Review by Choice Review
In recent years, the erosion of traditional constraints on the discussion of all forms of sexual deviance has resulted in growing recognition of the prevalence of incest and in further study of this phenomenon. The present work is adapted from a doctoral dissertation. Cleveland, a director of counseling services, claims to have produced the first substantial investigation of long-term consequences of father-daughter incest. Although this form of incest is estimated to be somewhat less common than sibling incest, it is generally regarded as far more traumatic. Most of this book is taken up with extensive interviews with three women who were as children sexually abused by their fathers. The situations of these three women are quite different, e.g., one is in prison; another is a successful career woman, wife, and mother. The character of their incestuous relations is also different, e.g., one had sexual relations with her father for many years, eventually giving birth to his child; another was briefly fondled as a young child. The author uses Erikson's stages of psychosocial development to account for the long-term consequences of these experiences on the three individuals interviewed. That incestuous experiences would have some psychological impact on victims is to be expected. These case histories may be intrinsically interesting, but the links between incest and later development are not demonstrated. The narrow scope of this study limits its value somewhat. Upper-division undergraduate and general readership.-D.O. Friedrichs, University of Scranton
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
