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Cormier, Bruno M.; Kennedy, Miriam; Sangowicz, Jadwiga
doi: 10.1177/070674376200700502pmid: N/A
A study of father-daughter incest confined to men otherwise non-criminal or sexually deviant. Incest is here studied mainly in function of the psychopathology of the father. The father seeks to find in his daughter the young wife of his early years. Unconsciously, however, as a young man he was looking for a mother substitute in the girl he was courting. We face a paradox, that in taking the daughter the incestuous father is trying to return to the mother. Once incest is discovered, there is rarely repetition. Disclosure brings about a breakdown of pre-existing family relations. This is followed either by separation of the participants, or a re-organization where conscious incest barriers now prevail.
doi: 10.1177/070674376200700503pmid: 13888108
Incest in mythology and in practice, like other acts generally forbidden, has its sacred and ritual character. In many myths relating to the creation of man or the founding of a tribe, incest is the foundation. The history of the human race shows that incest has been permitted, usually in the case of royalty or aristocracy. Even where incest is allowed, it is, however, hedged with prohibitions for the majority of mankind.The author examines theories on the prohibitions against incest. One is that of biological consideration, incest being detrimental to the race. Tribal society, however, had little knowledge or fear of physical degeneracy as a result of incest, and there are many instances where one consanguinous relationship was permitted, while another equally close was interdicted.Another theory suggested is that erotic attachment to a family member is unlikely due to propinquity. If this were true, there would be no need to impose taboos and laws against the practice of incest. Even prior to psychoanalytic concepts laying open the affectional ties within a family which may predispose to incest, ambivalent feelings towards important figures were recognized.Some held that while promiscuity and incest prevailed early in human history, these were automatically interdicted following the setting up of tribal systems where exogamy is the rule. Consanguinous marriage is a deep sacrilege. This theory breaks down in view of the existence of endogamic marriage in various societies.The theory postulated by Freud is fear of the father. The early omnipotent father refused sexual access to his wives and daughters and the sons united and killed him. The resulting guilt was expressed in the incest taboo. This is refuted by most anthropologists but has validity as an understanding of unconscious incestuous motivations.The author's view is that in fact incest was rare and sporadic in primitive society due to the conditions of life itself, which sharply limited its possibility. Incest taboo, therefore, emerged in a situation where incest could occur only infrequently and like other exceptional acts was at the same time an offence, or a privilege and liberty reserved for exceptional people. Incest must be seen as an act generally prohibited, occasionally sacred and permitted, like homicide. The author makes the point that if unbridled homicide were permitted, the structure of society, which represents the best guarantee for personal security, would be endangered. Man curbs his homicidal impulses in order to survive, but homicide is institutionalized where it seems either to protect society, benefit it, as in war, or propitiate the gods. Incest, like murder, can be classed as a socially isolating practice. Such practices tend to render an individual an object of suspicion and danger, but also superior and sacred. Avarice can also be included as an extreme form of isolation which renders a person antisocial. The miser and the hermit deprive the group not only of their substance but of their participation. In many primitive groups refusal to participate is delinquency. Nevertheless, in certain instances isolation is permitted. Privileged status is given to royalty, the priesthood, the witch doctor, etc.Every form of isolation is a potential threat, including sex, which is to some extent isolating, separating participants from the group, disrupting for a time normal social relations. Of all sexual practices, incest is the most isolating, as it does not permit the family to be placed at the disposition of society and risks damaging the culture. Every society realizes implicitly the danger and creates the kind of regulations it requires to ensure social interchange.The point is also made that the incest taboo and oedipal complex are both rooted in the culture and in the individual. Culture, from the point of view of the assimilation of laws and values of society, can be considered a psychological phenomenon. Psychological and cultural factors are required to make strong and durable psychological and cultural prohibitions.This can be seen from an anthropological viewpoint if we postulate instrumentalism applied to the individual in his socio-cultural functioning. Man operates on three levels: (1) as an individual who uses others for security, prestige and power; (2) as an individual who sees others in a reciprocal relationship where he allows himself to be used for reciprocal needs; and (3) at the service of his culture. Personality, therefore, is not a closed entity but reacts both to the laws of nature and to social and cultural values. An individual must form a certain perception of himself, his reciprocal engagements, his social rôles. In discussing the formation of identity, the author quotes Erikson: “The conscious feeling of having a personal identity is based on two simultaneous observations: The immediate perception of one's selfsameness and continuity in time; and the simultaneous perception of the fact that others recognize one's sameness and continuity.”The author goes on to describe the development of the child, the establishing of social relations, rôle playing, the kind of apprenticeship that enables him to move out of the narrow range of childhood and which parallels society's growing expectations. There exists also a deep tendency for isolation, for protection, and for non-demanding. The oedipal revolt to some degree resolves this ambivalence and is the first psycho-social crisis. The parents' rôle is to deny him gratification of early cravings and to enable him to make an appropriate sexual identification. Incest barriers are thus created early.Incest prohibitions are, therefore, based mainly on cultural, sociological and psychological factors. The picture of an incestuous man is not that of an antisocial being but of one not rooted in reciprocal relations. Society is dangerous to him because incest is the triumph of primary instrumentation. He does not fight society but refuses to be involved, seeing society's demands as attacks on his autonomy. He is occasionally a socially amorphous being, a man who has not learned the rules, because they were not transmitted to him. The incestuous man reconstructs his family along the model of a kingdom where he has total authority, or he returns to an earlier mode where he is the sole heir and benefactor, incest therefore assuming for him its sacred rôle. The incestuous man remains always isolated and alone as his sexual objects always seek to rejoin society and try to defeat him.
doi: 10.1177/070674376200700504pmid: N/A
This is a sociological study based on 96 well-documented cases of incest from the files of the Département de la Seine between 1937 and 1954. Cases investigated were limited to those where very complete material was available, and to father-daughter incest, which is the most prevalent. It is accepted that statistics on discovered incest are highly unreliable, and that for every case that appears in court, there are probably many that are never discovered. The analysis of case material is divided in two parts: 1. Incestuous families are studied as a whole, their social characteristics and those of each member of the family involved, in an attempt to trace etiological factors. Beyond this, a study is made of the social and personal characteristics which pertain to those actually guilty of incest, which may partly explain the phenomenon. 2. The second part consists of case studies which permit us to see the effect of incest on family relations, and its appearance in different types of family. This enables us to distinguish individual from collective factors in the appearance of incest and in its duration. A comparison is made with other sociological studies.Statistical information is both full and detailed. The majority of the fathers (58) were between 36 and 45 years of age. Most were married, or in a common-law relationship, and were mainly in the working or lower classes. Sixty-nine of the men had no previous criminal conviction, and the group was generally non-criminal, though 54 were chronic or occasional alcoholics. Thirty-nine were described as authoritarian or withdrawn. Statistics indicate a much higher than normal incidence of instability. Only nine could be considered normal. With regard to sexuality, it seemed within normal range; a large proportion were sexually deprived at the time of incest.The mothers in the sample were generally somewhat younger; 32 were working outside the home with resultant lack of supervision. From the point of view of personality, 48 were described either as dominating or submissive, 35 as devoted mothers, 14 as of doubtful morality. A larger than normal number were passive and submissive. The attitude of the mother towards the children is described as good in 40, indifferent or poor in 43.With regard to the daughters, 54 were regarded as normal, 42 as abnormal or psychopathic personalities. Mental development showed that 27 were intellectually normal, 31 dull normal, and 38 handicapped.Turning to the family as a whole, it was noted that they were somewhat larger than average. With regard to housing, while the majority were lower class, only 24 families could be described as living either in slum or overcrowded conditions. Economically, the situation in the family ranged from 12 in easy circumstances, 38 in good, 32 in mediocre and 14 precarious. The factor of poverty was therefore not decisive. Concerning marital relations, they could be described as good in only 19 cases, fair in 18, and bad to very bad in 49. Attitude of parents towards the children was 71 indifferent or poor, and 25 good.The majority of the daughters reported violence or threats on the part of the father, but this must be treated with caution. There is evidence of instances of genuine assent, impulsive or passive acquiescence.A number of brief case histories are presented describing different types of family structure and situation, precipitating factors, etc. An analysis of the cases shows that incest was not limited to one locale or social group or class, and that the effect within the family varied according to the value system, whether it was normal or marginal. In some families, incest could be accepted or assimilated, while in others the disclosure broke up the relationship, or the family, and was accompanied with guilt and remorse. The point is made that in some families early incest barriers were not well established, with consequent continuing attachment to sexual objects within the family. Socialization was incomplete to the point that what is generally considered abnormal was acceptable. In other situations, predisposing factors like the absence of the wife, provocative attitude of the daughter, alcoholism, depression of the father played an important part.The traumatic effects of incest on the daughter are discussed. Early sexual relations tend to affect both physical and mental balance; equally important is the restriction of normal social contacts. There is growing jealousy and possessiveness on the part of the father, which usually results in a disclosure of incest.The conclusion is that incest is not related to one factor, but to a congregation in which the social must be taken into account, as no human behaviour is ever completely intelligible from the light of individual psychopathology.
doi: 10.1177/070674376200700508pmid: 14475080
This article deals with sexual behaviour with children, proposing a tighter clinical definition, based on a phenomenological nosology. This nosology classifies the behavioural symptoms by the object, the act, and the agent.1. The Object: the child must be prepubertal and the sex of the child denotes either hetero- or homosexual pedophilia.2. The Act: Consists of either:a) Immature gratificationb) Deviant actsc) Genital unionOnly a) is included under the term pedophilia.3. The Agent: pedophiles fall into three distinct age groupings, culminating in adolescence, mid to late thirties and mid to late fifties.An account of heterosexual pedophilia, homosexual pedophilia, and the situation of the victim is given, and the clinical, social and legal implications are discussed.
doi: 10.1177/070674376200700509pmid: N/A
The case is presented because it provides a fresh opportunity to examine in a dispassionate way apparently irreconcilable views on Capital Punishment.Valentine Shortis at 22, an immigrant from Ireland, was tried in Montreal, found guilty of murder and condemned to die on January 3, 1896. The diagnosis of all but one of the examining psychiatrists was moral imbecility.The crimes were committed without apparent motive, malice or remorse. The defence pleaded insanity at the time of the killings.Despite public pressure the Governor General refused to sign the Death Warrant and the Sentence was commuted to Life Imprisonment.In French Canada feeling ran high because Louis Riel had been executed in 1885 although he was clearly insane.Shortis remained in custody for 42 years in various mental hospitals. During all this time he retained his personality well, was able to take responsibility and was highly regarded by staff and patients alike. He showed no signs of the deterioration which might have been expected.He was released at the age of 60 and died suddenly, a free man, six years later.
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