NCJ Number
74659
Editor(s)
W M Holder
Date Published
1980
Length
115 pages
Annotation
This collection of eight articles covers the assessment and treatment of sexually abusing families, with particular emphasis on father-daughter incest.
Abstract
An overview of sexual abuse in contemporary American society details characteristics of the sexually abusing family and provides three hypothetical case histories to illustrate intervention difficulties. In the second article, data on father-daughter incest collected by the National Study on Child Neglect and Abuse Reporting are analyzed, including social and economic characteristics of the family as well as intervention approaches used. Then, guidelines for psychiatrists regarding the evaluation of false accusations and false denials in investigating alleged incest are presented. The constraints on delivery of services to sexually abusing families are reviewed, followed by a discussion of indicators of incest, intervention strategies, and interviewing techniques. Specific areas where workers may encounter problems are described, including attitudes of both professionals and families, noncooperation of adults, and interviewing the victim. Workers' responses to the family in the initial stage of treatment are considered because reporting of sexual abuse places an already disturbed family into a crisis situation. Based on experiences of the Family Resource Center in New Mexico, psychological methods of assessing sexually abusing families are examined, particularly drawings made by the victim. Family therapy is proposed as the ideal treatment. The final paper concerns diagnosis and treatment of father-daughter incest. Several articles contain tables, diagrams, and references. A bibliography of approximately 350 references is provided.