Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:39:48.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Father-son incest: case report and review of the literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Rory K Shelley
Affiliation:
St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

A case report of father-son incest is described. A review of the literature suggests that father-son incest may be significantly under-reported. We suggest that this may be because it is seldom sought after and even less readily recognised. The possibility of the male incest victim should be considered in males who present with depression, severe anxiety, low self-esteem and difficulties with sexual orientation.

Type
Clinical & Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.DHSS. Child abuse – working together for the protection of children. London: DHSS, 1986.Google Scholar
2.Finkelhor, D. A sourcebook on child sexual abuse. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1986.Google Scholar
3.Baker, AW, Duncan, SP. Child sexual abuse: a study of prevalence in Great Britain. Child Abuse Negl 1985; 9: 457–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Market Research Bureau of Ireland. Child sexual abuse in Dublin – pilot study report 1987. Dublin: Market Research Bureau of Ireland, 1987.Google Scholar
5.Watkins, B, Bentovim, A. The sexual abuse of male children and adolescents: a review of current research. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1992; 33, 1: 197248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Faller, KC. Characteristics of a clinical sample of sexually abused children: how boy and girl victims differ. Child Abuse Negl 1989; 13: 281–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Hobbs, CJ, Wynne, JM. Child sexual abuse: an increasing rate of diagnosis. Lancet 1987; 11: 837–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Pierce, R. Pierce, LH. The sexually abused child: the comparison of male and female victims. Child Abuse Negl 1987; 11: 229–35.Google Scholar
9.Reinhart, MA. Sexually abused-boys. Child Abuse Negl 1987; 11: 229–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Spencer, NJ, Dunklee, P. Sexual abuse of boys. Paediatrics 1986; 78: 133–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Vander Mey, BJ. Sexual victimisation of male children: a review of previous research. Child Abuse Negl 1988; 12: 6172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Langsley, DC, Schwartz, MN, Fairbairn, RH. Father-son incest. Comprehensive Psychiatry 1968;9:219–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Raybin, JB. Homosexual incest. J Nerv Ment Dis 1969; 148: 105–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Steele, BF, Alexander, H. Longterm effects of sexual abuse in childhood. In: Mrazek, PB, Kempe, Ch, editors. Sexually abused children and their families. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981.Google Scholar
15.Dixon, KN, Arnold, LE, Calestro, K. Father-son incest; under-reported psychiatric problem? Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135: 835–8.Google Scholar
16.Justice, B, Justice, R. The broken taboo. New York: Human Sciences Press, 1979.Google Scholar
17.Awad, GA. Father-son incest – a case report. J Nerv Ment Dis 1976; 162: 135–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Berry, GW. Incest: some clinical variation on a classical theme. J Am Acad of Psychoanal 1975; 3: 151–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Bender, L, Blau, A. The reaction of children to sexual relations with adults. Am J Orthopsychiatry 1932; 7: 500–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Rona, E, Moya, G. General and psychopathologic aspects of sexual abuse in children. Revista Chilena de Pediatria 1989; 62(2): 71–5.Google Scholar
21.Machotka, P, Pittman, FS, Flomenhaft, K. Incest as a family affair. Family Process 1967; 6: 98100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Mrazek, PB, Kempe, CH. Sexually abused children and their families. Denver: Pergamon Press, 1989.Google Scholar
23.Sedney, MA, Brooks, B. Factors associated with a history of childhood sexual experience in a non-clinical female population. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 1984; 23: 215–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.McCormack, A, Janus, M, Burgess, AW. Runaway youths and sexual victimisation: gender differences in an adolescent runaway population. Child Abuse Negl 1986; 10: 387–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Singer, MI, Petchers, MK, Hussey, D. A relationship between sexual abuse and substance abuse amongst psychiatrically hospitalised adolescents. Child Abuse Negl 1989; 13: 133–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Briere, J, Evans, D, Runtz, M, Wall, T. Symptomatology in men who were abused as children: a comparison study. Am J Orthopsychiatry 1988; 58: 457–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Swett, C, Surrey, J, Cohen, C. Sexual and physical abuse histories and psychiatric symptoms among male psychiatric patients. Psychiatry 1990; 147: 632–6.Google Scholar
28.Cavaiola, AA, Schiff, M. Self-esteem in abused chemically dependent adolescents. Child Abuse Negl 1989; 13: 327–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29.Meiselman, KC. Incest: a psychological study of causes and effects with treatment recommendations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978.Google Scholar
30.Gundlach, RH. Sexual molestation and rape reported by homosexual and heterosexual women. J Homosex 1978; 2: 367–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Bell, A, Weinberg, M. Sexual preference: its development among men and women. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
32.Pierce, LH. Father-son incest: using the literature to guide practice. Social Casework 1987; 68:6774.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Bruckner, DF, Johnson, P E. Treatment for adult male victims of childhood sexual abuse. Social Casework 1987; 68: 81–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34.Dimock, PT. Adult males sexually abused as children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1988; 3: 203–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35.Krug, RS. Adult male report of childhood sexual abuse by mothers: case descriptions, motivations and long term consequences. Child Abuse Negl 1989; 13: 111–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36.Johnson, RL, Shrier, D. Past sexual victimisation by females or male patients in an adolescent medicine clinic population. Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144: 650–2.Google Scholar