Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T22:43:43.411Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negative views of the mother after childhood sexual abuse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Janet D. Feigenbaum
Janet D. Feigenbaum*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In childhood sexual abuse cases, the non-abusing parent (usually the mother) is often seen as colluder, helpless bystander or victim. These negative views may be based on misconceptions about incestuous families and can lead to treatment bias and neglect of the other ‘victims' of abuse. Mental health professionals and support agencies should ensure that the needs of the non-abusing parent are met as well as those of the victim and perpetrator.

Type
Women's Mental Health
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 21 , Issue 8 , August 1997 , pp. 477 - 479
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Alexander, P. C. (1985) A systems theory conceptualization of incest. Family Process, 24, 79–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Young, M. (1994) Women as mothers and wives in paternally incestous families: coping with role conflict. Child Abuse and Neglect, 18, 73–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furniss, T. (1983) Family process in the treatment of intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Journal of Family Therapy, 5, 263–278.Google Scholar
Furniss, T. (1991) The Multi-Professional Handbook of Child Sexual Abuse: Integrated Management Therapy, and Legal Intervention. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hooper, C. (1992) Mothers Surviving Child Sexual Abuse. London: Tavistock/Routledge.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. L. (1994) Victimized Daughters: Incest and the Development of the Female Self. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. T. (1992) Mothers of Incest Survivors: Another Side of the Story. Indiana: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Kalichman, S. C., Craig, M. E. & Follingstad, D. R. (1990) Professionals' adherence to mandatory child abuse reporting laws: effects of responsibility, attribution, confidence ratings, and situational factors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14, 69–77.Google Scholar
Pelletier, G. & Handy, L. C. (1986) Family dysfunction and the psychological impact of child sexual abuse. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 407–412.Google Scholar
Ringwalt, C. & Earp, J. (1988) Attributing responsibility in cases of father-daughter sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 12, 273–281.Google Scholar
Sirles, E. A. & Lofberg, C. E. (1990) Factors associated with divorce in intrafamily child sexual abuse cases. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14, 165–170.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.