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Edwall and Hoffman studied teens admitting and denying incest, as previous research (Russell, 1986) found that 23% of adolescent girls entering treatment reported some intrafamilial abuse. They found incest victims:....Snipped.....
They found a trend for an increased risk of abuse outside of the family, increased substance abuse by either or both parents, and increased history of divorce and remarriage in the family
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Causes:
De Jong (1988) and Daie et al (1989) present several factors in families that can lead to sibling or cousin abuse. Abuse can arise in an environment that:
fails to protect the child, though poor supervision/monitoring and poor choices regarding babysitters and surrogate caretakers; examples include allowing children to remain in the care known siblings abusers, or a general lack of supervision of the children and knowledge about their activities in and out of the home
fails to set appropriate boundaries though inappropriate sleeping arrangements and clear parent-child hierarchies for child care; examples include allowing older opposite-sex children to sleep with parents in the absence of the same-sex parent, or flagrant nudity or lack of privacy in the family. Inappropriate parental interests in children's sexual development and experiences, or extremely relaxed views of sex, can both lead to greater freedom to explore sexual relations with peers and siblings. Others (Smith and Israel, 1987) argue that open parental sexual activity, especially in cases where one parent is having an affair, is an especially significant indicator; parents turn outside the family for their needs, marking a disintegration of family structure and an increase in anxiety in siblings. This may promote a sexual relationship between siblings in an attempt to nurture each other
lacks supervision and care by two parents; the absence of a parent can arise through physical absence from the home (e.g., divorce, death, abandonment, or work), or emotional absence due to physical or psychological illness (e.g., hospitalization due to depression, alcoholism, or dependent personality disorder). Some (Smith and Israel, 1987) have argued that this dynamic is one of the most salient of sibling incest families
is based on a multi-familial home were older children have caretaking responsibility for younger children; combined with poor boundaries, this situation can allow older children to pressure younger children into meeting their sexual interests and needs
Further, Smith and Israel (1987) note that there is no "type" of sibling who is likely to abuse, and personality characteristics are highly varied across abusers. Rather, sibling sexual abuse is the result of fragmenting and dysfunctional family processes, and not a cause of the family dysfunction. In response to the inadequacies of the family, a stronger and inappropriately close sibling bond may develop to compensate for the parents' dysfunction, or an abusive bond may develop and replicate the parents'dysfunction
In families where abuse occurs, the dysfunction that led to the abuse may also lead to a poor response once the abuse is discovered. Wiehe (1990) noted that poorly responding families typically:
denied the allegations of abuse
ignored or minimized the abuse, explaining it as normal child behavior
acknowledged the abuse, but blamed or otherwise punished the abused child
acknowledged the abuse, but failed to protect the child and halt it
acknowledged the abuse, but their own dysfunction prevented them from responding to alter the environment
Poorly responding families may be perpetuating the abuse in two ways. First, they fail to halt the abuse in the home. Second, by failing in this, they create a sense that the child can not be protected, and that the perpetrator was "chosen" over the victim. Such actions and the feelings of helplessness and rejection that result may prompt the abused child to become an abuser as well, seeking power and revenge (Johnson, 1989).