>Research indicates that 46% of children who are raped are victims of family members. (Langan and Harlow, 1994.) The majority of American rape victims (61%) are raped before the age of 18; furthermore, 29 percent (29%) of all forcible rapes occurred when the victim was less than 11 years old. Eleven percent (11%) of rape victims are raped by their fathers or step-fathers, and another 16 percent (16%) are raped by other relatives. <ref>
−
The concepts of "incest" and "[[inbreeding]]" are distinct.
 
  +
{{cite web|url=http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32360 |title=Incest |work=National Center for Victims of Crime and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center|date=1992|publisher=National Center for Victims of Crime}}</ref></blockquote>
   
  +
[[Emotional incest]] occurs when a parent relates to a child as a substitute for an adult partner. That child may become emotionally bonded to, and codependent with, the parent. Emotional incest usually occurs before physical parent-child incest. Even without physical sexual contact, the consequences to such "bonded" children include a lifetime of partnership difficulties, according to [[Martyn Carruthers]] who wrote that this is a socially accepted form of child abuse in many countries.<ref>[http://www.soulwork.net/sw_articles_eng/emotional_incest.htm EMOTIONAL INCEST]</ref>
−
Incest refers to socially taboo [[Human sexuality|sexual activity]] between individuals who are considered to be too closely related to enter into marriage. In other words, it is a social and cultural term.
 
   
  +
A study of victims of father-daughter incest in the 70s showed that there were "common features" within families prior to the occurrence of incest: estrangement between the mother and the daughter, extreme paternal dominance, the mother's inability to fulfill her traditional parental role and reassignment of some of the mother's major family responsibility to the daughter. Oldest and only daughters were more likely to be the victims of incest. Furthermore, it was stated that the incest experience was psychologically harmful to the woman in later life, frequently leading to feelings of low self-esteem, unhealthy sexual activity, contempt for other women and other emotional problems<ref>Emotional Inheritance: A Dubious Legacy. (May 21, 1977). ''Science News, 111'' (21), 326.</ref>.
−
Inbreeding, on the other hand, refers to [[procreation]] between individuals with varying degrees of ''genetic'' closeness only, regardless of their relative social positions. It is a scientific term rather than a social or cultural term.
  
   
  +
The [[Iranian Students' News Agency|ISNA]] reported that a counselling [[hotline]] stated that a large percentage of the calls they handle deal with the issue of parental child abuse.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2007/09/070911_shr-childabuse.shtml|title='زنای با محارم از مشکلات پیش روی کودکان در ایران' - BBC Persian: Incest paedophilia, one of great challenges of Iranian Children}}</ref>
−
In many societies, the definition of incest and the degree of inbreeding may correlate positively. For example, sexual relations between people of a given degree of genetic closeness is considered incestuous. In other societies, the correlation may not be as obvious. Many cultures consider relationship between [[parallel cousin]]s incestuous, but not those between [[cross cousin]]s, although the degree of genetic relationship does not differ. Relationships may be considered incestuous even when there is no genetic relationship at all: [[stepparent]]-stepchild relationships, or between a man and his sister-in-law, or a woman and her brother-in-law, have been considered incestuous, even though they involve no risk of inbreeding above that of the original marriage.
  
   
  +
Adults who were incestuously victimized by adults in their childhood often suffer from low [[self-esteem]], difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and [[sexual dysfunction]], and are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, including [[Clinical depression|depression]], [[anxiety]], [[Phobia|phobic avoidance reactions]], [[somatoform disorder]], [[substance abuse]], [[borderline personality disorder]], and [[complex post-traumatic stress disorder]].<ref name= Courtois/><ref>{{cite book|title=Systemic Treatment of Incest: A Therapeutic Handbook|last= Trepper|first=Terry S.|coauthor=Mary Jo Barrett |publisher=Psychology Press|year=1989|isbn= 0876305605}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Incest-Related Syndromes of Adult Psychopathology |first=Richard P.|last=Kluft |year=1990 |publisher=American Psychiatric Pub , Inc.|pages=p83,89 |isbn=0880481609}}</ref>
−
The consequence of inbreeding is to increase the frequency of [[homozygote]]s within a population. Depending on the size of the population and the number of generations in which inbreeding occurs, the increase of homozygotes may have either good or bad effects.
  
   
  +
The [[Goler clan]] is a specific instance in which child sexual abuse in the form of forced adult/child and sibling/sibling incest took place over at least three generations. <ref name="cruise">Cruise, David, and Griffiths, Alison. ''On South Mountain: The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan'' (Penguin Books, 1998) ISBN 0670873888</ref> A number of Goler children were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, and each other. During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. Sixteen adults (both men and women) were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five.<ref name="cruise" />
−
==Genetics==
  
−
[[Image:W.Clerke table.PNG|thumb|150px|Table of prohibited marriages from ''The Trial of Bastardie'' by William Clerke. London, 1594.]]
  
−
Inbreeding leads to an increase in [[homozygote|homozygosity]], that is, the same allele at the same locus on both members of a chromosome pair. This occurs because close relatives are much more likely to share the same [[allele]]s than unrelated individuals. This is especially important for recessive alleles that happen to be [[deleterious]], which are harmless and inactive in a heterozygous pairing, but when homozygous can cause serious developmental defects. Such offspring have a much higher chance of death before reaching the age of reproduction, leading to what biologists call [[inbreeding depression]], a measurable decrease in [[fitness (biology)|fitness]] due to inbreeding among populations with deleterious recessives. Recessive genes which can contain various genetic problems have a tendency of showing up more often if joined by someone who has the same gene. If a son who has [[hemophilia]] becomes intimate with his sister who may have the same gene for hemophilia, and they have a child, the odds are in favor that the child will have hemophilia as well.
 
   
  +
===Between childhood siblings===
−
Some anthropologists are critical of including biology in the study of the incest taboo, and have argued that there can be no biological basis for inbreeding aversion because inbreeding may in fact be a good thing. Leavitt (1990) is a good representative of this point of view, writing that "small inbreeding populations, while initially increasing their chances for harmful homozygotic recessive pairings on a locus, will quickly eliminate such genes from their breeding pools, thus reducing their genetic loads" (Leavitt 1990, p.974)
  
  +
Many types of sexual contact between children (e.g., "[[Doctor (children's game)|playing doctor]]") are not considered harmful or abnormal, but become [[child-on-child sexual abuse]] when there is coercion, lack of consent, or simply an imbalance of power or knowledge in the relationship. Childhood sibling–sibling incest is also considered to be widespread but rarely reported. The most commonly reported form of abusive sibling incest is abuse between an older brother and a younger brother or sister.<ref name=Turner />
  +
According to a study by [[Floyd Martinson]], 10–15% of college students reported childhood sexual experiences with a brother or sister, mostly fondling of genitals rather than actual sexual intercourse. Of those, 30% reported negative reactions and 30% reported positive reactions; 25% of the reported experiences involved coercion and there was a correlation of coercion with the negative responses.<ref>[http://www.ethicaltreatment.org/research.htm CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY]</ref> A 2006 study showed a large portion of adults who experienced sibling incest have distorted or disturbed beliefs both about their own experience and the subject of sexual abuse in general.<ref name="Carlson "> Bonnie E. Carlson, PhD (December, 2006). "[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17200052?dopt=Abstract Sibling Incest: Reports from Forty-One Survivors]", ''Journal of Child Sexual Abuse'': Volume 15, Issue 4, December 2006, Pages 19–34.</ref> An observational study in 1993 found that 16 percent of the 930 adult women interviewed reported that they had been sexually abused by a sibling before they were 18 years old.<ref name=leder>{{cite news|title=Adult Sibling Rivalry: Sibling rivalry often lingers through adulthood | url=http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19930101-000023&page=1 |author=Jane Mersky Leder |work=Psychology Today |volume=Jan/Feb 93 |publisher=Sussex Publishers}}</ref>
   
  +
Sibling incest is most prevalent in families where one or both parents are often absent or emotionally unavailable, with the abusive siblings using incest as a way to assert their power over a weaker sibling and thereby express their feelings of hurt and rage.<ref name=leder /> Absence of the father in particular has been found to be a significant element of most cases of sexual abuse of female children by a brother.<ref name=rudd>{{cite journal|title=Brother-sister incest—father-daughter incest: a comparison of characteristics and consequences |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-3X6B587-7&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=9314ab17d92875f87a83cc3fda6a949e |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |author=Jane M. Rudd |coauthors=Sharon D. Herzberger |volume=Volume 23, Issue 9 |date= September 1999 |pages=pp915–928}}</ref> The damaging effects on both childhood development and adult symptoms resulting from brother–sister sexual abuse are similar to the effects of father–daughter, including substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and eating disorders.<ref name=rudd /><ref name=cyr>{{cite journal|title=Intrafamilial sexual abuse: brother–sister incest does not differ from father–daughter and stepfather–stepdaughter incest |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7N-46TGF9P-2&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=a3ec1a197fca397ca5b3f7cb9b9fbba1 |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |author=Mireille Cyr |coauthors=S John Wrighta, Pierre McDuffa and Alain Perron|volume=Volume 26, Issue 9 |date=September 2002 |pages=pp957–973}}</ref>
−
Other specialists claim that this notion betrays a misunderstanding of basic genetics and natural selection. They argue that, while technically possible, the proposed positive long-term effects of inbreeding are almost always unrealized because the short-term fitness depression is enough for selection to discourage inbreeding. Such a scenario has only occurred under extremely unusual circumstances, either in major population bottlenecks, or forced artificial selection by animal husbandry. In order for such a "purification" to work, the offspring of close mate pairings must only be homozygous dominant (free of bad genes) and recessive (will die before reproducing). If there are heterozygous offspring, they will be able to transmit the defective genes without themselves feeling any effects. What's more, this model does not account for multiple deleterious recessives (most people have more than one), or multi-locus gene linkages. The introduction of mutations negates the weeding out of bad genes, and evidence exists that homozygous individuals are often more at risk to [[pathogen|pathogenic]] predation. Because of these complications, it is extremely difficult to overcome the initial "hump" of fitness penalties incurred by inbreeding. (see Moore 1992, Uhlmann 1992)
  
   
  +
===Between consenting adults===
−
Therefore, it is not surprising that inbreeding is uncommon in nature, and most sexually reproducing species have mechanisms built in by natural selection to avoid mating with close kin. Pusey & Worf (1996) and Penn & Potts (1999) both have found evidence that some species possess evolved psychological aversions to inbreeding, via kin-recognition [[heuristic]]s.
 
  +
Incest between consenting adults is sexual behavior between adult, blood relatives (which can include parents and adult offspring, siblings, cousins, etc.) that is not coerced or forced in any way.<ref name="guardian2002">{{citeweb|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4331603,00.html|title="Forbidden love"|author=Johann Hari|date=2002-01-09|publisher=''[[The Guardian]]''|accessdate=2008-04-11|}}</ref> While incest between consenting adults has not been widely reported in the past, the internet has shown that this behavior does take place, possibly more often than many people realize.<ref name="guardian2002" /> Internet [[chatroom]]s and topical websites exist that provide support for incestuous couples.<ref name="guardian2002" />
   
  +
Proponents of incest between consenting adults draw clear boundaries between the behavior of consenting adults and rape, child molestation, and abuse.<ref name="guardian2002" /> According to one incest participant who was interviewed for an article in ''The Guardian''
−
Given such overwhelming evidence of inbreeding depression as being an important force in sexual reproduction, [[evolutionary psychologist]]s have argued that humans should possess similar psychological heuristics against incest. The [[Westermarck effect]] is one strong piece of evidence in favor of this, indicating that children who are raised together in the same family find each other sexually uninteresting, even when there is strong social pressure for them to mate. In what is now a key study of the Westermarck's hypothesis, the [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Melford E. Spiro]] demonstrated that inbreeding aversion between siblings is predicatably linked to co-residency. In a [[cohort (statistics)|cohort]] study of children raised as [[commune (intentional community)|communal]], that is to say, fictive, siblings in the [[Kiryat Yedidim]] [[kibbutz]] in the [[1950s]], Spiro found practically no intermarriage between his subjects as adults, despite positive pressure from parents and community. The social experience of having grown up ''as'' brothers and sisters created an incest aversion, even though genetically speaking the children were not related.
 
   
  +
<blockquote>"You can't help who you fall in love with, it just happens. I fell in love with my sister and I'm not ashamed ... I only feel sorry for my mom and dad, I wish they could be happy for us. We love each other. It's nothing like some old man who tries to fuck his three-year-old, that's evil and disgusting ... Of course we're consenting, that's the most important thing. We're not fucking perverts. What we have is the most beautiful thing in the world."<ref name="guardian2002"/></blockquote>
−
Further studies have backed up the hypothesis that some psychological mechanisms are in play that "turn off" children who grow up together.
 
−
Spiro's study is corroborated by Fox (1962), who found similar results in Israeli kibbutzum. Likewise, Wolf and Huang (1980) report similar aversions in Taiwanese "child" marriages, where the future wife was brought into the family and raised together with her fiancee. Such marriages were notoriously difficult to consummate, and for unknown reasons actually led to decreased fertility in the women. Lieberman et. al (2003) found that childhood co-residency with an opposite-sex individual strongly predicts moral sentiments regarding third-party sibling incest, further supporting the Westermark hypothesis.
 
   
  +
''The Guardian'' article also states:
−
While the exact nature of kin-recognition psychology is still waiting to be defined, and to what degree it can be overcome by cultural forces is as yet poorly understood, an overwhelming body of research now shows that evolutionary biology and evolved human psychology plays a central role in human aversion to incest.
  
   
  +
<blockquote>Voices in Action, a US support group for victims of incest, vehemently rejects these arguments: "These teens have been brainwashed into believing this behaviour is natural; it is not ... Sexual abuse is learned behaviour." But some political thinkers are prepared to support the distinction between abuse and consenting relationships. "<ref name="guardian2002"/></blockquote>
−
==Incest versus exogamy==
  
−
[[Anthropology|Anthropologists]] have found that marriage is governed, though often informally, by rules of [[exogamy]], which is [[marriage]] of individuals outside their own groups, and [[endogamy]] where individuals marry inside their own group. What is considered a group, for purposes of either exogamy or endogamy, varies considerably between societies. Thus, in most stratified societies one must marry outside of one's [[nuclear family]], a form of exogamy, but is encouraged to marry a member of one's own [[Social class|class]], [[race]], or [[religion]] - a form of endogamy. In this example, the exogamous group is small and the endogamous group is large. But in some societies, the exogamous group and endogamous group may be of equal size. This is the case in societies divided into [[clans]] or [[lineages]].
 
   
  +
In ''[[Slate Magazine]]'', William Saletan drew a legal connection between gay sex and incest between consenting adults.<ref name="slate2003">{{citeweb|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2081904/|title="Incest Repellent? If gay sex is private, why isn't incest?"|author=Saletan, William|date=2003-04-23|publisher=''[[Slate Magazine]]''|accessdate=2008-04-12|}}</ref> As he described in his article, in 2003, U.S. Senator [[Rick Santorum]] publicly derided the theory of the Supreme Court ruling to allow private consensual sex in the home (primarily as a gay rights move). He stated: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery."<ref name="slate2003" /> However, David Smith of the [[Human Rights Campaign]] professed outrage that Santorum placed being gay on the same moral and legal level as someone engaging in incest. Saletan argued that, legally and morally, there is essentially no difference between the two, and went on to support incest between consenting adults being covered by a legal right to privacy.<ref name="slate2003" />
−
In most such societies, membership in a clan or lineage is inherited through only one parent. Sex with a member of one's own clan or lineage &mdash; whether a parent or a genetically very distant relative &mdash; would be considered incestuous, whereas sex with a member of another clan or lineage &mdash; including the other parent &mdash; would not be considered incest (although it may be considered wrong for other reasons).
 
   
  +
==== Between adult siblings ====
−
For example, [[Trobriand Islands|Trobriand Islanders]] prohibit both sexual relations between a man and his mother, and between a woman and her father, but they describe these prohibitions in very different ways: relations between a man and his mother fall within the category of forbidden relations among members of the same clan; relations between a woman and her father do not. This is because the Trobrianders are [[matrilineal]]; children belong to the clan of their mother and not of their father. Thus, sexual relations between a man and his mother's sister (and mother's sister's daughter) are also considered incestuous, but relations between a man and his father's sister are not. Indeed, a man and his father's sister will often have a flirtatious relationship, and a man and the daughter of his father's sister may prefer to have sexual relations or marry. Anthropologists have hypothesized that in these societies, the incest taboo reinforces the rule of exogamy, and thus ensures that social ties between clans or lineages will be maintained through intermarriage.
  
  +
The most public case of consensual adult sibling incest in recent years is the case of a brother-sister couple from [[Leipzig, Germany]].<ref name="spiegel" /> The couple became intimately close after the death of their mother and in 2001, had their first child together (they have a total of four). The public nature of their relationship, and the repeated [[prosecution]]s and even jail time they have served as a result, has caused some in Germany to question whether incest between consenting adults should be punished at all.<ref name="spiegel" /> For all intents and purposes, the couple are happy together and incest between consenting adults in general, as described in a ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' article about them, is a [[victimless crime]].<ref name="spiegel" />
   
  +
==== Between adult cousins ====
−
Chinese and Indian society provides an example of a society with a very broad notion of the exogamous group, as relations between two individuals with the same surname may be banned.
  
  +
{{see also|Cousin couple}}
   
  +
In most countries, marriage between cousins is legal, though some religious restrictions exist - for example marriage between first cousins is forbidden by the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.<ref>A H Bittles [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/grossman/20020408.html The bases of Western attitudes to consanguineous marriage]</ref> Many of the United States, however, prohibit such marriages as incestuous. <ref>Joanna Grossman, [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/grossman/20020408.html Should the law be kinder to kissin' cousins?]</ref>
−
Some cultures cover relatives by marriage in incest prohibitions; these relationships are called [[Affinity (law)|affinity]] rather than [[consanguinity]]. For example, the question of the legality and morality of a widower who wished to marry his [[Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907|deceased wife's sister]] was the subject of long and fierce debate in the [[United Kingdom]] in the [[19th century]], involving, among others, [[Matthew Boulton]]. In medieval Europe, standing as a [[godparent]] to a child also created a bond of affinity.
  
   
  +
In ancient China, first cousins with the same surnames (i.e. those born to the father's brothers) were not permitted to marry, while those with different surnames (i.e. maternal cousins and paternal cousins born to the father's sisters) were.
−
The [[Bible]], primarily in [[Leviticus]], contains prohibitions against sexual relations between various pairs of family members. Father and daughter, mother and son, and other pairs are forbidden on pain of death to engage in sexual relations. (Father/daughter incest is covered by a prohibition on sexual relationships between a man and any daughter born to any woman he has had sexual relationships with, thereby prohibiting not only incest between father and any possible daughter, but many women where it would be impossible for the daughter to be the man's.) It prohibits sexual relations between [[aunt]]s and [[nephew]]s but not between [[uncle]]s and [[niece]]s.
  
   
  +
==== Incest defined through marriage ====
−
The [[Quran|Qur'an]] in the surat [[An-Nisa]] prohibit sexual relationship with the following closely related women: mother, daughter, sister, father's sister, mother's sister, brother's daughter, and sister's daughter. Breastfeed mother and breastfeed sister are also prohibted. Several women who are related through sexual relationship and in certain situations are also prohibited.
  
  +
Some cultures include relatives by marriage in incest prohibitions; these relationships are called [[Affinity (law)|affinity]] rather than [[consanguinity]]. For example, the question of the legality and morality of a widower who wished to marry his [[Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907|deceased wife's sister]] was the subject of long and fierce debate in the [[United Kingdom]] in the 19th century, involving, among others, [[Matthew Boulton]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}} In medieval Europe, standing as a [[godparent]] to a child also created a bond of affinity.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} But in other societies, a deceased spouse's brother or sister was considered the ideal person to marry. The Hebrew Bible forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow with the exception that, if his brother died childless, the man is instead required to marry his brother's widow so as to "raise up seed to him." - Deuteronomy 25, vs 5 & 6
   
−
==Forms of Incest==
 +
==History==
−
===Parental incest===
 +
===Etymology===
  +
The word 'incest' was introduced into [[Middle English]] around 1225 as a legal term to describe the crime of familial incest as we know it today. It was also used to describe sexual relations between married persons, one of whom had taken a vow of celibacy (often called ''spiritual incest'').<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=incest&searchmode=none, Online Etymology entry for 'incest']</ref> It derives from the [[Latin]] ''incestus'' or ''incestum'', the [[noun|substantive]] use of the [[adjective]] ''incestus'' meaning 'unchaste, impure', which itself is derived from the Latin ''castus'' meaning 'chaste'. The derived adjective '''incestuous''' does not appear until the 16th century.<ref>''Oxford Concise Dictionary of Etymology'', T.F. Hoad (ed.) (1996), p232</ref>
−
Incest between parents and their children, including adolescents, is considered the most severe form of [[sexual offense]] by many [[psychologist]]s{{fact}} and is a [[criminal offense]] in many nations. Parental incest includes opposite-sex and same-sex forms engaged in by fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters.
 
   
  +
Prior to the introduction of the Latin term, incest was known in [[Old English]] as ''sibbleger'' (from ''sibb'' 'kinship' + ''leger'' 'to lie') or ''mǣġhǣmed'' (from ''mǣġ'' 'kin, parent' + ''hǣmed'' 'sexual intercourse') but in time, both words fell out of use.
−
Child-therapist Susan Forward calls parental incest "perhaps the cruelest, most baffling of human experiences" as it "betrays the very heart of childhood — its innocence". Recent findings by psychologists view non-consenting parent-child incest as a form of 'sexual predation'.
 
   
−
There is also a dramatic increase in cases when you compare statistics between "step" and biological parents.
  
−  
−
Child abuse attorney [[Andrew Vachss]] calls parental incest a form of [[rape]] of a child by the child's parent. Adults previously involved in incest are often called "secret survivors", by therapists, as there is no one to listen to their shame, confusion, or self-loathing due to the topic's [[taboo]], since the topic is regarded as the cruelest and most baffling action.
  
−  
−
It is known to therapists, that in many cases of such coercive / violent incest, the non - incestuous parent colludes with or denies the incestuous activity so that the child does not have the other parent to turn to either.
 
−  
−
Ken Adams states that "a common myth is that overt incest is the exception not the rule in America. This is not the case." He quotes researcher Mike Lew's estimate that there are over 40 million American adults who as children were 'victims of sexual abuse', 15 million of whom were men. According to the United States' NIS-3 study of [[child abuse]], "the sexual abuse of children has a strikingly low age transition in the distribution of incidence rates. The rate of child sexual abuse was very low for 0-2 year olds, but then relatively constant for children ages 3 and older, indicating a very wide range of vulnerability from pre-school age on."
  
−  
−
Given the [[taboo]] nature of parent-child incest and the fact that it is engaged with dependent children, it is likely to be under-reported in official government statistics where information is given voluntarily.
  
−  
−
A much more objective and non-judgemental action is needed to deal with parental incest, for the benefit of both the child and the parent.
  
−  
−
===Sibling incest between children===
  
−
Consensual incestuous interactions between similar-age brothers and sisters sometimes occur according to a study by [[Floyd Martinson]] who found that 20-35% of college students had childhood sexual experiences with a brother or sister, a form of [[child sexuality]]. However, where significant differences in age or capabilities occur between siblings, where elders fail to provide functional families, and/or where force or deception is used, childhood sibling incest can cause serious psychological damage to the younger or less capable sibling according to researcher Richard Niolon. Sibling incest can also damage or destroy the sibling bonds.
  
−  
−
Author Jane Leder estimates that "23,000 women per million (in America) may have been victimized by a sibling" before age 18. Researcher Andrea Peterson notes that "This may be, at best, a conservative estimate when one considers the scarcity of data, particularly where males are the victims." In ''treating abused adolescents'', therapist Eliana Gil, shows how to transform incested-associated trauma in a case of ''overt'' brother-sister incest. She failed to show how the sister committed covert incest against her brother by using him as a substitute 'father' in this fatherless family.
  
−  
−
===Adult incest===
  
−  
−
Adult incest occurs between individuals who are close blood relations and who have exceeded their society's legal or cultural [[age of consent]].
  
−  
−
===Sexual relations between cousins and other distant relatives===
  
−
[[Image:Map of USA with Incest Legality.svg|thumb|250px|Map of the legality of marriage to first cousins in the [[USA]].]]
  
−
In most of the Western world, incest generally refers to forbidden sexual relations within the family. However, definitions of family vary. Within the United States, marriage between (first) cousins is illegal in some states, but not in others, and sociologists have classified marriage laws in the United States into two categories: One, in which the definitions of incest are taken from the Bible, and which frowns upon marriage within one's lineage but less so on one's blood relatives, and another group which frowns more on marriage between blood relatives (such as cousins), but less on one's lineage.
  
−  
−
Twenty-four states prohibit marriages between first cousins, and another six permit them only under special circumstances. Utah, for example, permits first cousins to marry only provided both spouses are over age 65, or at least 55 with evidence of sterility. North Carolina permits first cousins to marry unless they are "double first cousins" (cousins through more than one line). Maine permits first cousins to marry only upon presentation of a certificate of genetic counseling. The remaining nineteen states and the District of Columbia permit first-cousin marriages without restriction.
  
−  
−
Legal in:
  
−
Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia
  
−  
−
Illegal in:
  
−
Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
  
−  
−
Legal under Certain Circumstances:
  
−
Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Utah, Wisconsin
  
−  
−
On account of the [[Full Faith and Credit Clause]] of the [[United States Constitution]], a marriage between two cousins where it is legal generally remains valid in any state where it would be illegal. Therefore, two cousins who are legally resident in Virginia and marry there, and then move to Michigan will still be recognized as married under Michigan law. There are conflicts and courts have interpreted the clause differently. Also: some states (such as Wisconsin [http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=WI:Default&d=stats&jd=ch.%20765]) have [[marriage abroad]] laws which make marriages by their residents in another jurisdiction in order to circumvent their state's marriage restrictions null and void; and marriages contracted in that state to avoid restrictions in another jurisdiction likewise void.
  
−  
−
''See also'': [[Cousin couple]]
  
−  
−
==Laws and mores regarding incest in industrialized societies==
  
−
===Degrees of criminality===
  
−
The laws of many U.S. states recognize two separate degrees of incest, the more serious degree covering the closest blood relationships such as father-daughter, mother-son and brother-sister, with the less-serious charge being pressed against more distantly-related individuals who engage in sexual intercourse, usually down to and including first cousins and sometimes half cousins. In [[New York State]], close-blood-relation incest is a felony with a maximum penalty of four years in prison, while the less serious charge is usually only a [[misdemeanor]]. Curiously, many incest laws do not expressly proscribe sexual conduct other than vaginal intercourse — such as [[oral sex]] — or, for that matter, any sexual activity between relatives of the same gender, so long as neither party is a minor. This legal position is in stark contrast with that in [[Australia]], where incest is punishable by a maximum of 25 years imprisonment for the more serious form of [[sexual penetration|penetrating]] a [[child]], even if that child is over 18, and 5 years for the less serious charge of sexual penetration of a sibling or half-sibling. In Sweden it is legal to marry an adopted sibling.
  
−  
−
Child abuse attorney [[Andrew Vachss]] notes that there is also an incest loophole in that laws of most U.S. states that "gives privileged treatment to child rapists who grow their own victims". He writes that:<blockquote>"In New York, sex with a child under the age of 11 is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison. The law is indexed appropriately, in the chapter on sex offenses. If, however, the sexually abused child is '''closely related to the perpetrator''', state law provides for '''radically more lenient treatment''' (emphasis added). In such cases, the prosecutor may choose to charge the same acts as incest. This (incest) is not listed as a sexual offense, but instead as an 'offense affecting the marital relationship', listed next to adultery in the law books. It is a Class E felony, for which even a convicted offender may be granted probation." </blockquote>
  
−  
−
=== Adult incest ===
  
−
Incestuous relations between adults, such as between an adult brother and sister, are illegal in most parts of the industrialized world. These laws are sometimes questioned on the grounds that such relations do not harm other people (provided the couple have no children) and so should not be criminalized. Proposals have been made from time to time to repeal these laws — for example, the proposal by the Australian Model Criminal Code Officer's Committee discussion paper "Sexual Offenses against the Person" released in November [[1996]]. (This particular proposal was later withdrawn by the committee due to a large public outcry. Defenders of the proposal argue that the outcry was mostly based on the mistaken belief that the committee was intending to legalize sexual relations between parents and their minor children.)
  
−  
−
In the wake of the ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]] (539 U.S. 558 2003)'' decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, striking down laws criminalizing homosexual sodomy as unconstitutional, some have argued that by the same logic laws against consensual adult incest should be unconstitutional. Some civil libertarians argue that all private sexual activity between consenting adults should be legal, and its criminalization is a violation of human rights — thus, they argue that the criminalization of consensual adult incest is a violation of human rights. In ''[[Muth v. Frank]] (412 F.3d 808)'', the [[7th Cir.|7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals]] interpreted the case applying to homosexual activity, and refused to draw this conclusion from Lawrence, however, a decision that attracted mixed opinions.
  
−  
−
In France, incest isn't a crime in itself. Incestuous relations between an adult and a minor are prohibited and punished by law, but not between two minors or two adults.
  
−  
−
==Effects of parent-child incest==
  
−  
−
Parental incest is known to do severe psychological harm to a child, due to the child's physical, mental, and emotional dependence on a parent, due to total disparity in the power of authority, due to the disparity in emotional and physical maturity, and finally due to the fact that the incestuous relationship may damage or destroy healthy aspects of childhood development. Child victims have been observed to go into disassociated or [[recluse|reclusive]] mental or emotional states due to [[shame]] associated with their parent's predation, which is thought to overwhelm their coping capabilities. Becoming "dead inside" is another tactic children have been observed to use in an attempt to deaden the associated pain. Suppression of emotions, as well as a halt or a severe reduction in personal growth has been observed, similar to the effects studied in the [[psychology of torture]]. Child-incest victims often suffer from what is known as ''complex'' [[Psychological trauma|trauma]] due to developmental immaturity, due to repeated incests, and/or due to being forced to ignore the incest(s) as a child.
 
−  
−
In adulthood, chronic, complex, and cyclic [[post traumatic stress]] has been observed in some victims of childhood parental incest. [[Shame]], [[suspicion]], and unconscious [[alienation]] is thought by some psychologists to occur in the first stage of trauma transformation as the victim attempts to suppress past pain. [[Rage]], [[terror]], and [[sorrow]] have been observed to surface in the second stage as the victim begins to become conscious of the incest acts. In the last stage of trauma transformation, genuine [[self-esteem]], genuine [[desire]], and, on occasion, genuine [[joy]] have been seen in victims. These stages have been observed to take decades to complete and, in extreme cases, to cycle on until the victim's death.
  
−  
−
Some victims of parental incest suffer severe [[clinical depression|depression]], and/or have committed [[suicide]], which is thought to be due to the inability to accomplish the associated trauma transformations shown above. Some victims also predate against their own children thus resulting in a legacy of incest in following generations, a form of [[vicious cycle]]. Often, even if trauma transformation was successful, survivors have reported that due to the betrayal of innocence, the incest-associated losses, and the trauma-transformation related costs, their lives were much worse off than peers who had not suffered incest by their parents.
  
−  
−
According to clinical psychologist Ken Adams, covert parent-child ''emotional incest'' causes pain similar to that suffered by victims of overt incest but it is rarely identified. Covert incest is deeply harmful to children, as it denies them proper parenting, betrays their innocence, and places ''pathological'' demands on them to deal with what are their ''parents''' obligations (Adams 1991).
 
−  
−
Martyn Carruthers, a Canadian relationship researcher, defined the cross-generational cycles of mother-bonded men and father-bonded women that he calls "family karma". In childhood, victims of covert incest often feel confused, privileged, and 'old' beyond their years. In adulthood, children who were victims of covert incest often feel bonded to the same opposite sex parent and anger towards the same-sex parent, and [[shame]] about those feelings, unable to comprehend how their parents have wronged them. The consequences of this parent-child bonding often continue into adulthood, perhaps for the rest of the adult child's life. As Adams says "This separation will not be given. Real emancipation cannot be given. It must be taken". Carruthers' [[systemic coaching]] offers lasting solutions for covert emotional incest.
  
−  
−
Some people have claimed a positive, or neutral, experience from incest. The number of these incidents is low when compared to people who have expressed a negative experience from the act. For those that claim a positive experience, there seems to be common ideas. One of which is a lack of the stigma of shame associated with sex. Commonly people who have expressed a positive experience with incest also mention that their parents were open about sex education while the child was growing up. People who claim a positive experience also state that they continue to have a positive relationship with the parent(s) involved. A positive experience with incest is never portrayed in the media, or psychological studies however. The question of abuse always overshadows the issue, and so to be objective about it is difficult. For an account of a positive incest experience, see the external links for "Kelly's Diary".
  
−  
−
==History==
  
 
===Ancient civilizations===
  
===Ancient civilizations===
  +
[[Image:W.Clerke table.PNG|thumb|250px|Table of prohibited marriages from ''The Trial of Bastardie'' by William Clerke. London, 1594.]]
−
Some experts claim that incestuous marriages were widespread at least during part of Egyptian history, such as Naphtali Lewis (''Life in Egypt under Roman Rule'': Oxford, [[1983]]), who claims that numerous [[papyrus|papyri]] attest to many husbands and wives as being brother and sister. However, other scholars counter that it was common practice in Ancient Egypt for lovers to refer to themselves as brother and sister as a term of affection, not in reference to any sibling relationship. Those relationships which appear to have been genuinely incestuous primarily involved members of the royal family. Joyce Tyldesley (''Ramesses: Egypt's Great Pharaoh'': London, 2000), writing about the pre-Roman Egyptian period, states that within the royal family there was a tradition of [[hypergamy]], where a king or his son might marry a commoner, but his daughter could not marry beneath herself, without the act being considered as degrading to herself. As a result, the royal princess often found herself either marrying her royal brother, or living her life without a spouse.
  
  +
It is generally accepted that incestuous marriages were widespread at least during the Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history. Numerous [[papyrus|papyri]] and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister (Lewis, 1983; Bagnall and Frier, 1994; Shaw, 1993). In Hopkins (1980) this is conclusively demonstrated, and more recent scholars in the field have not questioned it. Some of these incestuous relationships were in the royal family, especially the [[Ptolemies]] (see the biography of [[Cleopatra VII]], who married more than one of her brothers).
   
  +
The fable of [[Oedipus]], with a theme of inadvertent incest between a mother and son, ends in disaster and shows ancient taboos against incest as Oedipus is punished for incestuous actions by blinding himself. In the "sequel" to Oedipus, [[Antigone]], his four children are also punished for their parents having been incestuous.
−
Incestuous unions were frowned upon and considered as ''nefas'' (against the laws of gods and man) in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, and were explicitly forbidden by an imperial edict in AD [[295]], which divided the concept of ''incestus'' into two categories of unequal gravity: the ''incestus iuris gentium'', who was applied to both Romans and non-Romans in the Empire, and the ''incestus iuris civilis'' which concerned only the Roman citizens. Therefore, for example, an Egyptian could marry an aunt, but a Roman could not. Despite the act of incest being unacceptable within the Roman Empire, Roman Emperor [[Caligula]] is rumored to have had open sexual relationships with all three of his sisters, killing his favorite sister/lover when she became pregnant with his child.
  
   
  +
Incestuous unions were frowned upon and considered as ''nefas'' (against the laws of gods and man) in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, and were explicitly forbidden by an imperial edict in AD 295, which divided the concept of ''incestus'' into two categories of unequal gravity: the ''incestus iuris gentium'', which was applied to both Romans and non-Romans in the Empire, and the ''incestus iuris civilis'', which concerned only Roman citizens. Therefore, for example, an Egyptian could marry an aunt, but a Roman could not. Despite the act of incest being unacceptable within the Roman Empire, Roman Emperor [[Caligula]] is rumored to have had open sexual relationships with all three of his sisters ([[Julia Livilla]], [[Drusilla (sister of Caligula)|Drusilla]], and [[Agrippina the Younger]]). The taboo against incest in Ancient Rome is demonstrated by the fact that politicians would use charges of incest (often false charges) as insults and means of political disenfranchisement.
−
===Royal dynasties===
  
−
{{unreferenced}}
  
−
Although there are reports that adult incest has been notable in many royal dynasties, the evidence usually put forward has been subjected to much criticism. {{who}} There are cases of siblings marrying which are verified.(And there are many cases in which first and second cousins married, a practice that would be considered "incest" in certain cultures today, but which of course was normal and non-incestuous when practised.) A motive often given by others for this supposed custom of royal incest is that this was in order to help concentrate wealth and political influence within the family. It is noteworthy that this motive is something attributed to these dynasties, not something that they themselves put forward. Since these dynasties did not, in fact, have the norm of royal incestuous marriage, it is specious to attribute any motives to a practice which didn't actually exist. Though usually frowned upon by present-day people, incest within families of royalty or of high esteem was done because the families believed that anyone who was not of their family was not worthy of marrying them.
 
   
  +
Additionally, many European monarchs were related due to political marriages, sometimes resulting in distant cousins (and even first cousins) being married. This was especially true in the [[Habsburg]], [[Hohenzollern]] and [[Bourbon]] dynasties.
−
Some cultures in which royal incestuous marriage (which included brother-sister unions) has been said to be common, are Ancient Egypt (as explained above), pre-contact [[Hawaii]], the pre-Columbian [[Mixtec]] and the [[Inca]]. Ray Bixler (see references) shows that this popular view is not only without proper support but is contradicted by historical documentation. Incestuous royal marriages were found in only one Egyptian Dynasty, the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]]. This dynasty had thirteen rulers, only one of whom resulted from an incestuous (brother-sister) union. There were eight rulers who had a brother-sister marriage, but seven of these did not lead to a successor. Given these numbers, one cannot say that incestuous marriage was common in Ancient Egypt, nor that it was a common means of producing successors even in the one dynasty for which there is considerable evidence of incestuous marriages.
 
   
−
Dynasties of the modern era where there was frequent familial intermarriage were the mid-[[Habsburg]]s; one branch ruled over [[Spain]] and the other over [[Austria]]. Spanish princesses, however, did marry [[France|French]] kings, [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] and [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] who were not [[Habsburg]]s (but had Habsburg blood: Louis XIII's grandmother was Johanna of Habsburg, and Louis XIV was his wife's double first cousin: his aunt (a Bourbon) had been her mother, and her aunt (Anne of Habsburg) had been his mother). The Spanish branch died out in [[1700]], but the last Spanish Habsburg king, [[Charles II of Spain|Carlos II]] had been married to María-Luisa of Orléans, grand-daughter of King [[Charles I of England]] and niece to King [[Louis XIV of France]]: she however had a large amount of Habsburg blood via Anne and Johanna of Habsburg. In [[1795]] King [[George IV]] did marry his first cousin, [[Caroline of Brunswick]], which evidently was an acceptable practice. However, over the last century, Kings [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]], and (for his second time) [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]] all married their Austrian cousins (in fact, nieces in the case of Ann of Austria and Mariana of Austria). The Austrian branch continued to rule until [[1918]], and they are still alive and prospering today. Although the ruler of Egypt, [[Cleopatra]], was of Greek origin, she was the daughter of her father's sister, and while reigning she married her brother, [[Ptolemy XIII]].
 
   
−
In Christian society, in which most of the great royal dynasties of the early modern era functioned, incest was a terrible taboo. In [[1536]] [[Anne Boleyn|Queen Anne Boleyn of England]] was falsely accused of incest with her brother, [[George Boleyn]], in order to blacken her name and enable [[Henry VIII of England|her husband]] to execute her and marry [[Lady Jane Seymour|Jane Seymour]].
  
   
−
==In religious traditions==
 +
==Laws regarding incest==
  +
{{Main|Laws regarding incest}}
−
Examples of incest in [[mythology]] are rampant. In [[Greek mythology]] [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]] are brother and sister as well as husband and wife. They were the children of [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] (also married siblings) and, according to some sources, grandchildren of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] (a son who took his mother as consort, in some sources as brother and sister, first people on Earth). Cronus and Rhea's siblings, the other [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]], were also all married brothers and sisters. Poseidon also managed to produce a child by Gaia namely Antaeus.
  
  +
Incest is illegal in many jurisdictions. The exact legal definition of "incest," including the nature of the relationship between persons, and the types sexual activity, varies by country, and by even individual states or provinces within a country. These laws can also extend to marriage between said individuals.
   
  +
==Religious views on incest==
−
The play ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'' features the Ancient Greek King having an unknowing incestuous relationship with his mother.
 
  +
===Judeo-Christian===
  +
{{main|Biblical References to Incest}}
   
  +
The [[Book of Leviticus]] lists prohibitions against sexual relations between various pairs of family members. Men are prohibited, on pain of death, to have sexual relations with their daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, and various other relations, but it is silent on the subject of sex with a man's niece. (Father–daughter incest is covered by a prohibition on sexual relationships between a man and any daughter born to any woman he has had sexual relationships with, thereby prohibiting his incest not only with his own daughters but also with women who could be his stepdaughters by marriage.) [[Cousin couple]]s are also not prohibited.
−
In [[Norse mythology]], [[Loki]] accuses [[Freyr]] and [[Freyja]] of committing incest, in ''[[Lokasenna]]''. He also says that [[Njörðr]] had Freyr with his sister. This is also indicated in the ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'' which says that incest was legal among the [[Vanir]].
  
   
  +
===Islam===
−
In Norse legends, the hero [[Sigmund]] and his sister [[Signy]] murdered her children and begat a son, [[Sinfjötli]]. When Sinfjötli had grown up, he and Sigmund murdered Signy's husband [[Siggeir]]. The [[legendary Danish kings|legendary Danish king]] [[Hrólfr kraki]] was born from an incestuous union of [[Halga|Helgi]] and [[Yrsa]].
  
  +
The [[Quran]] gives specific rules regarding incest, which prohibit a man from marrying or having sexual relationships with his mother, daughter, sister, paternal or maternal aunt, niece, a woman from whom he has nursed, a woman who has nursed from the same woman as he, his mother-in-law, the daughter of his wives with whom he has consummated the marriage (though if he has not, it is allowed), the wife of his biological son <ref name=Quran23>[http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURAN/4.htm Sûrah an Nisa 4:23]</ref> , or his father's wife (stepmother) <ref name=Quran22>[http://quran.al-islam.com/Targama/DispTargam.asp?nType=1&nSeg=0&l=eng&nSora=4&nAya=22&t=eng Surah an-Nisa 4:22]</ref> . It is also forbidden to be married to two sisters at the same time<ref name=Quran23/>. According to a Hadith by prophet Muhammad, it is also prohibited to be married to a woman and her paternal or maternal aunt at the same time <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/8442 |title=Islam Question and Answer - Is it permissible to marry two sisters from one father at the same time? |format= |work= |accessdate=}}</ref> . The same applies for a woman with the male counterparts to the aformetioned. However, [[Islam]] allows for marriage with cousins and other more distant relatives.
   
  +
===Hinduism===
−
Hinduism speaks of incest in highly abhorrent terms. Hindus were greatly fearful of the bad effects of incest and thus practice to date strict rules of both endogamy and exogamy, i.e., marriage in the same caste (''varna'') but not in the same family tree (''gotra'') or bloodline (''Pravara'').
  
  +
[[Hinduism]] speaks of incest in highly abhorrent terms.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Hindus were greatly fearful of the bad effects of incest and thus practise to date strict rules of both [[endogamy]] and [[exogamy]], that is, marriage in the same caste (''varna'') but not in the same family tree (''gotra'') or bloodline (''Parivara''). Marriages within the gotra ("swagotra" marriages) are banned under the rule of exogamy in the traditional matrimonial system. People within the gotra are regarded as kin and marrying such a person would be thought of as incest.
   
  +
In some South Indian communities, where gotra membership passed from father to children, marriages were allowed between uncle and niece, while such marriages were forbidden in matrilineal communities, like Malayalis and Tuluvas, where gotra membership was passed down from the mother. A much more common characteristic of south Indian Hindu society is permission of marriage between cross-cousins (children of brother and sister). Thus, a man is allowed to marry his maternal uncle's daughter or his paternal aunt's daughter but is not allowed to marry his paternal uncle's daughter, a parallel cousin, who is treated as a sister.
−
The [[Bible]] also contains a number of references to incest: see [[Biblical references to incest]].
  
   
−
==In folklore==
 +
===Buddhism===
  +
[[Eastern_philosophy#Buddhist_philosophy|Asian societies shaped by Buddhist traditions]] take a strong ethical stand in human affairs and sexual behavior in particular. In most of those societies, incest is regarded as highly abhorrent. However, unlike most other world religions, most variations of Buddhism do not go into details regarding what is right and what is wrong in mundane activities of life. Incest (or any other detail of human sexual conduct for that matter) is not specifically mentioned in any of the religious scriptures. The most common formulation of Buddhist ethics are the [[The Five Precepts|Five Precepts]] and the [[Noble Eightfold Path|Eightfold Path]], one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings, not divine mandate or instruction. The third of the Five Precepts is "To refrain from committing sexual misconduct". It is understandable that incest itself could constitute "sexual misconduct".<ref>{{cite web
−
In [[Icelandic folklore]] a common plot involves a brother and sister (illegally) conceiving a child. They subsequently escape justice by moving to a remote valley. There they proceed to have several more children. The man has some magical abilities which he uses to direct travelers to or away from the valley as he chooses. The siblings always have exactly one daughter but any number of sons. Eventually the magician allows a young man (usually searching for sheep) into the valley and asks him to marry the daughter and give himself and his sister a civilized burial upon their deaths. This is subsequently done.
  
  +
| last =Higgins
−  
  +
| first =Winton
−
Sibling incest forms an important part of the plot in the story of [[Kullervo]] in the [[Finland|Finnish]] national epic, the [[Kalevala]], as also in medieval versions of the [[Great Britain|British]] legend of [[King Arthur]].
  
  +
| title =Buddhist Sexual Ethics
−  
  +
| work =
−
In [[Sri Lankan]] folklore, there are at least three significant instances where incest is mentioned. The forefather of the [[Sinhala]] race, "Sinhabahu", is a king who married his own sister "Sinhaseevali". Incest is again mentioned when King Vijaya's son and daughter fled to the jungle together in protest of their father's second marriage. Also, the brother "Dantha" and the sister "Hemamalini" who brought the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha to the island, seemed to also have a married relationship. Despite the liberal mentioning of incest in folklore, Sri Lankan culture regards incest as a taboo. Then again, contemporary Sri Lankan culture is heavily influenced by the cultures of former colonial rulers, during last couple of centuries.
  
  +
| publisher =BuddhaNet Magazine
−  
  +
| date =
−
In fairy tales of [[Aarne-Thompson]] folktale type 510B, the persecuted heroine, the heroine is persecuted by her father, and most usually, the persecution is an attempt to marry her, as in ''[[Allerleirauh]]'' or ''[[Donkeyskin]]''. This was taken up into the legend of Saint [[Dymphna]].
  
  +
| url =http://www.buddhanet.net/winton_s.htm
−  
  +
| accessdate = 2007-01-15 }}
−
Several [[Child ballad]]s have the motif of brother-sister incest, such as ''[[Sheath and Knife]]''. This is usually unwitting (as in ''[[The Bonny Hind]]'', the siblings usually have not seen in each in a long time, or at all) but always ends tragically.
  
  +
</ref>. 'Sexual misconduct' is a loose term, and is subjected to interpretation relative to the social norms of the followers. In fact, Buddhism in its fundamental form, does not define what is right and what is wrong in absolute terms for [[Laity|lay followers]]. Therefore the interpretation of whether incest for a [[layperson]] is right or wrong, is not a religious matter as far as Buddhism is concerned.
−  
−
In ancient [[Vietnamese]] folklore, there is a tale of a brother and a sister. One time, when the brother fought with his sister over a toy, he mashed a stone to her head. She fell down unconscious. He thought he killed his sister. Afraid of the punishment, he fled. Years later, by coincidence, they met each other, fell in love and married without knowing they were siblings. They built a house along a seashore. He was fisherman, she was housewife. They had a son. One day, he discovered a scar in her head. She told him about the childhood fight with her brother. He discovered that his wife was his little sister. Overwhelmed with incest’s guilt, he left for the sea. She came to the top of the hill looking and waiting for him everyday. He never came back. She died in waiting and become "Hon vong phu" (The stone’s waiting for her husband).
  
−  
−
==Fiction==
  
−
''Main article: [[Incest in fiction]]''
  
   
 
==See also==
  
==See also==
−
*[[Prohibited degree of kinship]]
 +
*[[Child sexual abuse]]
  +
*[[Incest in folklore]]
  +
*[[Consanguinity]]
  +
*[[Covert incest]]
  +
*[[Genetic sexual attraction]]
  +
*[[Human sexual behaviour]]
  +
*[[Kinship and descent]]
  +
*[[Levirate marriage]]
 
*[[Imprinting (psychology)#Westermarck effect|Westermarck effect]]
  
*[[Imprinting (psychology)#Westermarck effect|Westermarck effect]]
−
*[[Genetic sexual attraction]]
  
−
*[[Twincest]]
  
 
*[[Inbreeding]]
  
*[[Inbreeding]]
−
*[[Royal intermarriage]]
  
−
*[[Consanguinity]]
  
−
*[[Kinship and descent]]
  
−
*[[Sexual morality]]
  
−
*[[Incest pornography]]
  
 
*[[Incest taboo]]
  
*[[Incest taboo]]
  +
*[[Pedophilia]]
−
*[[Human sexual behavior]]
  
−
*[[Oedipus complex]]
 +
*[[Perpetrators]]
  +
*[[Prohibited degree of kinship]]
−
*[[Electra complex]]
  
−
*[[Levirate marriage]]
 +
*[[Sex offences]]
−
*[[Paraphilia]]
 +
*[[Sexual ethics]]
−
*[[Covert incest]]
 +
*[[Cousin couple]]
−
*[[Child sexual abuse]]
 +
*[[Mahram]]
−
*[[Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction]]
  
−
*[[Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films]]
  
−
*[[Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in the theatre]]
  
   
−
==Mass media articles==
 +
== Notes ==
  +
{{reflist|2}}
−
* Lobdell, William, ''Missionary's Dark Legacy; Two remote Alaska villages are still reeling from a Catholic volunteer's sojourn three decades ago, when he allegedly molested nearly every Eskimo boy in the parishes. The accusers, now men, are scarred emotionally and struggle to cope. They are seeking justice.'', '''Los Angeles Times''', Nov 19, 2005, p. A.1.
  
−
* ''Teri Hatcher's Desperate Hour'', '''Vanity Fair''', Apr 2006
  
   
−
==External links==
 +
== References ==
  +
* Adams, Kenneth, M., ''Silently Seduced: When Parents Make Their Children Their Partners, Understanding Covert Incest'', HCI, 1992.
−
* [http://www.asstr.org/~Kelly_Diary/aboutme/about.htm ''Kelley's Diary: A Positive Experience with Incest'']
  
  +
* Adams, Kenneth, M., ''When He's Married to His Mom: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts To True Love'', Fireside, 2007.
−
* [http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2005/feature_labi_janfeb05.msp The Gentle People: Impressed by their piety, courts have permitted the Amish to live outside the law. But in some places, the group's ethic of forgive and forget has produced a plague of incest—and let many perpetrators go unpunished.]
  
  +
* Anderson, Peter B., and [[Cindy Struckman-Johnson]], ''Sexually Aggressive Women: Current Perspectives and Controversies'', Guilford, 1998.
−
* [http://incestissues.com Incest Issues] Compares negative and positive experiences through collection of biographical data.
  
  +
* Bagnall, Roger S. and Bruce W. Frier, ''The demography of Roman Egypt'', Cambridge, 1994
−
* [http://protect.org/articles/vachssNewYorkVictory.html ''Closing New York's Incest Loophole'']
  
  +
* Bixler, Ray H. (1982) "Comment on the Incidence and Purpose of Royal Sibling Incest," ''American Ethnologist'', ''9''(3), Aug, pp. 580-582.
−
* [http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/nyt-11202005.html ''The Incest Loophole'']
  
−
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=904100 ''Child Sexual Abuse and the State'']
  
−
* [http://www.icasa.org/uploads/adult_survivors_of_incest.pdf Adult Survivors of Incest]
  
−
* [http://www.building-block.org Building Block - Dedicated to preventing sexual abuse]
  
−
* [http://www.psychpage.com/family/library/sib_abuse.htm Sibling Sexual Abuse]
  
−
* [http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/disp_9803_a.html ''Our Endangered Species: A Hard Look at How We Treat Children'', Parade Magazine, (3/29/98)]
  
−
* [http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/disp_9408_a.html ''You Carry the Cure In Your Own Heart'', Parade Magazine, (8/28/94)]
  
−
* [http://www.kalimunro.com/article_mother_son_sexual_abuse.html Male Sexual Abuse Victims of Female Perpetrators: Society's Betrayal of Boys]
  
−
* [http://www.drmiletski.com/mother_son.html Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo]
  
−
* [http://www.safersociety.org/allbks/wp046.html The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused By Mothers]
  
−
* [http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/HERFAY.html Father-Daughter Incest]
  
−
* [http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/135/7/835 Father-Son Incest: Underreported Psychiatric Problem?]
  
−
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04264a.htm Catholic Consanguinity (in Canon Law)]
  
−
* [[Lloyd deMause]]. "The Universality of Incest", ''The Journal of Psychohistory'', Fall 1991, Vol. 19, No. 2. ([http://www.psychohistory.com/htm/06a1_incest.html]) - author argues that incest is universal across all human societies; equates incest with incest with children; argues that sexual relations between children and third persons with parental knowledge or consent constitutes 'indirect incest'
  
−
* [http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/disp_9119_a.html Comment on "The Universality of Incest," by Andrew Vachss] - comments on deMause's article by well-known children's attorney and child protection consultant
  
−
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4331603,00.html article from The Guardian newspaper, concerning a case of allegedly consensual adult parent-child incest]
  
−
* [http://www.umanitoba.ca/anthropology/tutor/marriage/usa-ncst.html State Variations on American Marriage Prohibitions]
  
−
* [http://www.vachss.com/help_text/incest.html Intrafamilial (Incest) Abuse Resources]
  
−
* [http://ins-dream.com/phpBB2/ Forum of discussions of an incest]
  
−
* [http://samvak.tripod.com/incest.html The incest taboo - origins, history, and ethical aspects]
  
−
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jamesdow/wrigco.htm The "mathematics of inbreeding"]
  
−
* [http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/tooby/classes/anth7/incest.htm The evolution of incest avoidance mechanisms]
  
−
* [http://www.geocities.com/luvacuzn4/CousinsMarryingCousins.html Cousins Marrying Cousins - an article from the New York Times]
  
−
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2005-12-29/news/feature.html Forbidden Fruit] December 2005 ''New Times'' article on fumarase deficiency following multigenerational cousin marriages in Colorado City, Arizona
  
−
* [http://www.siawso.org/ Survivors of Incest Anonymous, World Service Office, Inc.]
  
−
* [http://www.askyourdronline.com/ver2/users/G204ThreadList.asp?nid=1063&cidtype=K&tmpname=Incest Psychiatry Advice - Incest] Patient Queries answered by Psychiatrists to fight Incest tendencies
  
−  
−
==References and further reading==
  
−
* Adams, Kenneth, M., ''Silently Seduced: When Parents Make Their Children Their Partners, Understanding Covert Incest'', HCI, 1991.
  
−
* Anderson, Peter B., and Cindy Struckman-Johnson, ''Sexually Aggressive Women: Current Persectives and Controversies'', Guilford, 1998.
  
−
* Bixler, Ray H. "Comment on the Incidence and Purpose of Royal Sibling Incest," ''American Ethnologist'', 9(3) (Aug. 1982), pp. 580-582.
  
 
* Blume, E. Sue, ''Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and its Aftereffects in Women'', Ballantine, 1991.
  
* Blume, E. Sue, ''Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and its Aftereffects in Women'', Ballantine, 1991.
 
* DeMilly, Walter, ''In My Father's Arms: A True Story of Incest'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.
  
* DeMilly, Walter, ''In My Father's Arms: A True Story of Incest'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.
  +
* Murador, Gordan, "Just Curious and Incestuous - Two Best Friends Finding Out Their True Past", TTMFTW, 2008.
 
* Elliot, Michelle, ''Female Sexual Abuse of Children'', Guilford, 1994.
  
* Elliot, Michelle, ''Female Sexual Abuse of Children'', Guilford, 1994.
 
* {{cite book | author= Forward, Susan | title=Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life| publisher= Bantam | year=1990 | id=ISBN 0-553-28434-7}}
  
* {{cite book | author= Forward, Susan | title=Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life| publisher= Bantam | year=1990 | id=ISBN 0-553-28434-7}}
  +
* Goody, John ([[Jack Goody]]) (1956) [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0007-1315(195612)7%3A4%3C286%3AACATIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M A Comparative Approach to Incest and Adultery], ''[[The British Journal of Sociology]]'', ''7'' (4), Dec, pp. 286-305 doi:10.2307/586694
 
* Gil, Eliana, ''Treating Abused Adolescents'', Guilford, 1996.
  
* Gil, Eliana, ''Treating Abused Adolescents'', Guilford, 1996.
−
* Herman, Judith, ''Father-Daughter Incest'', Harvard University Press, 1982.
 +
* [[Judith Lewis Herman|Herman, Judith]], ''Father-Daughter Incest'', Harvard University Press, 1982.
−
* Hislop, Julia, ''Female Sexual Offenders: What Therapists, Law Enforcement, and Child Protective Services Need to Know'', Issues, 2001.
 +
* Hislop, Julia, "Female Sexual Offenders: What Therapists, Law Enforcement, and Child Protective Services Need to Know", ''Issues'', 2001.
  +
* Hopkins, Keith (1980) "Brother-Sister Marriage in Roman Egypt", ''[[Comparative Studies in Society and History]]'', 22: 303-354.
−
* Leavitt, G. C. "Sociobiological explanations of incest avoidance: a critical claim of evidential claims", ''American Anthropologist'' 92: 971-993, 1990
  
  +
* Leavitt, G. C. (1990) "Sociobiological explanations of incest avoidance: A critical claim of evidential claims", ''American Anthropologist'', 92: 971-993.
−
* Lew, Mike, ''Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse,'' Nevraumont, 1988.
  
  +
* Lew, Mike, ''Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse'', Nevraumont, 1988.
−
* Lobdell, William, "Missionary's Dark Legacy," ''Los Angeles Times'', Nov. 19, 2005, p. A1.
  
  +
* Lewis, Naphtali, ''Life in Egypt under Roman Rule'', Oxford, 1983.
  +
* Lobdell, William, "Missionary's Dark Legacy", ''Los Angeles Times'', Nov. 19, 2005, p. A1.
 
* Love, Pat, ''Emotional Incest Syndrome: What to Do When a Parent's Love Rules Your Life'', Bantam, 1991.
  
* Love, Pat, ''Emotional Incest Syndrome: What to Do When a Parent's Love Rules Your Life'', Bantam, 1991.
  +
* Méndez-Negrete, Josie, ''Las hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed'', Duke University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8223-3896-3.
 
* Miletski, Hani, ''Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo'', Safer Society, 1999.
  
* Miletski, Hani, ''Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo'', Safer Society, 1999.
 
* Miller, Alice, ''That Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child'', Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1983.
  
* Miller, Alice, ''That Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child'', Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1983.
Line 251: Line 159:
 
* Rosencrans, Bobbie, and Eaun Bear, ''The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by Mothers'', Safer Society, 1997.
  
* Rosencrans, Bobbie, and Eaun Bear, ''The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by Mothers'', Safer Society, 1997.
 
* Scruton, Roger, ''Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic'', Free Press, 1986.
  
* Scruton, Roger, ''Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic'', Free Press, 1986.
  +
* Shaw, Brent D., ''Explaining Incest: Brother-Sister Marriage in Graeco-Roman Egypt'', Man, New Series, ''27''(2), Jun 1992, pp. 267-299. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0025-1496(199206)2%3A27%3A2%3C267%3AEIBMIG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N JSTOR article]
 
* Shaw, Risa, ''Not Child's Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest'', Lunchbox, 2000.
  
* Shaw, Risa, ''Not Child's Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest'', Lunchbox, 2000.
  +
* Tyldesley, Joyce, ''Ramesses: Egypt's Great Pharaoh'', London, 2000.
  +
The New England Association for Women in Psychology. "Current Feminist Issues in Psychotherapy"
  +
  +
==External links==
  +
* {{DMOZ|Society/Crime/Sex_Offenses/Incest/}}
  +
* {{DMOZ|Society/Issues/Children,_Youth_and_Family/Child_Abuse/Sexual_Abuse/|Child sexual abuse}}
  +
* [http://www.rainn.org/ National Sexual Assault Hotline] operated by [[RAINN]]
  +
  +
{{Sexual ethics}}
   
  +
[[Category:Anthropology]]
  +
[[Category:Child sexual abuse]]
 
[[Category:Family law]]
  
[[Category:Family law]]
−
[[Category:Gender studies]]
 +
[[Category:Incest| ]]
−
[[Category:Medical emergencies]]
 +
[[Category:Paraphilias]]
 
[[Category:Sex crimes]]
  
[[Category:Sex crimes]]
 
[[Category:Sexual abuse]]
  
[[Category:Sexual abuse]]
−
[[Category:Sexual assault]]
 +
[[Category:Sexual intercourse (human)]]
−
[[Category:Sexism]]
 +
[[Category:Sexology]]
−
[[Category:Criminology topics]]
 +
[[Category:Sexual acts]]
−
[[Category:Rape]]
 +
[[Category:Human sexuality]]
−
[[Category:Rape victim advocates]]
  
   
  +
<!--
 
[[ar:زنا المحارم]]
  
[[ar:زنا المحارم]]
−
[[be:Інцэст]]
 +
[[be-x-old:Інцэст]]
  +
[[bs:Incest]]
  +
[[ca:Incest]]
 
[[cs:Incest]]
  
[[cs:Incest]]
 
[[da:Incest]]
  
[[da:Incest]]
 
[[de:Inzest]]
  
[[de:Inzest]]
  +
[[et:Intsest]]
 
[[es:Incesto]]
  
[[es:Incesto]]
 
[[eo:Incesto]]
  
[[eo:Incesto]]
 
[[fr:Inceste]]
  
[[fr:Inceste]]
  +
[[gl:Incesto]]
  +
[[ka:ინცესტი]]
  +
[[ko:근친상간]]
 
[[hr:Incest]]
  
[[hr:Incest]]
 
[[io:Incesto]]
  
[[io:Incesto]]
−
[[id:Hubungan sumbang]]
 +
[[id:Hubungan sedarah]]
  +
[[is:Sifjaspell]]
 
[[it:Incesto]]
  
[[it:Incesto]]
 
[[he:גילוי עריות]]
  
[[he:גילוי עריות]]
  +
[[lt:Kraujomaiša]]
−
[[mk:Родооскврнување]]
  
  +
[[hu:Vérfertőzés]]
  +
[[ms:Sumbang muhrim]]
 
[[nl:Incest]]
  
[[nl:Incest]]
 
[[ja:近親相姦]]
  
[[ja:近親相姦]]
Line 283: Line 212:
 
[[pl:Kazirodztwo]]
  
[[pl:Kazirodztwo]]
 
[[pt:Incesto]]
  
[[pt:Incesto]]
  +
[[ro:Incest]]
 
[[ru:Инцест]]
  
[[ru:Инцест]]
 
[[simple:Incest]]
  
[[simple:Incest]]
Line 290: Line 220:
 
[[fi:Insesti]]
  
[[fi:Insesti]]
 
[[sv:Incest]]
  
[[sv:Incest]]
  +
[[ta:தகாப் பாலுறவு]]
 
[[vi:Loạn luân]]
  
[[vi:Loạn luân]]
 
[[tr:Ensest]]
  
[[tr:Ensest]]
 
[[uk:Інцест]]
  
[[uk:Інцест]]
  +
[[yi:גילוי עריות]]
 
[[zh:近親性交]]
  
[[zh:近親性交]]
  +
-->
 
{{enWP|Incest}}
  
{{enWP|Incest}}

Revision as of 08:53, 14 November 2008

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Individual differences | Personality | Philosophy | Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |

Clinical: Approaches · Group therapy · Techniques · Types of problem · Areas of specialism · Taxonomies · Therapeutic issues · Modes of delivery · Model translation project · Personal experiences ·

This article needs rewriting to enhance its relevance to psychologists..
Please help to improve this page yourself if you can..


Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family) that is illegal or socially taboo. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo vary with culture and jurisdiction. Some societies consider it to include only those who live in the same household, or who belong to the same clan or lineage; other societies consider it to include "blood relatives"; other societies further include those related by adoption or marriage.[1]

The most frequently reported type of incest is father-daughter incest.[2] Incest between adults and prepubescent or adolescent children is a form of child sexual abuse[3] that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood trauma, a trauma that often does serious and long-term psychological damage, especially in the case of parental incest.[4] Prevalence is difficult to generalize, but research has estimated 10-15% of the general population as having at least one incest experience, with less than 2% involving intercourse or attempted intercourse.[5] Among women, research by Russell (1986) and Wyatt (1985) has yielded estimates as high as twenty percent.[4]

Consensual adult incest is very rare.[3] Consensual incest between adults is criminalized in most countries, although it is seen by some as a victimless crime.[6]

Most societies have some form of incest avoidance.[7][8] The incest taboo is and has been one of the most common of all cultural taboos, both in current nations and many past societies,[9] with legal penalties imposed in some jurisdictions. Most modern societies have legal or social restrictions on closely consanguineous marriages.[10] However, in some societies, such as that of Ancient Egypt, brother–sister, father–daughter, and mother–son relations were practiced among royalty.[11][12] In addition, the Balinese[13] and some Inuit tribes[14] have altogether different beliefs about what constitutes illegal and immoral incest.

Types

Sexual abuse of children

Main article: child sexual abuse

Incest perpetrated by an adult of either gender against a child is called "intrafamilial child sexual abuse". The most-often reported form of incest is of this inherently abusive form. Father-daughter and stepfather-daughter incest is most commonly reported, with most of the remaining reports consisting of mother/stepmother-daughter/son incest.[8] Father-son incest is reported less often, however it is not known if the prevalence is less, because it is under-reported by a greater margin.[15][16] Prevalence of parental child sexual abuse is difficult to assess due to secrecy and privacy; some estimates show 20 million Americans have been victimized by parental incest as children.[8]

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime a large proportion of rape committed in the United States is perpetrated by a family member:

Research indicates that 46% of children who are raped are victims of family members. (Langan and Harlow, 1994.) The majority of American rape victims (61%) are raped before the age of 18; furthermore, 29 percent (29%) of all forcible rapes occurred when the victim was less than 11 years old. Eleven percent (11%) of rape victims are raped by their fathers or step-fathers, and another 16 percent (16%) are raped by other relatives. [17]

Emotional incest occurs when a parent relates to a child as a substitute for an adult partner. That child may become emotionally bonded to, and codependent with, the parent. Emotional incest usually occurs before physical parent-child incest. Even without physical sexual contact, the consequences to such "bonded" children include a lifetime of partnership difficulties, according to Martyn Carruthers who wrote that this is a socially accepted form of child abuse in many countries.[18]

A study of victims of father-daughter incest in the 70s showed that there were "common features" within families prior to the occurrence of incest: estrangement between the mother and the daughter, extreme paternal dominance, the mother's inability to fulfill her traditional parental role and reassignment of some of the mother's major family responsibility to the daughter. Oldest and only daughters were more likely to be the victims of incest. Furthermore, it was stated that the incest experience was psychologically harmful to the woman in later life, frequently leading to feelings of low self-esteem, unhealthy sexual activity, contempt for other women and other emotional problems[19].

The ISNA reported that a counselling hotline stated that a large percentage of the calls they handle deal with the issue of parental child abuse.[20]

Adults who were incestuously victimized by adults in their childhood often suffer from low self-esteem, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and sexual dysfunction, and are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, phobic avoidance reactions, somatoform disorder, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.[4][21][22]

The Goler clan is a specific instance in which child sexual abuse in the form of forced adult/child and sibling/sibling incest took place over at least three generations. [23] A number of Goler children were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, and each other. During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. Sixteen adults (both men and women) were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five.[23]

Between childhood siblings

Many types of sexual contact between children (e.g., "playing doctor") are not considered harmful or abnormal, but become child-on-child sexual abuse when there is coercion, lack of consent, or simply an imbalance of power or knowledge in the relationship. Childhood sibling–sibling incest is also considered to be widespread but rarely reported. The most commonly reported form of abusive sibling incest is abuse between an older brother and a younger brother or sister.[8] According to a study by Floyd Martinson, 10–15% of college students reported childhood sexual experiences with a brother or sister, mostly fondling of genitals rather than actual sexual intercourse. Of those, 30% reported negative reactions and 30% reported positive reactions; 25% of the reported experiences involved coercion and there was a correlation of coercion with the negative responses.[24] A 2006 study showed a large portion of adults who experienced sibling incest have distorted or disturbed beliefs both about their own experience and the subject of sexual abuse in general.[25] An observational study in 1993 found that 16 percent of the 930 adult women interviewed reported that they had been sexually abused by a sibling before they were 18 years old.[26]

Sibling incest is most prevalent in families where one or both parents are often absent or emotionally unavailable, with the abusive siblings using incest as a way to assert their power over a weaker sibling and thereby express their feelings of hurt and rage.[26] Absence of the father in particular has been found to be a significant element of most cases of sexual abuse of female children by a brother.[27] The damaging effects on both childhood development and adult symptoms resulting from brother–sister sexual abuse are similar to the effects of father–daughter, including substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and eating disorders.[27][28]

Between consenting adults

Incest between consenting adults is sexual behavior between adult, blood relatives (which can include parents and adult offspring, siblings, cousins, etc.) that is not coerced or forced in any way.[29] While incest between consenting adults has not been widely reported in the past, the internet has shown that this behavior does take place, possibly more often than many people realize.[29] Internet chatrooms and topical websites exist that provide support for incestuous couples.[29]

Proponents of incest between consenting adults draw clear boundaries between the behavior of consenting adults and rape, child molestation, and abuse.[29] According to one incest participant who was interviewed for an article in The Guardian

"You can't help who you fall in love with, it just happens. I fell in love with my sister and I'm not ashamed ... I only feel sorry for my mom and dad, I wish they could be happy for us. We love each other. It's nothing like some old man who tries to fuck his three-year-old, that's evil and disgusting ... Of course we're consenting, that's the most important thing. We're not fucking perverts. What we have is the most beautiful thing in the world."[29]

The Guardian article also states:

Voices in Action, a US support group for victims of incest, vehemently rejects these arguments: "These teens have been brainwashed into believing this behaviour is natural; it is not ... Sexual abuse is learned behaviour." But some political thinkers are prepared to support the distinction between abuse and consenting relationships. "[29]

In Slate Magazine, William Saletan drew a legal connection between gay sex and incest between consenting adults.[30] As he described in his article, in 2003, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum publicly derided the theory of the Supreme Court ruling to allow private consensual sex in the home (primarily as a gay rights move). He stated: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery."[30] However, David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign professed outrage that Santorum placed being gay on the same moral and legal level as someone engaging in incest. Saletan argued that, legally and morally, there is essentially no difference between the two, and went on to support incest between consenting adults being covered by a legal right to privacy.[30]

Between adult siblings

The most public case of consensual adult sibling incest in recent years is the case of a brother-sister couple from Leipzig, Germany.[6] The couple became intimately close after the death of their mother and in 2001, had their first child together (they have a total of four). The public nature of their relationship, and the repeated prosecutions and even jail time they have served as a result, has caused some in Germany to question whether incest between consenting adults should be punished at all.[6] For all intents and purposes, the couple are happy together and incest between consenting adults in general, as described in a Der Spiegel article about them, is a victimless crime.[6]

Between adult cousins

See also: Cousin couple

In most countries, marriage between cousins is legal, though some religious restrictions exist - for example marriage between first cousins is forbidden by the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.[31] Many of the United States, however, prohibit such marriages as incestuous. [32]

In ancient China, first cousins with the same surnames (i.e. those born to the father's brothers) were not permitted to marry, while those with different surnames (i.e. maternal cousins and paternal cousins born to the father's sisters) were.

Incest defined through marriage

Some cultures include relatives by marriage in incest prohibitions; these relationships are called affinity rather than consanguinity. For example, the question of the legality and morality of a widower who wished to marry his deceased wife's sister was the subject of long and fierce debate in the United Kingdom in the 19th century, involving, among others, Matthew Boulton.[How to reference and link to summary or text] In medieval Europe, standing as a godparent to a child also created a bond of affinity.[How to reference and link to summary or text] But in other societies, a deceased spouse's brother or sister was considered the ideal person to marry. The Hebrew Bible forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow with the exception that, if his brother died childless, the man is instead required to marry his brother's widow so as to "raise up seed to him." - Deuteronomy 25, vs 5 & 6

History

Etymology

The word 'incest' was introduced into Middle English around 1225 as a legal term to describe the crime of familial incest as we know it today. It was also used to describe sexual relations between married persons, one of whom had taken a vow of celibacy (often called spiritual incest).[33] It derives from the Latin incestus or incestum, the substantive use of the adjective incestus meaning 'unchaste, impure', which itself is derived from the Latin castus meaning 'chaste'. The derived adjective incestuous does not appear until the 16th century.[34]

Prior to the introduction of the Latin term, incest was known in Old English as sibbleger (from sibb 'kinship' + leger 'to lie') or mǣġhǣmed (from mǣġ 'kin, parent' + hǣmed 'sexual intercourse') but in time, both words fell out of use.

Ancient civilizations

W

Table of prohibited marriages from The Trial of Bastardie by William Clerke. London, 1594.

It is generally accepted that incestuous marriages were widespread at least during the Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history. Numerous papyri and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister (Lewis, 1983; Bagnall and Frier, 1994; Shaw, 1993). In Hopkins (1980) this is conclusively demonstrated, and more recent scholars in the field have not questioned it. Some of these incestuous relationships were in the royal family, especially the Ptolemies (see the biography of Cleopatra VII, who married more than one of her brothers).

The fable of Oedipus, with a theme of inadvertent incest between a mother and son, ends in disaster and shows ancient taboos against incest as Oedipus is punished for incestuous actions by blinding himself. In the "sequel" to Oedipus, Antigone, his four children are also punished for their parents having been incestuous.

Incestuous unions were frowned upon and considered as nefas (against the laws of gods and man) in Roman times, and were explicitly forbidden by an imperial edict in AD 295, which divided the concept of incestus into two categories of unequal gravity: the incestus iuris gentium, which was applied to both Romans and non-Romans in the Empire, and the incestus iuris civilis, which concerned only Roman citizens. Therefore, for example, an Egyptian could marry an aunt, but a Roman could not. Despite the act of incest being unacceptable within the Roman Empire, Roman Emperor Caligula is rumored to have had open sexual relationships with all three of his sisters (Julia Livilla, Drusilla, and Agrippina the Younger). The taboo against incest in Ancient Rome is demonstrated by the fact that politicians would use charges of incest (often false charges) as insults and means of political disenfranchisement.

Additionally, many European monarchs were related due to political marriages, sometimes resulting in distant cousins (and even first cousins) being married. This was especially true in the Habsburg, Hohenzollern and Bourbon dynasties.


Laws regarding incest

Main article: Laws regarding incest

Incest is illegal in many jurisdictions. The exact legal definition of "incest," including the nature of the relationship between persons, and the types sexual activity, varies by country, and by even individual states or provinces within a country. These laws can also extend to marriage between said individuals.

Religious views on incest

Judeo-Christian

Main article: Biblical References to Incest

The Book of Leviticus lists prohibitions against sexual relations between various pairs of family members. Men are prohibited, on pain of death, to have sexual relations with their daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, and various other relations, but it is silent on the subject of sex with a man's niece. (Father–daughter incest is covered by a prohibition on sexual relationships between a man and any daughter born to any woman he has had sexual relationships with, thereby prohibiting his incest not only with his own daughters but also with women who could be his stepdaughters by marriage.) Cousin couples are also not prohibited.

Islam

The Quran gives specific rules regarding incest, which prohibit a man from marrying or having sexual relationships with his mother, daughter, sister, paternal or maternal aunt, niece, a woman from whom he has nursed, a woman who has nursed from the same woman as he, his mother-in-law, the daughter of his wives with whom he has consummated the marriage (though if he has not, it is allowed), the wife of his biological son [35] , or his father's wife (stepmother) [36] . It is also forbidden to be married to two sisters at the same time[35]. According to a Hadith by prophet Muhammad, it is also prohibited to be married to a woman and her paternal or maternal aunt at the same time [37] . The same applies for a woman with the male counterparts to the aformetioned. However, Islam allows for marriage with cousins and other more distant relatives.

Hinduism

Hinduism speaks of incest in highly abhorrent terms.[How to reference and link to summary or text] Hindus were greatly fearful of the bad effects of incest and thus practise to date strict rules of both endogamy and exogamy, that is, marriage in the same caste (varna) but not in the same family tree (gotra) or bloodline (Parivara). Marriages within the gotra ("swagotra" marriages) are banned under the rule of exogamy in the traditional matrimonial system. People within the gotra are regarded as kin and marrying such a person would be thought of as incest.

In some South Indian communities, where gotra membership passed from father to children, marriages were allowed between uncle and niece, while such marriages were forbidden in matrilineal communities, like Malayalis and Tuluvas, where gotra membership was passed down from the mother. A much more common characteristic of south Indian Hindu society is permission of marriage between cross-cousins (children of brother and sister). Thus, a man is allowed to marry his maternal uncle's daughter or his paternal aunt's daughter but is not allowed to marry his paternal uncle's daughter, a parallel cousin, who is treated as a sister.

Buddhism

Asian societies shaped by Buddhist traditions take a strong ethical stand in human affairs and sexual behavior in particular. In most of those societies, incest is regarded as highly abhorrent. However, unlike most other world religions, most variations of Buddhism do not go into details regarding what is right and what is wrong in mundane activities of life. Incest (or any other detail of human sexual conduct for that matter) is not specifically mentioned in any of the religious scriptures. The most common formulation of Buddhist ethics are the Five Precepts and the Eightfold Path, one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings, not divine mandate or instruction. The third of the Five Precepts is "To refrain from committing sexual misconduct". It is understandable that incest itself could constitute "sexual misconduct".[38]. 'Sexual misconduct' is a loose term, and is subjected to interpretation relative to the social norms of the followers. In fact, Buddhism in its fundamental form, does not define what is right and what is wrong in absolute terms for lay followers. Therefore the interpretation of whether incest for a layperson is right or wrong, is not a religious matter as far as Buddhism is concerned.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Elementary Structures Of Kinship, by Claude Lévi-Strauss. (tr.1971).
  2. ↑ Herman, Judith (1981). Father-Daughter Incest, 282, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wolf, Arthur P.; William H. Durham (2004). Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century, p170-172, Stanford University Press.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Courtois, Christine A. (1988). Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy, p208, W. W. Norton & Company.
  5. ↑ Nemeroff, Charles B.; Craighead, W. Edward (2001). The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science, New York: Wiley.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3
    1. redirect Template:Cite web
  7. ↑ Brown, Donald E., Human Universals. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991, p. 118-29
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Turner, Jeffrey S. (1996). Encyclopedia of Relationships Across the Lifespan, p92, Greenwood Publishing Group.
  9. ↑ Incest: The Nature and Origin of the Taboo, by Emile Durkheim (tr.1963)
  10. ↑ Kinship, Incest, and the Dictates of Law, by Henry A. Kelly, 14 Am. J. Juris. 69
  11. ↑ Maurice Godelier, Métamorphoses de la parenté, 2004
  12. ↑ New Left Review - Jack Goody: The Labyrinth of Kinship. URL accessed on 2007-07-24.
  13. ↑ Bateson, Gregory (2000). Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology, University Of Chicago Press.
  14. ↑ Briggs, Jean (2006). Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family, Harvard University Press.
  15. ↑ Dorais, Michel; Translated by Isabel Denholm Meyer (2002). Don't Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys, p24, McGill-Queen's Press.
  16. ↑ Courtois, Christine A. (1988). Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy, W. W. Norton & Company.
  17. ↑ Incest. National Center for Victims of Crime and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. National Center for Victims of Crime.
  18. ↑ EMOTIONAL INCEST
  19. ↑ Emotional Inheritance: A Dubious Legacy. (May 21, 1977). Science News, 111 (21), 326.
  20. ↑ 'زنای با محارم از مشکلات پیش روی کودکان در ایران' - BBC Persian: Incest paedophilia, one of great challenges of Iranian Children.
  21. ↑ Trepper, Terry S. (1989). Systemic Treatment of Incest: A Therapeutic Handbook, Psychology Press.
  22. ↑ Kluft, Richard P. (1990). Incest-Related Syndromes of Adult Psychopathology, p83,89, American Psychiatric Pub , Inc..
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Cruise, David, and Griffiths, Alison. On South Mountain: The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan (Penguin Books, 1998) ISBN 0670873888
  24. ↑ CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY
  25. ↑ Bonnie E. Carlson, PhD (December, 2006). "Sibling Incest: Reports from Forty-One Survivors", Journal of Child Sexual Abuse: Volume 15, Issue 4, December 2006, Pages 19–34.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 includeonly>Jane Mersky Leder. "Adult Sibling Rivalry: Sibling rivalry often lingers through adulthood", Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Jane M. Rudd, Sharon D. Herzberger (September 1999). Brother-sister incest—father-daughter incest: a comparison of characteristics and consequences. Child Abuse & Neglect Volume 23, Issue 9: pp915–928.
  28. ↑ Mireille Cyr, S John Wrighta, Pierre McDuffa and Alain Perron (September 2002). Intrafamilial sexual abuse: brother–sister incest does not differ from father–daughter and stepfather–stepdaughter incest. Child Abuse & Neglect Volume 26, Issue 9: pp957–973.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5
    1. redirect Template:Cite web
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2
    1. redirect Template:Cite web
  31. ↑ A H Bittles The bases of Western attitudes to consanguineous marriage
  32. ↑ Joanna Grossman, Should the law be kinder to kissin' cousins?
  33. ↑ Online Etymology entry for 'incest'
  34. ↑ Oxford Concise Dictionary of Etymology, T.F. Hoad (ed.) (1996), p232
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Sûrah an Nisa 4:23
  36. ↑ Surah an-Nisa 4:22
  37. ↑ Islam Question and Answer - Is it permissible to marry two sisters from one father at the same time?.
  38. ↑ Higgins, Winton Buddhist Sexual Ethics. BuddhaNet Magazine. URL accessed on 2007-01-15.

References

  • Adams, Kenneth, M., Silently Seduced: When Parents Make Their Children Their Partners, Understanding Covert Incest, HCI, 1992.
  • Adams, Kenneth, M., When He's Married to His Mom: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts To True Love, Fireside, 2007.
  • Anderson, Peter B., and Cindy Struckman-Johnson, Sexually Aggressive Women: Current Perspectives and Controversies, Guilford, 1998.
  • Bagnall, Roger S. and Bruce W. Frier, The demography of Roman Egypt, Cambridge, 1994
  • Bixler, Ray H. (1982) "Comment on the Incidence and Purpose of Royal Sibling Incest," American Ethnologist, 9(3), Aug, pp. 580-582.
  • Blume, E. Sue, Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and its Aftereffects in Women, Ballantine, 1991.
  • DeMilly, Walter, In My Father's Arms: A True Story of Incest, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.
  • Murador, Gordan, "Just Curious and Incestuous - Two Best Friends Finding Out Their True Past", TTMFTW, 2008.
  • Elliot, Michelle, Female Sexual Abuse of Children, Guilford, 1994.
  • Forward, Susan (1990). Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life, Bantam. ISBN 0-553-28434-7.
  • Goody, John (Jack Goody) (1956) A Comparative Approach to Incest and Adultery, The British Journal of Sociology, 7 (4), Dec, pp. 286-305 doi:10.2307/586694
  • Gil, Eliana, Treating Abused Adolescents, Guilford, 1996.
  • Herman, Judith, Father-Daughter Incest, Harvard University Press, 1982.
  • Hislop, Julia, "Female Sexual Offenders: What Therapists, Law Enforcement, and Child Protective Services Need to Know", Issues, 2001.
  • Hopkins, Keith (1980) "Brother-Sister Marriage in Roman Egypt", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 22: 303-354.
  • Leavitt, G. C. (1990) "Sociobiological explanations of incest avoidance: A critical claim of evidential claims", American Anthropologist, 92: 971-993.
  • Lew, Mike, Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse, Nevraumont, 1988.
  • Lewis, Naphtali, Life in Egypt under Roman Rule, Oxford, 1983.
  • Lobdell, William, "Missionary's Dark Legacy", Los Angeles Times, Nov. 19, 2005, p. A1.
  • Love, Pat, Emotional Incest Syndrome: What to Do When a Parent's Love Rules Your Life, Bantam, 1991.
  • Méndez-Negrete, Josie, Las hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, Duke University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8223-3896-3.
  • Miletski, Hani, Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo, Safer Society, 1999.
  • Miller, Alice, That Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child, Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1983.
  • Pryor, Douglass, Unspeakable Acts: Why Men Sexually Abuse Children, New York University Press, 1996.
  • Rosencrans, Bobbie, and Eaun Bear, The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by Mothers, Safer Society, 1997.
  • Scruton, Roger, Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic, Free Press, 1986.
  • Shaw, Brent D., Explaining Incest: Brother-Sister Marriage in Graeco-Roman Egypt, Man, New Series, 27(2), Jun 1992, pp. 267-299. JSTOR article
  • Shaw, Risa, Not Child's Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest, Lunchbox, 2000.
  • Tyldesley, Joyce, Ramesses: Egypt's Great Pharaoh, London, 2000.

The New England Association for Women in Psychology. "Current Feminist Issues in Psychotherapy"

External links


v·d·e
Sexual ethics
List of topics in sexual ethics
Age of consent

Africa  · Asia  · Oceania  · Europe  · North America  · Central America  · South America

Child sexuality

Child pornography  · Child prostitution  · Child marriage

Adolescent sexuality

Teenage pregnancy  · Sex education  · Virginity pledge  · Adolescent sexual behavior  · In the United States

Human sexuality

Incest  · Sexual orientation  · Adultery  · Miscegenation ("interracial relations")

Sexual abuse

Sexual harassment  · Rape  · Statutory rape  · Child sexual abuse  · Child-on-child sexual abuse

Sex and the law

Age of consent reform  · Anti-pedophile activism  · Pro-pedophile activism  · Prostitution  · Zoosexuality law ("beastiality")  · Sodomy law

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.