Incest Survivors: The Relation of Their Perceptions of Their Parents and Their Own Parenting

• NCJ Number: 119534
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (1989) Pages: 409-416
• Author(s): P Cole; C Woolger
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Portion of paper was presented at the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada, August 1984. Partial support by the University of Houston Office of Sponsored Programs.

Annotation

This study examined the child-rearing attitudes of incest and nonincest child sexual abuse survivors and their perceptions of their own parents' behavior.

Abstract

Forty women with a history of being sexually abused as children completed questionnaires designed to assess their own and their parents' child-rearing behavior in terms of parental acceptance and control. Women from incestuous backgrounds had more negative perceptions of their fathers and mothers in terms of acceptance and control than women abused by men who were not related to them. Women who viewed their mothers negatively endorsed autonomy promotion in their own attitudes toward child rearing. Data on findings discussed in terms of incest survivors' conflicts. 24 references, 1 table. (Author abstract modified)