The family constellation and overt incestuous relations between father and daughter

The family constellation and overt incestuous relations between father and daughter

This article presents a study of family relations and character formation in cases where girls have been involved in incestuous relationships with either father, stepfather, grandfather, foster father or brother. Eleven girls, ranging in age from 10 to 17, were referred to the Judge Baker Guidance Center for treatment. Their verbalized guilt, as far as our clinical material demonstrated, was in connection with the disruption of the home and not over the incest itself. The girls reacted to their mothers' unconscious desire to put them in the maternal role. However, they received no help in reality testing and superego development from either parent. Their physical symptoms were often of such severity as to cause considerable concern for their health. When the incest was detected, these girls showed extreme guilt and anxiety over the disruption of the home, although they did not seem guilty over the incest which both parents condoned. These girls showed a pseudo maturity, but this facade crumbled when they were placed in a dependent position and some experienced psychotic like states. Some of these girls were extremely masochistic, searching for punishment in many ways. Some attempted to win their mothers' forgiveness. Others, by a repetition compulsion, attempted through promiscuity to bring back the lost father. They all tried by these and other ways to work through their depression, guilt and anxiety.

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