Många har varit utsatta för incest och det är viktigt att belysa erfarenheter av berättande och avslöjanden om att ha varit utsatt för incest för att öka kunskap och förståelse för upplevelser och effekter av att berättande, kunskapen är viktig både för de som har varit utsatta, för närstående och för professionella.  Det finns relativt lite studier om effekter av berättandet av att ha varit utsatt för incest som undersöker effekter i förhållande till olika aktörer som rättsväsende som hälso- och sjukvård, familj och vänner. Det behövs också forskning som täcker bredden i gruppen som har varit utsatta för incest, då flertalet av studierna är kliniska studier. Jag vill därför bidra till att med min uppsats öka förståelse för erfarenheter av att berätta för andra om att ha varit utsatt för incest.  Min teoretiska utgångspunkt är fenomenologi. Jag har valt en kvalitativ forskningsansats för att genom semistrukturerade djupintervjuer få kunskap om och förståelse av en grupp kvinnors verkligheter och upplevelser. Som analysmetod har jag använt tolkande fenomenologisk analys. Mina slutsatser är att det kan vara viktigt för personer som har varit utsatta för incest att veta att berättandet för ursprungsfamiljen kan leda till att man inte blir trodd, förklaras galen, anklagas för att förstöra familjen och att berättandet kan leda till att kontakten med medlemmar i ursprungsfamiljen bryts. Genom att vara förberedd så ökar möjligheten att redan innan berättandet se till att ha stöd från andra, antingen personer i det privata nätverket, stödorganisationer eller från professionella. För professionella kan det vara bra att veta att personer som berättar för ursprungsfamiljen kan behöva stöd då berättandet och dess effekter ofta är en svår och smärtsam process. Då cirka fyra % av befolkningen enligt undersökningar har varit utsatta för incest så kanske vi alla behöver bli mer vana mer att prata om incest och bli medvetna om omfattningen av problemet för att kunna vara ett bra stöd för de som berättar.

This study focused on the mother/daughter relationship in father/daughter incest and how that relationship influences women's friendships with other women. Many researchers have concluded that females who were sexually abused by male authority figures, i.e., father, step-father, grandfather, older brother, minister, babysitter, will have impaired relationships with men. Clinicians surmise that the enormous betrayal of trust involved in the incest leads the child to generalize from her experience with one male to all males. Victims express feelings of distrust, fear of intimacy, and fear of personal expression in all male/female relationships. Studies suggest that in families where father/daughter incest has occurred the relationships between mother and daughter are also impaired. Most often cited is the distant relationship between the mother and daughter. Also discussed is the intense anger the daughter feels toward the mother for not protecting her from the perpetrator's abuse. Betrayal, in the form of the mother's inability to provide protection, often evokes more anger from the daughter than does the father's betrayal.

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The notion of "Transgenerationality" as it pertains to father-daughter incest, has been the source of speculation in research on incest. This study examines the relationship between the manifestation of family system factors often found in father-daughter incest families and the incidence of childhood sexual experience reported by parents actively or passively participating in this dysfunctional system. Fathers sexually abused or witnesses to incestuous relationships in childhood appear to most extensively violate the incest taboo. Mothers in incestuous family's who were victims of sexual assault as children tend to function in more stereotypic incest family systems as described routinely in the professional literature. The results of this study elucidate the necessity of ascertaining comprehensive background information including psychosexual developmental histories of both parents when attempting to effectively intervene when working with incest families.

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The non-victimized siblings in incestuous families have often been ignored in research, literature, and treatment. This study explored these siblings' 1) relationship to the victim, 2) attribution of blame, and 3) adjustment. Participants were 30 non-victimized siblings of incest victims, between the ages of 8 and 14. They completed the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Self-perception Profile for Children, the Children's Depression Inventory, and a questionnaire developed for this research. Participants' scores were compared with the normative sample scores on several measures. Siblings perceived little warmth and closeness in their relationships to their victimized sisters. Rivalry and conflict were within normal limits. Siblings blamed victims and other family members less than expected, with the greatest amount of blame attributed to perpetrators. Adjustment was impaired. Males demonstrated less athletic competence, less global self-worth, more worry and oversensitivity than normative samples. Females showed a tendency toward less global self-worth and heightened general anxiety. Siblings' overall level of emotional distress was higher than most of the normative samples.

Contemporary analysis of Wuthering Heights necessitates a re-appraisal in light of advancements in the study of incest in non-literary fields such as history, anthropology, and especially psychology. A modern reading suggests that an unconscious incest taboo impeded Heathcliff and Cathy's expectation of normal sexual union and led them to seek union after death. John Milton's Paradise Lost provides a paradigm by which to examine the consequences of incest from two perspectives: that of incest as a metaphor for evil, as represented in Heathcliff; that of incest as symbolic of pre-Lapsarian innocence, as represented in Cathy. The tragic consequences of Heathcliff and Cathy's incestuous fixation are resolved by the socially-condoned marriage of Hareton and Catherine, which illuminates Bronte's belief in the Miltonic theme that good inevitably triumphs over evil.

M.A. / Incest can be defined as, “The involvement of dependant children or adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent, or that violate the social taboos of family roles” (Kempe & Kempe, 1978, p.60). Incest may include a multitude of activities, such as fondling, masturbation, exposing genitalia, exposure to pornographic material, as well as intercourse (Gilmartin, 1994). In our sexist patriarchal society, sexual abuse of children and women has been, and still is, a dark secret (Bradshaw, 1995). A study done by Collings (1997) at the University of Natal revealed that over 50% of all second year st udents had reported some incidence of sexual abuse during their childhood and/or adolescent years. Statistics from the South African Police Force indicate an increase in the number of incest cases from 7559 in 1994 to 10037 in 1995 (Tucker, 2000). Lyell (1997) emphasised that the magnitude of the problem of sexual abuse is far greater than any professionals working in this field ever imagined. Over the past 24 years many studies have been published on the psychological impact of incest (Ensink, 1992). These effects include the disruption of normal development (Doyle, 1997), emotional problems (Newman & Peterson, 1996), social problems (Newman Lubell & Peterson, 1998) and physical problems (Tucker, 2000), to name a few. The abovementioned statistics show that incest is of concern in the South African context. It is also of international relevance because as Boyles, De Noon and Key (1999) have noted sexual abuse is a worldwide problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the way adult female survivor s of childhood incest cope. The epistemological framework of this study is that of the Modernistic approach. Quantitative methods of research were therefore used to collect and analyse the data. The survivors’ ways of coping were assessed through response s t o the “Ways of Coping” Questionnaire given by a multi-e t h n i c sample containing mainly white women. Relevant biographical details were obtained with the use of a constructed biographical questionnaire. The differences regarding the different ways of coping, as related to specific factors, such as duration of therapy, duration of abuse and so forth, were discussed. Possible implications of the results have also been mentioned in this thesis. The information obtained provides a new perspective on incest, that of salutogenesis. Previous research has focused on the adverse effects that occur because of incest. There has not been a focus on the strengths of incest survivors, or the reason why some survivors cope better than others. It was found that incest sur vivors develop constructive coping skills, such as positive reappraisal, seeking social support and planful problem solving, after a minimal time period of one year in therapy. It was also found that the duration of abuse affects the way an adult survivor copes with the incest. Particular ways of coping are correlated with others, for example planful problem solving is correlated with positive reappraisal. The information which has emerged from this study may be useful for therapists working with incest sur vivors. Having a broader understanding of survivors’ ways of coping and some of the factors influencing these, may allow therapists to direct and teach ways of coping, and more specifically to facilitate and encourage more constructive ways of coping.