THE EXPERIENCE OF MOTHER-DAUGHTER INCEST

by

BEVERLY ANN OGILVIE

B.P.E., University of New Brunswick, 1975

B.Ed., University of Moncton, 1983

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OP ARTS

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Counselling Psychology

WE ACCEPT THIS THESIS AS CONFORMING

TO THE REQUIRED STANDARD

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

April, 1992

@ BEVERLY ANN OGILVIE, 1992

 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced
degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it
freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive
copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my
department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or
publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written
permission.

Department of Counselling Psychology

The University of British Columbia

Vancouver, Canada

Date April 16, 1992

DE-6 (2/88)
 11

Abstract
A qualitative phenomenological paradign was
utilized to explore the phenomenon of mother-daughter
incest. Four mother-daughter incest survivors were
recruited from Vancouver for this study. During
individual, in-depth personal interviews, which were
audio-taped, the women described their experience of
their relationship with their mother, past and present.
Eight common themes were extrapolated from the data
using the seven-step model of data analysis as proposed
by Colaizzi (1978). The women reported that they
experienced their mothers as controlling, emotionally
needy and unstable. They experienced profound
betrayal, shame and self-blame, boundary violations,
impaired sexual development, problems in identification
with mother and differentiation from her, and
difficulty coping. The results of the study indicated
that the women perceived their mother's sexual
victimization of them as having profound negative
effects on their relationships with self and others.
 Ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract . .i i

Acknowledgements v

Dedication. vii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

Statement of the Problem 1

Definitions 4

Incidence and Prevalence 5

Impact of Child Sexual Abuse 8

Object-Relations and Self-in-Relation Theories 12

Purpose of the Study 16

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 18

The Mother-Daughter Dyad 19

Theoretical Perspectives on Abuse 40

Mother-Daughter Incest Reports in the Literature 45

Effects of Incest 58

Effects of Mother-Daughter Incest 77

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 84

Design 84

Participants 85

Procedure 86

Data A n a l y s i s 90
L i m i t a t i o n s of t h e S t u d y 91
 IV

CHAPTER IV. RESULTS 93

Importance of Therapy in the Women's Experience 93
The Women 'sStories 94
Common Themes 102
CHAPTER V DISCUSSION , 118
Narrative of Maternal Abuse ..118
Sample Characteristics and Nature of Abuse 120

Comparison to Sexual Abuse Literature 123

Comparison to the Literature on Mother-Daughter
Incest 129
The Importance of the Mother-Daughter Dyad 133
Implications for Future Research 135
Implications for Counselling 138

Conclus ion..... 145

Meaning of the Study for the Investigator 145

^SFEREMCES 147

APPENDICES
A. Recruitment Letter 157
B. Consent Form 158

C. Sample Questions 159

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge my parents, Evelyn and

Fleming Ogilvie; my twin sister, Brenda Flanders; and

my two brothers, Gordon and David. Their unconditional

love, support and encouragement have allowed me to

pursue my goals.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of my

committee members Dr. Richard Young and Dr. Kathryn

McCannell. A special thank you is in order to my

supervisor. Dr. Judith Daniluk, not only for her

guidance, expertise, and understanding which enabled me

to accomplish the task of completing my thesis, but

also for her inspiring teaching and professional

modelling throughout the process of completing my

degree. I am grateful for her encouragement, belief in

this project, and in my capability to complete it.

I would like to acknowledge the co-researchers:

Louise, Beth, Taylore, and Christine for sharing their

stories. Without them, this study could not have been

undertaken.

I am grateful to my good friend, Shelley Gougeon,

who not only graciously gave me a job, which allowed me

to exist while completing my degree, but whose support

 VI

and encouragement enabled me to accomplish my goals.

I would like to thank my friend, Deveda Mah, for

her support, laughter, and encouragement which gave me

the confidence to reach my goal.

And last, but not least, I would like to

acknowledge my best friend. Colleen McCarthy, for her

continued love, support, encouragement, and belief in

me. Without her, my accomplishments would not be as

meaningful.
 Vll

DEDICATION

Lovingly dedicated to my mother, Evelyn Edith Ogilvie,

who continues to meet my image of the ideal mother;

and

my twin sister and lifelong friend, Brenda Lee

Flanders, whose love, support, and encouragement I feel

every day we're apart;

and

my maternal grandmother, Edith Hawkins (1890 - 1990),

who passed away during the completion of my MA degree,

but who always will be a significant part of my

identity.
 Chapter one

Introduction

Statement of the Problem

Sexual abuse has emerged as the major form of child

abuse today (Finkelhor, 1979). The subject of child

sexual abuse has received considerable attention over

the years and has exploded into public awareness

(Sgroi, 1982). Because males perpetrate sexual abuse

in far greater numbers than females, the majority of

the sexual abuse literature has focused on father-

daughter incest or solely on male- perpetrated abuse

(Bass & Davis, 1988). Little attention has been given

to sexual abuse of children by females. Female

pedophilia has been reported in the literature as rare

and female sex-offenders have rarely been studied and

are poorly understood. With increasing media and

professional attention to the problem of sexual abuse

and to the dynamics of male victims, increases in the

estimated numbers of female offenders have

inadvertently been discovered (Johnson & Shrier, 1988).

Still the extent of sexual abuse by females remains an

issue of controversy. Just as it has been assumed until

 2

recently that boys were rarely victims of sexual abuse,

so was it assumed that very few females were

perpetrators. According to Banning (1989) and Groth

(1982), the true incidence of female sex offenders has

been underestimated due to our disbelief that this can

occur. Johnson and Shrier (1987) suggest that sexual

abuse by females may be far from an uncommon

experience.

Incest is believed to be far more common than

anyone has documented (Gupta s Cox, 1988; Justice &

Justice, 1979; Kilgore, 1988) and may be increasing as

a result of familial changes taking place today

(Banning, 1989). Until recently, mother-child incest

was considered to be virtually non-existant (McCarthy,

1986). Society tends to respond to sexual abuse by

mothers with extreme discomfort, shock and disbelief.

Women, in particular mothers, are not viewed as sexual

but rather as gentle and passive (Bass & Davis, 1988).

To confront the knowledge that a mother, the primary

protector, is abusive to her child, much less sexually

abusive, is to profoundly challenge our cultural images

of motherhood (Kasl, 1989).

New research and clinical evidence indicates

 3

however that mothers, in larger numbers than had

previously been indicated, may be accomplices to, or

co-offenders in, father-child incest or may be sole

perpetrators with children of either sex (McCarthy,

1986). McCarthy (1986) explored the characteristics of

25 mother-child incest offenders identified by the

Dallas Incest Treatment Program. Five mothers in the

study were accomplices to the abuse; nine mothers were

co-offenders with a male perpetrator; twelve mothers

were independent offenders. Eleven of the mother

offenders chose female victims; eight mothers chose

male victims while two mothers abused both male and

female children.

According to Courtois (1988), recent research

suggests that mother-daughter incest is not rare but

only underestimated and underreported, because its

occurrence involves the breaking of two taboos, incest

and homosexuality. Kathy Evert, cited in Vanderbilt

(1992), utilized 450 questions to survey 93 women and 9

men who had been sexually abused in childhood by their

mother. Evert determined that 80% of the women and men

had kept their abuse experience the most hidden aspect

of their lives. Only 3% of the women and none of the

 4
men told anyone about the abuse during their childhood.
Definitions

Defining child sexual abuse has been problematic.

Definitions vary from study to study, from the very

general to the very specific. Differences exist in the

criteria utilized in defining what constitutes abuse

and in the age classifications that are used.
For the purpose of this study, child sexual abuse will
be defined as:

a sexual act imposed on a child who lacks

emotional maturational and cognitive development. The
ability to lure a child into a sexual relationship is
based upon the all- powerful and dominant position of
the adult or older adolescent perpetrator, which is in
sharp contrast to the child's age, dependency and
subordinate position. Authority and power enable the
perpetrator, implicitly or directly, to coerce the
child into sexual compliance (Sgroi, 1982, p. 9 ) .

Child sexual abuse may take the form of suggestive

sexual comments, child pornography, exposure, fondling,

masturbation, vaginal intercourse, oral and/or anal

sex. "When child sexual abuse occurs between blood

relatives, it is called incest" (McEvoy, 1990), Swink

and Leveille (1985) define incest as "any sexual

experience between people in a family or caretaking

relationship which implies that one person has

 5

authority and power over another, and takes advantage

of that position to use or degrade the victim sexually"

(p.120). This definition, because of its inclusiveness

in that it encompasses several categories of partners

(including mothers) and a wide range of behaviours

(alone or in combination), is useful therapeutically

and has particular relevance to this study.

Incidence and Prevalence

Much confusion exists in the literature on the

prevalence of child sexual abuse (O'Hagan, 1989;

Finkelhor, 1986). Researchers report varying

prevalence rates in their studies of victims who were

sexually abused before the age of 18. Dozens of

unrelated attempts have been made to establish the

prevalence of child sexual abuse in the general

population. Startling and contradictory statistics

abound. Though estimates of incidence vary

significantly, data indicate a widely prevalent

problem. It has been estimated that once every two

minutes, a child in the United States is sexually

abused (Flanagan & Walters, 1987). The Badgley report

(1984), which cited the findings of the National

Population Survey completed in 1983 by 2008 Canadians

 6

over the age of 18 from 210 communities across Canada,

reported that about one in every two females and one in

every three males had been victims of unwanted sexual

acts. About four in five of these incidents first

happened to these persons when they were children or

youths.

Estimates of child sexual abuse range from 1 in 10

to over half of all females (Alter-Reid, Gibbs,

Lashenmeyer, Sigal & Massoth, 1986; Brunngraber, 1986;

Kersher & McShane, 1984; McEvoy, 1990; Russell, 1983;

Wyatt, 1985). Russell (1983) questioned a random

sample of 930 San Francisco women and found that 38%

had been sexually abused before age 18. Eighty-nine

percent of these women had been sexually abused by

relatives or family acquaintances (Vanderbilt, 1992).

The estimated risk of being a victim of child sexual

abuse is 1 in every 6-10 for boys (England & Thompson,

1988; Herman, Russell & Trochi, 1986; McEvoy, 1990).

Data from the American Humane Association (Russell,

1984) suggests an increase in the number of reported

cases of child sexual abuse over a 6 year period

between 1976 and 1982 from 1,975 to 22,918 cases.

Estimates in the literature range from 100,000-500,000

youths who are sexually abused each year (Russell,

1984) .

The best estimates of female-perpetrated child

sexual abuse based on a variety of surveys of the

general population (Blanchard, 1987; Finkelhor,1979;

Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis & Smith, 1990; O'Hagan,

1989; Russell, 1984), put the percentage of sexual

contacts by females to be 20% (14-27% range) for male

children and approximately 5% (0-10% range) for female

children. Since females generally have more socially

prescribed and physically intimate contact with

children, sexual acts by females might go unnoticed.

Although females sometimes abuse in overtly sexual

ways, their abuse is typically more subtle, often

masked in cuddling and daily caretaking (Russell, 1984;

Groth, 1982). The violation is often fuzzier, but its

consequences may be no less devastating (Bass & Davis,

1988) .

Despite the increase of research on what was once

a taboo subject, information still tends to be limited

to specific areas of child sexual abuse, notably

intrafamilial sexual abuse and sexual abuse of females

by male perpetrators (opposite-sexed abuse). There is

 8

little information on the prevalence and consequences

of same sex (male-male or female-female) abuse

(Mitchell, 1987; Bass & Davis, 1988; Courtois, 1988).

Incidence data for mother-daughter incest are virtually

non-existent in the literature. Given the confusion

that exists in the literature in the area of prevalence

rates of child abuse, and the fact that little is known

about mother-daughter incest, research in this area may

help to provide more accurate information about the

victim's experience of her relationship with her

mother, past and present.

Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

The vast majority of literature in the last 15 years

indicates that incest can frequently be damaging and

has both short-term and long-term effects (Faria &

Belohlavek, 1984). The immediate reaction of the

incest victim is usually a negative one involving

responses such as depression, anxiety, acting-out

behaviour and serious personality disturbances (Faria &

Belohlavek, 1984). Additional long-term problems

including guilt, difficulty in interpersonal

relationships, orgasmic dysfunction, confusion about

sexual preference, self-destructive behaviour, feelings

 9

of isolation and stigma, poor self-esteem, a tendency

toward revictimization, and substance abuse, have been

cited in the literature (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986;

Courtois, 1988; Courtois & Watts, 1982; Faria &

Belohlavek, 1984; Herman, 1981; Herman & Schatzaw,

1984; Meiselman, 1978).

Gelinas (1983) suggests that it is often the

secondary elaborations or untreated effects of sexual

abuse that usually cause adults to seek treatment. The

most common of these include chronic and atypical

depression, eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse,

anxiety, guilt, dissociative disorders, somatization

disorders, explosive disorders, low self-esteem,

suicidal tendencies and prostitution (Bergart, 1986;

Butler, 1978; Faria & Belohlavek, 1984). A variety of

physical complaints have been noted in adult victims of

child sexual abuse including nausea, dizziness,

feelings of dissociation, migraine headaches, severe

backaches, gastro-intestional and gastro-urinary

problems, skin disorders, inability to concentrate,

lethargy and obesity (Courtois & Watts, 1982; Ellenson,

1986; Faria & Belohlavek, 1984; Meiselman, 1978).

Child sexual abuse has been found to effect the

 10
victim's personality development and every major life
sphere, either at the time of the incest or later in
life (Courtois, 1988). Parent-child incest reportedly
has the greatest potential for harm because it involves
the betrayal of the parent's role as nurturer and
protector (Courtois; Urbanic, 1987). Incest interferes
with the completion of the developmental tasks
associated with each life stage, beginning with the
most basic task, trust versus mistrust (Courtois).
With incest, there is a betrayal of trust by an adult
protector, the sense of helplessness without support,
the pressure from the imposed secrecy, the guilt from
participation in the relationship and chronic stress
from the prolonged duration of the relationship
(Urbanic, 1987).

Being thrust into a sexual relationship is

extremely difficult for the child (Justice & Justice,
1979). This role causes confusion and interferes with
the normal developmental tasks of childhood and
adolescence. It "violates the child's safety and
maturation by triangulating the child into the parents'
relationship and by prematurely sexualizing the child"
(Courtois, 1988, p. 72). It involves the sacrifice of
 11
the self to the satisfaction or care of the offender

and it results in serious injury to the child's sense

of self, often causing a fragmented identity to

develop. "The sense of a normal self is lost as

defenses and symptoms become integrated into the

child's developing personality" (Courtois, 1988, p.

124) .

There are some unique problems faced by female

survivors of abuse by women (Bass & Davis, 1988).

Since much of the literature has focused on father-

daughter incest, female survivors who were abused by

women reportedly feel even more isolated than those

females who were abused by men (Bass & Davis, 1988).

Children are more reluctant to report sexual offenses

when the offender is a parent or someone they are

dependent upon (Russell, 1984). Female victims of

abuse at the hands of their mothers are likely to feel

additional shame and stigma because their incest

experience is "out of the ordinary" (Courtois, 1988, p.

68), As a result, they may be even more frightened and

reluctant to disclose the incest than are victims of

other more commonly reported types of sexual abuse.

The magnitude of underreporting becomes clearer when

 12
one considers that victims of mother-daughter incest
are unlikely to report their own sexual abuse due to
fear, shame or guilt when the perpetrator is a mother
(Mrazek, 1981).
This study may provide insight into the
manifestations and unique dynamics of this phenomenon
through exploration of the experience of mother-
daughter incest from the daughter's perspective. It is
the investigator's bias that mother-daughter incest
survivors experience extreme betrayal because their
abuser was their mother; they experience stigmatization
and shame which is more profound because their abuse
experience is in the minority.

Object-Relations and Self-in Relation Theories

Object-relations and self-in relation theories of
women's development can be applied to the evaluation of
the mother-daughter dyad as well as the long-term
effects of child sexual abuse, particularly in the
investigation of female-female sexual abuse (Mitchell,
1987). Rubin (1983) takes the theoretical posture that
for a female, the process of developing an independent
sense of self presents a whole different set of
obstacles than for a male. This process, which
 13

involves crystallization of a gender identity and the

maintenance of boundaries, is viewed as a different

struggle for boys and girls. Where the task is to

establish the boundaries of self, the identity between

mother and daughter makes that more complicated for a

girl. This identity fusion between mother and

daughter, wherein each tends to treat the other as an

extension of self, has been documented in a study of 26

mother-child incestuous relationships (McCarthy,1986).

Sixty percent of the victims in this study were

daughters who were sexually abused by their mothers.

Sixty-seven percent of these mothers reported that they

viewed their daughters as extensions of themselves.

From an object-relations perspective, all females

(or the majority) develop ego boundaries that are more

permeable than a male's, and her sense of self is never

as separate as his. She experiences herself always as

more continuous with another. Her basic sense of self

is connected to others in the world (Chodorow, 1978).

According to Chodorow (1978), given the child care

arrangements in North American society, where women are

major caregivers, daughters develop in the context of

same-sex relationships.
 14

Self-in-relation theory, on the other hand,

emphasizes that the self for women develops in the

context of relationships rather than as an isolated or

separated individual. It is the development of mutual

empathy in the mother-daughter dyad which facilitates

women's special investment and comfort in relatedness

(Kerner, 1988). A nurturing figure of the same gender

fortifies the young girl's sense of relatedness and

connection. The emotional and cognitive connections

based on shared understanding over time develop into a

mutual process in which both mother and daughter become

highly responsive to the feeling states of each other.

Extrapolating from Chodorow's (1978) theory of

differences in male and female boundaries, one can

assume that female perpetrators, whose boundaries are

more fluid than males, will bring to the abuse

situation their propensity for merging with another.

This merging may be magnified when the child victim is

a female who also has fluid ego boundaries (Mitchell,

1987). With a female perpetrator, the potential exists

for the child to re-experience the merged mother-

daughter relationship, or to never experience

separation and distinct identity formation.

"Theoretically, in female-female sexual abuse, the

potential for re-enacting the merged boundary

relationship of mother-daughter, and consequently

delaying or disrupting separation, clearly exists"

(Mitchell, p. 49).

From an object-relations perspective, the child

recognizes herself as separate from another early in

the separation-individuation process only if she is

provided with a safe environment in which she is

encouraged to relate to people other than the mother

(Mitchell, 1987). The female child uses the father to

help develop a sense of separateness (Chodorow, 1987;

Eichenbaum & Orbach, 1983). Mitchell (1987) notes

however that in many mother-child incestuous

relationships, the mother is often socially isolated

and the father physically and emotionally absent.

Hence, one might speculate that the child in these

situations is unable to relate to others in a way which

facilitates the development of a sense of separateness

from her mother.

"The dynamics of an incestuous mother-daughter

relationship (as opposed to extrafamilial or other

types of female-female sexually abusive situations) may

 16
result in more severe disruptions of the separation-
individuation process because it more closely
recaptures, or maybe is a continuation of, the early
merged mother-infant relationship" (Mitchell, 1987,
p.50). Disruption of this process has immediate
consequences for the child's ability to differentiate
between self and other. Certainly when considering the
emphasis in our society on the maternal bond, abuse by
mothers in particular might be expected to leave female
children with a confused sense of self or a severe lack
of boundaries between the child and the parent (Bass &
Davis, 1988). This research will investigate, from the
daughter's perspective, the extraordinary dynamics of
her relationship with her mother and provide
information about the consequence of such identity
fusion on her life, past and present.
Purpose of this Study

It is the purpose of this research to explore the

phenomenon of mother-daughter incest from the
perspective of the daughter's experience. The research
question being asked is: "How do females who were
sexually abused by their mothers in childhood
experience themselves in relation to their mothers.
 17

past and present?" The ultimate goal of this inquiry

is to explore this phenomenon to provide descriptions

that will sensitize other researchers and practitioners

to the nature and meaning of mother-daughter incest and

to perhaps serve as the foundation for the development

of theory in the area (Giorgi, 1985). Sexual abuse by

mothers needs to be acknowledged as a reality in the

lives of some children. Research in the area of

mother-daughter incest may help to contradict prevalent

misconceptions about incest as well as decrease social

and personal denial of such abuse. More accurate

information about mother-daughter incest, its

manifestations and unique dynamics may enable the

practitioner to better plan and focus treatment so that

the needs of survivors of mother-daughter incest may be

better met.
 18

Chapter Two

Review of the Literature

In reviewing the relevant literature in the area of

mother-daughter incest, four areas of study will be

highlighted: the mother-daughter dyad, theoretical

perspectives on abuse, reports of mother-daughter

incest in the literature, and effects of incest. An

exploration of the uniqueness of the mother-daughter

relationship may provide a context in which the impact

of mother-daughter incest can be better understood.

Object-relations and self-in-relation theories as well

as theories on abuse are examined since they provide

insight into the etiology, and immediate and long-term

effects of mother-daughter incest. In examining

theories of abuse, it becomes important to understand

the influence of the family on the daughter's

development, as well as the dynamics of families where

incest occurs.

The literature is replete with information in the

area of immediate and long-term effects of sexual abuse

and incest. The bulk of this information however has

grown from studies limited to the area of male-

 19

perpetrated sexual abuse. A dearth of information is

available on the effects of female-perpetrated sexual

abuse. Little is known about female offenders.

Reports of mother-daughter incest are sparse. The

limited available research in this area will be

reviewed.

The Mother-Daughter Dyad

Many authors have theoretically addressed the

significance of the mother-child relationship (Magrab,

1979). Viorst (1987) calls the mother-child bond the

essential human connection, one that teaches us how to

love and without which we cannot be whole human beings.

As our first mirror of life and the world, mother

functions as protector, guide and interpreter. The

parent-child relationship, and more particularly the

mother-child interaction, is known to be extremely

important for the child's mental and emotional growth.

Friday (1977) acknowledges the following specific

components of mother's love: "a kind of basic security,

a structure of stability, nurturing admiration (a

general feeling that you are worth plenty in your

right), warmth and physical affection, cuddling,

holding and kissing, caring what really happens to you.

 20
and acceptance" (p. 25), According to Friday, we get
our courage, our sense of self, the ability to believe
we have value even when alone, to do our work, to love
others and to ourselves be lovable, from the strength
of our mother's love for us when we were infants.
Friday (1977) defines a true loving mother as "one
whose interest and happiness is in seeing her daughter
as a person, not just a possession" (p. 69), as one so
generous and loving that she will forgo some of her own
pleasure and security to add to her daughter's
development. Psychiatrist Mia Fredland (cited in
Friday, 1977) said it well when she defined genuine
mother-daughter love as a "recognition on the part of
each of the separateness of the other and a respect for
the other" (p. 70). Because of the inevitable
modelling relationship between mother and daughter,
females are not just stuck with the sense of basic
trust their mothers did or didn't give them. According
to Friday, "we are also stuck with the image of her as
a woman, her sense of basic trust that her mother gave
her" (p. 61). In other words, the lessons learned from
mother in the way she loved us and the way she loved
herself, stay with us for life.
 21

Bromberg (1987) addresses the mother-daughter

relationship as "a lifeline held taut between mothers

and daughters which begins with the umbilical

connection" (p. 8 ) . There will always be a unique tie

between mother and daughter in our society. Over time,

under conditions which foster such a tie, a reciprocal

process may develop in which mother and daughter become

highly responsive to the feelings of each other. Both

are energized to care for, and respond to the well

being of the other (Jordan, 1991). Thus a young girl's

identification with her mother continues throughout

life. She continues to identify with her caregiving

mother, thereby maintaining the mother-daughter

relationship while establishing her identity.

According to Friday (1977), "what makes the mother-

daughter relationship so poignant is its bewildering

reciprocity. What one person does, feels, inevitably

affects the other" (p. 83). According to Magrab

(1979), as women, we carry our mothers with us in every

breath, in every decision, in every success and in

every failure. "There is no escaping that often

tender, but many times painful, bond that holds us

captive to our death" (p. 113). The daughter's sense

 22

of self as unique is entwined with a sense of mother.

"There is a shared social role, a shared prescription

for life, and a shared psychology" (Eichenbaum &

Orbach, 1983, p. 54). Many women never feel free of

their mothers. They are separate people but experience

their mother as being inside, judging, tempting and

disappointing. LaSorda and Fodor (1990) identify the

mother-daughter relationship as "complex, unique, and

emotionally charged" (p. 593). While it has been

described as one of the strongest bonds throughout

life, it has also been described as more ambivalent and

ambiguous than other parent-child dyads (Fischer,

1986) .

According to Bromberg (1987), the developmental

achievements of mother and daughter are attained

through the mother's ability to anticipate and respond

to the child's reaching out for growth. Bromberg

conceptualizes that these interchanges go on throughout

life forming a complex pattern of mutuality. Each

developmental stage requires of them the ability to

lose their ties and maintain their connections.

Like Bromberg, Williams (1987) describes the

mutuality of the mother-daughter relationship but she

 23

further categorizes this life cycle into three stages:

symbiosis, separation, and individuation. The mother

is the first love object and the most important

attachment she will ever make, according to Williams.

Yet the mutuality of the relationship, with its intense

needs flowing in both directions, must give way to

separateness as the daughter struggles to establish

herself as her own person. Magrab (1979) acknowledges

this struggle for independence as an "eternal conflict"

(p. 113) of this symbiotic bond and the will toward

oneness.

Flax (1978) agrees that the most important tasks of

the first three years of human life are, first,

establishing a close relationship with a caretaker

(usually mother) and second, moving from that

relationship through the process of separation and

individuation. She defines separation as "establishing

a firm sense of differentiation from the mother, of

possessing one's own physical and mental boundaries"

(p. 172). Individuation is defined by Flax as "the

development of a range of characteristics, skills, and

personality traits which are uniquely one's own" (p.

172). She conceptualizes separation and individuation

 24

as two "tracks" of development which are not identical

but can reinforce or impede each other.

During the first six or seven months of life, the

infant behaves and functions symbiotically with his/her

mother as though the child and his/her mother were an

omnipotent system - a dual unity within one boundary

(Flax, 1978). This symbiotic bond, according to Flax,

provides "grounding, the sense of ontological security,

on which the infant can rely as it moves out of the

symbiotic orbit into differentiation and exploration of

the outside world" (p, 173).

Ideally, the mother should be able to enjoy the

sensual and emotional closeness without losing her own

sense of separateness. Flax (1978) postulates,

however, that this appears more difficult for the

mother of a girl to achieve, since mothers of girl

children do not seem to have a clear sense of physical

boundaries between themselves and their daughters.

Because women tend to identify more strongly with their

daughters (than their sons), more internal conflict is

likely to be stimulated by their role as mother, and

memories of unresolved wishes from their own infancy

are more likely to be evoked (Flax, 1978).

 25

If the symbiotic experience has not been adequate,

the process of separation and individuation that

follows is also more difficult for the female infant,

since she lacks the firm base from which to

differentiate (Flax, 1978). Furthermore since she is

expected to be like her mother as a person and in terms

of her adult roles, there is less need for her to

differentiate. According to Friday (1977), what makes

symbiosis hard to break through is that it is so highly

endorsed by society. She calls it a "sticky, gooey

closeness between mother and daughter that is seen as

some idyllic, wonderful thing" (p. 387). But according

to Koch and Jarvis (1987), the mother in the symbiotic

mother-daughter relationship is unable to negotiate an

appropriate middle ground between dependency and

isolation. The relationship continually swings from

one pole of the continuum to the other, never achieving

a healthy balanced position of appropriate

interdependence.

Differentiation overlaps with the "practicing

phase" from 10 months to 18 months wherein the child is

developing pleasure in its own locomotor skills and a

rudimentary autonomous ego (Flax, 1978). "If the

 25

mother is ambivalent about giving up the symbiotic

phase or if she is parasitic, that is reliving her own

infancy through the child, then the child will find it

more difficult to take pleasure in his/her own

developing capacities" (p. 175). For reasons

previously cited this is more likely to be true for the

female child.

Flax (1978) calls the third phase of separation-

individuation the "rapproachment" phase, which occurs

from approximately 15 to 24 months of age. This stage,

according to Flax, is marked above all by ambivalence.

The mother and daughter are persistently enmeshed in

the ambivalent aspects of the relationship. Friday

(1977) posits that ambivalence characterizes the

mother-daughter relationship more than any other

relationship in human life. The child wants to return

to the symbiotic state yet fears being reengulfed by

it. Fear of losing the love of the mother becomes

increasingly evident. Girls seem to be more engrossed

with mother in her presence and they demand a greater

closeness. On the other hand, the mother's own

ambivalence about her adult role may be reexperienced

intensely during this period.

 27

There is a cultural bias against mothers who keep

their sons tied to them. But what if the child is a

girl? Friday (1977) claims that mothers give their

daughters less latitude, less chance for growth; they

ride like steamrollers over their daughters'

individuality. She stresses that the reason so many

women do not let go of their daughters is that they

have little else in their lives, nothing of their own.

Or else they have been so frustrated in their

relationships with their own mothers that they try to

make up for it through symbiosis with their daughters.

Many girls have mothers who are trying to fill up the

empty hole inside left by their own cold, distant or

absent mother. These mothers may want to merge with

their daughters since they never could with their own

mothers. They may want their daughters to be the other

half of them, the warm extension they longed for. From

this perspective, they can't let their daughters go

because they are not through with them; they still need

them (Gilbert & Webster, 1982). These mothers may

insist that their daughters tell them everything about

their lives and their friends. Hence, the daughter in

this case may have no private corner for her thoughts

 28
or activities.

Stiver (1991) emphasizes that mothers often feel

the need to continue their role as mothers since it has

been an integral part of their female identity.

Through maintaining attachments with their daughters,

mothers may fulfill their needs for interpersonal

connectedness. Stiver postulates, however, that the

more positive aspects of the mother-daughter bond are

countered by the mother's tendency to project feelings

of inadequacy onto the daughter. While this may give

the mother more license to hold on to the daughter and

to mother her, it contributes to the ambivalent aspects

of their interrelations. Mothers can become gratified,

yet fearful, as they witness their daughters move

forward in a positive and competent manner (Friday,

1977).

LaSorsa and Fodor (1990) describe adolescence as the

most difficult period for the mother-daughter dyad.

"Separation and self-definition, two main tasks of

adolescence, produce tremendous anxiety for both

mothers and daughters" (p. 594). Both the adolescent

daughter and the midlife mother face the challenges of

separation, autonomy, and loss as well as the need for

 29

a new definition of self (LaSorsa & Fodor, 1990).

Magrab (1979) also acknowledges adolescence as a period

when daughters strive to free themselves from the old

bonds of childhood. Nonetheless, despite a daughter's

rebellion against her mother, she often still considers

her mother as the person to whom she feels closest.

The strong mother-daughter bond that has developed from

a very young age and has continued over the years makes

separation a painful and arduous task for both members

(LaSorsa & Fodor). Similarly, Fischer {198S)

characterized the mother-daughter relationship as a

process of "holding on and letting go," of maintaining

an ongoing attachment as they begin to separate.

According to Magrab, adolescent daughters develop

strong needs for privacy and as a result often make

others their confidante. Some mothers may find this

separation extremely painful, and may not understand

their daughter's need to establish a separate space for

themselves. They may possess their children out of

loneliness, fear of failure, and need of confirmation

of womanliness not found in the male world. They may

bind their daughters to them more closely than their

mothers held them (Friday, 1977).

 30

Chodorow (1978) provides an often-cited framework

for examining the mother-daughter dyad, a framework

based on traditional psychoanalytic and social thought

(Boyd, 1989). Chodorow (1974, 1978) speculates,

drawing on object relations theory, that societal

values which encourage and support the early attachment

of mother and daughter as well as the nature of the

identification with the maternal figure, allow for

self-other boundary flexibility in girls. As Flax

(1981) has pointed out, there is less social pressure

on daughters to differentiate from their mothers than

on sons to differentiate from their fathers. Boys, in

contrast, are socially supported to curtail the primary

identification with mother, forcing them to establish

less flexible self-other differentiation (Jordan,

1991) .

Chodorow (1978) emphasizes that the mother-

daughter relationship fails to foster separation-

individuation, and often leads to a daughter's

perception of overwhelming enmeshment. LaSorsa and

Fodor (1990) also warn that with loose boundaries and a

less separate sense of self, mothers and daughters may

grapple with the development of separate identities.

 31

Similarly, Fischer (1983) maintains that because

mothers and daughters identify with each other and

because their individual boundaries are not always

clear, daughters struggle all their lives to separate

from their mothers. Among consequences of the mutual

and intense identification of mothers and their

daughters, Boyd (1985) has noted periods of conflict

and ambivalence over separation and individuation.

Conflict often arises between a daughter's sense of a

separate "I" and her perception of a collective "we"

(Lerner, 1985). Flax (1978) notes that women in

therapy frequently report that they have no sense of

where they end and their mothers begin. They define

themselves in relation to the other.

Eichenbaum and Orbach (1983) in contrast, focus

on mothers' identification with their daughters. They

point out three major activities that shape the mother-

daughter relationship. First, the mother identifies

with the daughter because of their shared gender (the

mother has reproduced herself). Second, the mother

projects feelings she has about herself, possibly

failing to differentiate herself from her daughter.

"She may see her daughter not as another person but as

 32

an extension of herself. This may reawaken in the

mother the part of her that feels needy and wants to be

nurtured, responded to and encouraged" (Eichenbaum &

Orbach, 1883, p. 41). Thirdly, Eichenbaum and Orbach

distinguish the repressed little girl inside mother as

a shaper of the mother-daughter relationship. Mother

becomes alarmed by her daughter's free expression of

her needs. Unconciously the mother acts towards her

daughter in the same way she acts internally toward the

little girl part of herself. Thus, the daughter

becomes an external representation of that part of

herself she has come to deny and dislike. The complex

emotions from her own childhood deprivation and adult

life may be directed inward in the struggle to negate

the little girl part of herself, and outward onto her

daughter. Similarily. Hammer (1976) suggests that a

mother, through her daughter, lives both her own

childhood and her own mother's identity. By

identifying with her daughter, she becomes both her own

mother and her own child.

In summary, object relations theories on the

mother-daughter relationship show an interest in

identity formation as it pertains to issues of

 33

mothering, association and separation. Like Chodorow,

Rubin (1983) claimed that because of their same gender,

the boundaries between mother and daughter are less

clearly defined than for mothers and sons. In

contrast, the boundaries between mothers and sons are

more clearly delineated and as a result, less effort is

required for little boys to establish their identity.

The more contemporary object relations theorists

emphasize that for adolescent girls, the process of

separation and individuation is made complex by the

longer and more intense identification between mother

and daughter in the daughter's early years (LaSorsa &

Fodor, 1990; Chodorow, 1978). Greater effort is

required of adolescent girls to achieve autonomy and a

separate sense of self. Conflicts over the need to

separate are thought to arise from a perceived lack of

psychological distance within the dyad (Boyd, 1989).

Self-in-relation, an evolving theory of women's

development, postulated by Miller (1976), Gilligan

(1982), Jordan and Surrey (1986), and developed by

Miller, Surrey, Jordan, Stiver and Kaplan (1991), puts

forth a new model of female development and identity

based on a reinterpretation of current psychoanalytic

 34
theory and a search for principles of self development
not based on a male model. This more recent
perspective emphasizes attachment and connection,
rather than separation, as the basis for female
development. Jordan and Surrey (1986) refer to
"relationship-differentation," rather than "separation-
individuation," and view differentation as a dynamic
process of growth within the relationship. The central
thesis of the self-in-relation model is that "women
organize their sense of identity, find existential
meaning, achieve a sense of coherence and continuity,
and are motivated in the context of a relationship"
(Kerner, 1988, p. 102).

Self-in-relation theory stresses that women's

reality is different from men's, and that for women the
primary experience of self is relational, that is, the
self unfolds in the context of important relationships
(Boyd, 1989; Gilligan, 1982; Miller, 1976). It
involves an important shift in emphasis from separation
to relationship as the basis for development. Other
aspects of self development, for example, creativity,
autonomy and assertion, emerge in the context of
relationship. There is no engrained need to disconnect
 35

or to sacrifice relationship for self development

(Surrey, 1991) .

Jordan (1991) claims that the nature of the

mother-daughter identification, and the formation of

flexible self-boundaries, intensify empathic

sensitivity in females. Surrey (1991) identifies this

open relationship between mother and daughter as the

beginning stage for the development of self-in-relation

wherein the mutual sharing process fosters a sense of

mutual understanding and connection. Both the mother

and daughter become mobilized to care for and attend to

the well-being and development of the other. According

to Surrey, this is the "motivational dynamic of mutual

empowerment" (p. 50) which leaves both mother and

daughter feeling effective and motivated to respond to

the other. Surrey emphasizes a two-way interactional

model, where it becomes as important to understand as

to be understood, to empower as well as to be

empowered. The direction of growth according to this

model is "not toward greater degrees of autonomy or

individuation and the breaking of early emotional ties,

but toward a process of growth within relationship

where both are encouraged and challenged to maintain

 36
connection and to foster, adapt to, and change the
growth of the other" (p.50).
Like Surrey (1991) and Jordan (1991), Kaplan,
Gleason, and Klein (1991) stress that the dynamic of
the early mother-child relationship initiates the
development of the core relational self for women and
this dynamic is characterized by a finely tuned
affective sensitivity and responsiveness of the mother
to the daughter and vice versa. Hence, the child
identifies not with a static image of mother but with
an image of her as an active caretaker. "Identity is
based on positive identification; connectedness is
based on open, physical, and emotional sharing plus the
early mutuality of caring that is found in healthy
mother-daughter interaction" (Surrey, 1991, p. 246).

In summary. Miller (1976), Gilligan (1982),

Surrey (1991), Jordan (1991), Stiver (1991), and Kaplan
(1991) argue that while existing theories posit some
form of autonomy or separation as the developmental
path, women's core self-structure, or their primary
motivational thrust, concerns growth within
relationship, or what they call "self-in-relation." By
relation, they mean much more than is indicated in
 37

object relations theory. In contrast, the emphasis is

on the key aspects of attaining a capacity to be

attuned to the affect of others, understanding and

being understood by another, and thus participating in

the development of others. Being in relationship,

empathically sharing with another and maintaining the

well-being of relationships function as important

motivation for action, and sources for self-esteem and

self-affirmation (Kaplan, Gleason, & Klein, 1991). "It

is the flow of empathic communication and mutual

attentiveness from one to the other that not only

permits the child to feel cared for but begins to

develop in the child a sense of herself as a caring

being, as one who derives strength and competence from

her own relational capacities (p. 217).

Miller (1988) investigates what she calls "a sense

of disconnection" which occurs when a child or adult is

prevented from participating in mutually enhancing

relationships. These disconnections occur when the

child or adult is grossly abused or when the

surrounding relational context is insensitive to the

child or adult's expression of her experience.

According to Miller, if the child can take action

 38

within the relationship to represent her experience

when there is a threat of disconnection, and if others

in the relationship respond in a reconnecting way, then

the child may encounter growth. If she experiences

responsiveness and acceptance of her distress, she may

be able to turn the interaction around. Hence, she may

feel an increase in her ability to influence a

relationship and to build empowering connections.

According to Miller, disconnections can lead to

serious consequences if they persist over time without

a change in direction. The most terrifying and

destructive feeling that a person can experience when

he/she feels disconnected, is isolation, defined by

Miller as "feeling locked out of the possibility of

human connection" (p. 7 ) . This feeling of acute

loneliness is usually accompanied by feelings of self-

blame, helplessness and powerlessness.

Miller emphasizes the "dynamics of disconnection"

in that the adults who bring about serious

disconnections and violations of the child, have the

most difficulty engaging in growth enhancing

relationships because they struggle with allowing the

child to ventilate her/his reactions to their actions.

 39

"Whenever one person or group has more power than the

other(s) in a relationship, the danger of harm

increases; the less powerful person has much greater

difficulty altering the course of the interaction"

(p.8).

Miller's premise is that when children feel the

threat of condemned isolation, they attempt an alliance

with those closest to them in any possible way. So

that she may be allowed access to relationships with

those available people, the child may try to alter her

internal image of herself and others. She may

construct restricted and distorted images of

possibilities of relationships between herself and

others. "Since her feelings, thoughts and actions are

not originating from her perceptions and desires, nor

connecting with her experience, they cannot build her

image of herself as worthy" (Miller, 1988, p.9).

Thus, she is constricted to act within connections, to

know her own experience and to construct a sense of

worthiness.

In terms of the mother, her ability to nurture and

rear her daughter with warmth, caring, and guidance

serves as the criterion for the adaptation to

 40

motherhood. The most disturbed expression of

maladaptivity of any mothering role is child abuse and

neglect (Magrab, 1979). Miller agrees that the most

extreme disconnection and violation occurs when a young

girl is sexually abused. Not only has she been

violated physically and psychologically, she usually

has been unable to voice the truth of her experience

within the context of her immediate relationship and on

a larger scale. "Because this violence occurs when one

person in a relationship has greater power in society,

it represents the most severe form of psychological

violation and disconnection" (p. 10).

Theoretical Perspectives on Abuse

Some researchers have proposed theoretical perspectives

on child abuse. Although not empirically based, these

perspectives can be uniquely applied to the area of

mother-daughter incest. Rheingold (1954) addresses

early homosexual ties between mother and daughter as

normal. According to Rheingold, subtle seduction of

the daughter allows the mother the opportunity to

express her homosexual feelings without fear of

detection. Flax (1978) recognizes that although women

may be extremely affectionate physically with their

 41
daughters, they may be unconsciously conflicted about
this closeness. As Stoller (1973) stresses, in a
homophobic society such as ours, incestuous wishes
toward daughters are far more forbidden and shameful
than toward sons. Similarly, Magrab (1979) addresses
the fact that overt mother-daughter incest is even more
of a moral taboo than other types of family incest.
Driver and Droisen (1989) discuss that as a society, we
are operating a double standard. They stress that we
take it for granted that men abuse, and yet we refuse
to accept that women sexually abuse as well. "Women
rarely sexually abuse children, and yet in the few
cases that have come to light, public outrage against
female perpetrators reflects society's contradictory
expectations of women" (p. 9 ) .

Steele and Pollack (1968) describe role reversal

in the mother who herself had unsatisfactory mothering.
The mother looks for love and mothering from the young
child who cannot meet these expectations, thus
engendering rage in the mother. The mother's earlier
losses from her own childhood may be reawakened. Since
mothering is a typically female role, female infants,
according to Steele and Pollack, may have greater
 42

expectations placed on them in terms of meeting the

nurturance needs of their mothers.

Similarly, Lloyd (1987) addresses the strong

element of role reversal in mother-daughter incestuous

relationships. The mother may have extreme needs for

attention and affection and may rely on her daughter

for emotional support. Mayer (1983) also recognizes

that by a mother turning to her daughter for emotional

nurturance, the effect may be a total role-reversal in

their relationship.

Gilbert and Webster (1982) address "the trap of

daughterhood" (p. 82) which has definite implications

for the notion of parental sexual abuse of daughters.

They define the family as a sovereign nation, which

requires of all its members, but especially its

daughters, an oath of fidelity that predicates and

idealizes everything that transpires within its

borders. The daughter is expected to join the parents

in promoting the rules that maintain family unity.

According to Gilbert and Webster, in order for her to

escape exile and being thrust out of the emotional

familiarity of the family, the daughter has little

choice but to take the oath and accept the consequences

 43
of hierarchy and inequality built into daily life.
Parents are entrusted with the responsibility of
protecting their children from the dangers of their
physically and socially powerless position. Children
are expected to comply with the adults who supposedly
act in their interest. From this perspective, bound by
love and duty, gratitude and fear, the daughter can
only hope that her parents comprehend and respect the
boundaries of childhood and that they act with
constraint, tempering their absolute power with mercy
and love (Gilbert & Webster, 1982).

According to Magrab (1979), "there are no ideal

mothers, nor are there ideal daughters" (p. 124). Yet
even as grown women, many females are looking for,
still tied to the illusion of the all-loving, good
mother (Friday, 1977), Children have to conceive of
their parents as perfect simply because they are so
dependent on them. Stronger than the desire for
cessation of abuse, stronger than life itself, the
daughter wants to maintain the illusion that she had a
good mother (Friday). In essence, she becomes her
mother's protector in order to protect herself. She
may even give up her resentment that her mother wasn't
 44

ideal so that it will enhance her life.

Friday (1977), in contrast to Gilbert and Webster,

speaks of the "tyranny of the notion of the maternal

instinct" (p. 35), or in other words, of the myth that

all mothers love their babies. According to Friday,

motherhood is idealized beyond human capacity. "A

dangerous gap is set up wherein mother feels the

mixture of love and hate, affection and anger she has

for her child but she cannot afford to know it" (p.35).

Mothers may feel there is something wrong with them if

they don't respond to their newborn. They may feel

guilty and depressed when they don't love their babies

at first. Yet, society does not allow mothers to

verbalize negative emotions about motherhood, so they

may be left feeling unsure of themselves. They may

feel that they have something to hide, that they are

unnatural or bad mothers. Feeling trapped and alone,

they may victimize their own children.

In summary, in cases of parental-incest, there is

some form of "family dysfunction where unspoken

expectations are met with frustration and immature

needs sabotage marital and parental relationships"

(Lloyd, 1987, p. 45). The term "symbiotic" (Justice &

 45

Justice, 1979) is used in less recent literature to

describe the personalities of parents in families where

incest has occurred who turn to their children to meet

their nurturance needs. In families where incest

occurs, family members are not self-defined. They

attach themselves to one another in their struggle to

be taken care of (Koch & Jarvis, 1987). Mothers who

commit incest may be replicating their own experience

of sexual abuse. The literature addresses common

themes that may underlie incestuous behaviors including

loneliness, the need for intimacy, isolation, rage,

insecurity, feelings of inadequacy in carrying out role

expectations, dependency and a lack of empathy.

Mother-daughter incest: Reports in the literature.

There are few references to mother-daughter incest in

the literature. Very little is known about the

phenomenon of mother-daughter incest. Courtois (1988)

stresses that the clinician must be aware that mother-

daughter incest does occur and that it may be difficult

for the daughter or the perpetrator to reveal simply

because of the relative rarity of the phenomenon.

 46

According to Courtois, the mother is described in the

literature as very needy and emotionally dependent

and/or as disturbed and possibly psychotic or

sociopathic. The daughter often is the caretaker to the

needy or disturbed mother. The routine assumption has

been that severe psychological disturbance or psychosis

is necessary for a mother to violate societal

prescriptions against incest with her child (Courtois,

1988; Renshaw, 1982). According to Mayer (1983), in

mother-daughter incestuous relationships, the offender

is often extremely disturbed, manifesting infantile

and/or psychotic behavior. Feminist authors

(Meiselman, 1978; Ward, 1985) have commented however,

that no such routine assumptions are made when the

perpetrator is the father. Ward (1985) coined the term

"asymmetrical incest taboo" to call attention to the

double standard that incest by a male/father is more

normal and acceptable than similar behaviors

perpetrated by a female/mother. In fact, the socially

accepted physical intimacy between a mother and her

child may serve to mask inappropriate sexual behaviors

on the part of the mother (Banning, 1989; Gupta & Cox,

1988; Johnson & Shrier, 1987; Justice & Justice, 1979;

 47

Kilgore, 1988).

Researchers (Groth, 1982; McCarthy, 1986) report

that when the mother co-offends with her spouse, her

dependency on him is a major contributing factor, and

when she independently offends, her need for nurturance

and control appear prominent. She may herself have

been a victim of childhood incest with her father or

mother and may therefore believe that repetition of

this phenomenon is acceptable; she may even be an

accomplice to an incestuous relationship between her

husband and her daughter (Renshaw,1982).

Groth (1982) lists the following factors as

contributors to mother-child incest: the absence of

this parent during the child's early years; relatively

little discrepancy between the ages of the parent and

child; sexual victimization of the mother as a young

girl; the loss of mother's spouse and the assuming of

adult responsibilities (such as helping to support the

family) on the part of the child; a history of

indiscriminate or compulsive sexual activity on the

part of the mother; and a history of substance abuse.

Chasnoff, Burns, Schnoll, Chisum and Kyle-Spore (cited

in Courtois, 1988) report similar characteristics in

 48

three mothers who committed neonatal incest (defined as

sexual abuse of newborns) that they studied: they were

estranged from their sexual partners; were isolated in

their living arrangement; had no ongoing sexual

relationships, and thus were motivated in part by

loneliness. The mothers also demonstrated some

confusion regarding sexual identity and were chemically

dependent.

Hyde (1986) discusses covert incest in women's

lives:
Covert incest represents a point on the continuum
of coercion, control, domination, and subjugation
of girls and women by male offenders. When it is
women who are covertly incestuous with their
children, it is the natural result of their double
victimization, first by the culture, and second,
most having been overtly sexually abused at an
earlier point in their lives (p. 74).

Hyde identifies the presence of the following

psychodynamics which are indicative of, and intrinsic

to, a father-daughter or mother-daughter incestuous

relationship: (1) role reversal or parentification of

the child, (2) generational boundary crossing, (3)

betrayal of trust, and (4) secrecy or a conspiracy of

silence. These indicators of incest appear to reflect

the findings of Groth (1982) and Chasnoff et al.

 49

(1986).

Matthews, Mathews, and Speltz (1991) studied 16

females from May 1985 to December, 1987 who were

referred to the Genesis Female Sexual Offenders

Treatment Program, which is a private, nonprofit

community corrections/treatment agency located in

Minneapolis, Minnesota that provides services for adult

females and their children. Of the victims, 28 were

female (54%) and 16 were male (36%). Nine (56%) of the

women abused their own daughters. Abusive behaviors

ranged from kissing and fondling to oral sex and

penetration. Four of the women abused their daughters

over the most extensive periods of time in the sample-

from 2 to 6 years. Three of these women self-reported

the abuse out of feelings of guilt and shame. Four

(25%) of the mothers who abused their daughters

reported using drugs or alcohol during at least part of

the time they were sexually abusing, and these women

lived alone with their children during some, if not

all, of the abuse. Four {44%) of these offenders acted

alone in the abuse; the remaining five of the women who

abused their daughters were initially coerced to

participate with their husbands who had begun the abuse

 50

before the women became involved. Nine of the women

described themselves as needing acceptance, attention

and closeness; having unmet needs or low self-esteem;

and feeling isolated. Feelings of anger, revenge,

power, jealousy, and rejection were listed by seven

women as reasons for their abusing. The majority

reported that their children were safe targets for

these displaced feelings. Four of the women believed

their acts were expressions of love, either for the

victim or the husband.

McCarthy (1986) examined the characteristics of 26

mother-child incest offenders identified by the Dallas

Incest Treatment Program, a child protective service of

the Texas Department of Human Resources, over a three

year period. Mothers constituted 4% of the offender

population. Five mothers were accomplices to the abuse.

Nine of the mothers were co-offenders in the sexual

abuse with a male partner. Four of the nine co-

offenders abused only female children. Twelve mothers

in the study were independent offenders. Eleven of the

women abused female victims only, whose average age was

5.4 years. Eight mothers chose male victims whose

average age was 9.6 years. Two mothers offended both

 51

male and female children- Most of the 26 women in the

study reported that they lacked nurturance from their

family of origin and as a result rushed into marriage.

Eighty-five percent were married as teenagers and 8

(31%) were 15 or younger. In the study, all of the

independent offenders and 80% of the accomplices were

considered to be of at least average intelligence.

Fifty-six percent of the co-offenders, however, were

considered borderline in intelligence. "The victims in

the study suffered similarly to victims of male

perpetrated abuse. When the abuse was reported early

and the victim was supported and protected, the effects

were reduced" (McCarthy, 1986, p.457).

Bass and Davis (1988) provide a short autobiography

of a 26-year-old diplomat's daughter who describes her

experience of sexual abuse by her mother from the age

of 2 to 11. The victim alluded to the fact that her

family was well off and kept up appearances, her mother

was an alcoholic and a pill addict, and that everything

in the house was shrouded in denial and secrecy to keep

conflict from surfacing. She describes her difficulty

with trusting people, with low self-esteem,

kleptomania, suicidal behavior, alcoholism, and

 52
difficulties with intimacy and sexuality.
When You're Ready was written by a woman,

currently a therapist, who was physically and sexually

abused by her mother. Evert (1987) speaks of her

struggle with what she termed "the most difficult thing

she's had to face in her life"- the fact that as a

child she was sexually and physically abused by her

mother. She describes the impact of the abuse as so

devastating that not only has it affected the rest of

her life, but it was "psychologically indigestible" for

40 years. She spent much of her life's energy blocking

out all memories of what happened. Says Evert, "to

actually begin to live with the awareness that my

mother had used me for sexual purposes was the most

devastating experience I've had in my life" (p.2). The

reality that her mother abused her not only physically

but sexually, "fell on her like a giant redwood" (p.57)

and the force of it falling shook her world and

everything in it. As a child, she naturally called out

for the comfort of a mother, who at the same time

incomprehensibly posed the gravest threat to her well-

being.

Evert (1987) questions the fact that she has yet

 53

to talk to another human being who was abused by their

mother or any other female. She expresses frustration

with the lack of books about female perpetrators when

there is an abundance of information about father-

daughter incest and other male-perpetrated abuse.

Thinking of her own deep and heavily guarded repression

of her experience of sexual abuse at the hands of her

mother, she is frustrated at the fact that, as a

society, we've reached the point where we can talk

about rape, spouse abuse, and father-son incest, but

still keep mother-daughter incest so buried.

Faller (1987) studied a clinical sample of 40

female perpetrators who sexually abused 63 children.

The perpetrators were seen by the staff of a university

interdisciplinary project on child abuse and neglect

(IPCAN) between 1978 and 1987. Sixty percent of the

female perpetrators victimized two or more children.

More than four-fifths (32) were mothers to the victims.

Twenty-two (55%) of the women sexually abused only

their own children. Twenty-nine (72.5%) of the women

sexually abused in polyincestuous family situations,

defined by Faller as families that involve multiple

sexually abusive relationships and group sex with

 54

children of both sexes. Types of sexually abusive

behavior included fondling, oral sex, digital

penetration, intercourse, exploitation (allowing others

to use the victim sexually), taking pornographic

pictures or allowing them to be taken, group sex,

making victims watch the perpetrator or others have

sex, and making victims have sex with each other. In

general, mothers were reported to have perpetrated

fewer and less intrusive sexual acts than male

offenders, but children evidenced more emotional

distress in recounting instances when women sexually

abused them. Faller posits that perhaps it was more

threatening for the victim to admit that a mother

and/or a nurturing female was an offender than to

report that the offender was a man. Six (15%) of the

women who sexually abused were single parents. This

finding is consistent with observations of Justice and

Justice (1979) and McCarthy (1986). In this study,

these mothers did not have ongoing relationships with

men. The oldest child was always victimized although

at times other children were also abused. The oldest

child served as a "surrogate partner for the mother,

often having adult responsibilities" (Faller, 1987, p.

 55

267). This finding is compatible with the findings of

Groth (1982) who reported that the absence of the

mother's spouse and the assuming of adult

responsibilities on the part of the child is a

contributor to mother-child incest. Three women (7.5%)

were classified as psychotic perpetrators and all of

them abused their daughters. The findings of this

study do not support earlier clinical assertions that

most female offenders are psychotic at the time of the

abuse. Forty (63.5%) of the victims were female, which

supports an observation made by Finkelhor and Russell

(1984) that female perpetrators are more likely to

sexually abuse girls than boys. The mean age of the

perpetrators was 25; they were poor, and poorly

educated. They evidenced marked difficulties in

psychological and social functioning. About half had

mental problems and more than half had chemical

dependency problems. Close to three-fourths of the

female perpetrators maltreated their victims in other

ways in addition to the sexual abuse.

Kercher and McShane (1984) analyzed a large multi-

agency sample of 1108 cases of child sexual abuse in

terms of victim and perpetrator characteristics and the

 5S

circumstances under which victimization occurred.

Thirty-five (3%) of the perpetrators were female. When

the victim was a female child, the abuse was

intrafamilial in the majority of cases regardless of

the sex of the perpetrator (56.2% of the cases with

male perpetrators and 60% with female perpetrators).

Mothers accounted for 44% of the victimizations of

female children by female perpetrators. These

findings, similar to those from Finkelhor and Russell

(1984) and Faller (1984), revealed that most of the

victims of female offenders were also female.

Goodwin and Divasto (1979) review five previously

reported cases of mother-daughter incest in the

literature and add another case. They address some

patterns seen in homosexual incest between females.

They report that the greater toleration of physical

intimacy between mothers and daughters makes

recognition of incestuous acts more difficult. They

describe sexual behaviors in mother-daughter incestuous

relationships as varying greatly, ranging from

voyeurism through kissing and fondling to mutual

masturbation and penetration. They identify incestuous

mothers as aggressive women who have abandoned their

 57

maternal role for an exploitive relationship with their

daughters. Contact may begin as an extension of the

mother's normal nurturing and caretaking or as a

gradual progression in physical closeness.

In sum, reports in the literature on mother-

daughter incest describe the mother in two ways; as

very deprived and/or as disturbed and possibly

psychotic or sociopathic (Courtois, 1988; Renshaw,

1982; Meiselman, 1982). The daughter often takes on a

caretaker role, and in cases where mothers take a more

controlling, hostile or sadistic bent, she may serve as

the object of her mother's intrusive, exploratory and

sometimes sadistic sexual contact (Courtois, 1988). A

mother may abuse her daughter as a re-enactment of her

own abuse or to express hostility or self-hatred

(Courtois, 1988). Whatever her motivation for abusing

her daughter, the mother abandons her mothering role in

favor of exploiting her daughter.

Although most intrafamilial sexual abuse is

father-daughter incest, mother-daughter incest does

exist. Because mother-daughter incest has been

underreported and under investigated, confusion exists

in the literature in the area of incidence of mother-

 58
daughter incest. Few cases of women abusing their
daughters have been reported in the literature, but
researchers estimate that the percentage is higher than
current statistics imply.
Effects of Incest

Now that there is an increased awareness of the

prevalence of child sexual abuse, clinicians and
researchers are paying more attention to both the short
and longer term consequences to victims and their
families. Any episode of sexual violation when you are
a child and powerless against an adult, has the
potential for leaving scars (Tower, 1988). Any type of
assault leaves its victim with residual feelings, but
for a variety of cultural, social, and psychological
reasons sexual abuse is more likely to leave scars-
often secret ones. How a victim reacts to the sexual
abuse experience, and the implications of it, are based
on several factors which are discussed in the sexual
abuse literature (Tower, 1988; Pelletier & Handy, 1986;
Courtois, 1979). These are outlined below:

1. Identity of the abuser. It is hypothesized

that the closer the relationship with the abuser, the
more intense the sense of betrayal and guilt may be.
 59

2. Duration of the abuse. If the abuse

transpired over several years, it will probably have a

greater effect on the victim.

3. Extent of the abuse. A child who has been

fondled through clothing may find the experience less

traumatic and guilt provoking than if she were

compelled to participate in oral, anal, or vaginal

intercourse. The trauma may be intensified by physical

abuse.

4. Age of the abused child. A child's age may

have a bearing on how the sexual abuse experience will

be viewed later in life. Feelings and tasks are

mastered at specific developmental stages, such that a

child's inability to complete a developmental task at a

certain age, will impact greatly in the future.

5. First reactions of significant others to

disclosure. The manner in which parents and other

important people respond to the child's disclosure of

sexual abuse will affect the child's ability to

understand the experience, and integrate it.

6. When and how the child reports the abuse.

If someone else other than the child reports the abuse,

the power of disclosure is taken from the child. Many

 60
survivors do not report the abuse until adulthood.
7. The victim's personality. The same scenario
of abuse may create different responses in different
people.
Finkelhor and Browne (1985), cited in Courtois
(1988, p.121), postulated the following four trauma-
causing factors as a result of analyzing the dynamics
of child sexual abuse to determine factors most related
to traumatization in the victim: traumatic
sexualization (defined as a process in which a child's
sexuality is shaped in a developmentally inappropriate
and interpersonally dysfunctional fashion as a result
of the sexual abuse); betrayal (the dynamic by which
children discover that someone on whom they were
dependent caused them harm); powerlessness (the process
in which the child's will, desires, and sense of
efficacy are continually contravened); and
stigmatization (the negative connotations- e.g.,
badness, shame, and guilt- that are communicated to the
child around the experience and that then become
incorporated into the child's self-image). Finkelhor
and Browne (1985) emphasized that it is the conjunction
of these four dynamics in the sexual abuse experience
 61

that make the trauma of sexual abuse unique.

Current knowledge about incest has been mainly

derived from small, selected clinical samples. There

is agreement in the literature that most incest (80%)

is of the father-daughter type. According to Kosky

(1987), brother-sister incest makes up about 18% of

reported cases, and grandfather-granddaughter incest,

may account for 10% of all reported incest cases.

Mother-son incest, has been rarely reported in the

literature. Father-son incest, although said to be

rare, occurring in .4% of referrals to an American

child psychiatry service (Dixon, Arnold, & Calestro,

1978), has been claimed to be devastating in its impact

(Medlicott,1967), perhaps more secret in nature (Esman,

1978), and consequently underreported (Schultz, 1973).

Reports of mother-daughter incest are virtually non-

existent in the literature.

The experience of abuse is not innocuous (Faria &

Belohlavek, 1984). Studies show that victims of sexual

abuse are plagued by the same kinds of problems but in

varying degrees. The immediate reaction of the child

incest victim is usually a negative one involving such

responses as depression, anxiety, acting-out behavior.

 52

school difficulties, irrational fears, somatic

complaints, social withdrawal and abnormal interest in

sexual play (Pelletier & Handy, 1986). Victims of

child sexual abuse describe feeling rejected,

humiliated, betrayed, and disgraced (Justice & Justice,

1979). Other reported victim reactions include fear,

anger, phobias and mood changes, hysterical seizures,

hyperactivity, nightmares, self-mutilation and suicidal

tendencies (DeYoung, 1982; Herman & Hirschman, 1977;

Meiselman, 1978; Sgroi, 1982; Wodarski & Johnson,

1988). Anxiety, depression, and mood swings have been

reported by child welfare or justice systems (Kosky,

1987), Guilt about the behavior and about family

disruption has been observed in many victims. Victims

reportedly experience role confusion, poor self image

and low self esteem, developmental lags, and learning

disabilities (Giaretto, 1982; Herman & Hirschman, 1977;

Sgroi, 1982). Adolescents have been described as

reacting to sexual abuse with depression, compulsive

acting out and runaway behavior, self-injurious and

suicidal behavior, substance abuse, sexual acting out,

delinquency and juvenile prostitution (Browning &

Boatman, 1977; Courtois, 1978; Kosky, 1987). Adult

 63

survivors often have difficulty trusting, have problems

with intimacy and sexuality, struggle with marriage and

parenting roles, experience depression and feelings of

being damaged, and have poor self-esteem (Briere &

Runtz, 1984; Courtois, 1979; DeYoung, 1982; Gelinas,

1983; Justice & Justice, 1979; Russell, 1986; Wodarski

6 Johnson, 1988) .

There are many observed effects of sexual abuse

that seem readily connected to the dynamic of traumatic

sexualization, defined by Finkelhor and Browne (1985)

as "a process in which a child's sexuality is shaped in

a developmentally inappropriate and interpersonally

dysfunctional fashion as a result of sexual abuse"

(p.531). Among victims who are young children,

clinicians have often noted sexual preoccupations and

repetitive sexual behavior such as masturbation or

compulsive sex play (Justice & Justice, 1979). Based

on their clinical work with 20 incestuous families and

7 young women who were abused by family members as

children. Justice and Justice identified the following

signs and symptoms of incest:

1. Daughter withdrawn and depressed, has poor

self-image.
 64
2. Daughter uninvolved in school activities and
grades may fall.
3. Daughter secretive.
4. Daughter shows sexually stylized behaviors.
Cues in younger children included bedwetting,
hyperactivity, altered sleep patterns, fears or
phobias, overly compulsive behaviors, learning
difficulties, excessive curiosity about sex, separation
anxiety, and seductiveness (Alter-Reid, Gibbs,
Lachenmeyer, Sigal & Massoth, 1986).

Browning and Boatman (1977) in a study of 14

children who were outpatients in a community mental
health clinic, noted the following responses to incest:
depression, fearfulness, anger, somatic symptoms, and
acting out behaviors (running away and sexual
promiscuity). The authors postulated that families at
risk for incest include those with a chronically
depressed mother, an alcoholic abusive father or
stepfather, and an oldest daughter who assumes a
maternal role.

Some children who have been victimized become

sexually aggressive and victimize peers or younger
children (Browning & Boatman, 1977). Confusion may
 65

arise about sexual identity- Victimized boys may

wonder if they are homosexual; victimized girls may

wonder whether their sexual desirability has been

impaired and whether later sexual partners will be able

to tell (Finkelhor & Browne, 1985). Traumatic

sexualization is also affiliated with confusion about

sexual norms. One common confusion concerns the role

of sex in affectionate relationships, that is, if child

victims have traded sex for affection, this may become

their perception of the normal way to give and receive

affection (Herman, 1981; Meiselman, 1978). Sexual

contact in a child's memory may be associated with

revulsion, fear, anger, a sense of powerlessness or

other negative emotions and these feelings may become

generalized as an aversion to all sexual experiences

and intimacy. Furthermore, victims of intrafamilial

sexual abuse generally have not had appropriate models

on which to base their understanding of intimacy or

sexuality. They may have witnessed constant fighting

and/or complete distance between parents. Often the

only attention and affection they received stemmed from

the sexual relationship with the abuser (Tower, 1988).

This may result in confusion on the part of the victim

 66
about the role of sexuality in intimate relationships.
Many sexual abuse victims describe how lonely and
alone they feel. It may be that the victim believes
that she is the only one in the world who has
experienced abuse. Unable to develop a sense of
commonality with others in her social environment, the
incest victim may come to perceive herself as markedly
different from others (Weiner, 1988). That belief may
be compounded by the isolation imposed on the victim,
by those around her. "The feeling of aloneness is fed
by the family's secretiveness, which is necessary to
protect the incestuous relationship" (Tower, 1988, p.
30). According to Tower, a perpetrator cultivates the
victim's sense of aloneness, of how different she is
from other people, and by doing so, keeps her from
reaching out to others. The more alone she feels, the
less likely it is that she will be able to tell her
story to anyone, either as a child or an adult. She is
convinced that she has no one she can trust enough to
tell. "Even if she does trust someone, she may not
tell her secret, fearful that the awful truth will
drive the trusted person away, leaving her alone once
more" (Tower, 1988, p. 30). All too often, the victim
 57

believes that any effort to disclose the abuse will be

met with disbelief and rejection.

Child victims often feel stigmatized and isolated

and as a result may get involved in drug or alcohol

abuse, crime or prostitution (Briere, 1984). Victims

in whose families there is a history of drug or alcohol

abuse, may be even more prone to these addictions.

Some women may use alcohol or drugs to mask their

difficulty with their sexuality (Tower, 1988). They

may experience such sexual conflicts as not wanting to

be touched, inability to achieve orgasm, or finding

intercourse physically painful. These problems are

often related to trauma brought on by the abuse. The

memory of what took place is too painful, and it may

create too much conflict for these women to enjoy adult

sexual experiences.

Conversely, some victims become promiscuous.

Tower (1988) considers this to be a compulsive, self-

destructive expression of conflict. Through repeated

sexual contact, victims may be trying to work through

their anxiety over what they experienced when sexually

abused. At the same time, because they may be equating

love with sexuality, they may be attempting to "fill

 68

themselves up" (p. 38) with as much human attention as

they can acquire, even if it is of a sexual nature.

The effects of stigmatization may also bring about

self-destructive behavior and suicide attempts (Briere,

1984; DeYoung, 1982; Herman, 1981; Justice & Justice,

1979). Briere and Runtz (1988), while specifically

studying the relationship between child sexual abuse

and subsequent suicidality in clinical populations of

sexually abused adults, found that sexually abused

clients were twice as likely as nonabused clients to

have made at least one suicide attempt in the past.

Herman (1981) compared 40 adult women in psychotherapy

for incest related problems to 20 psychotherapy clients

who did not report a history of incest. She reported

that 38% of her sample of adult survivors attempted

suicide versus 5% of controls. DeYoung (1982) reported

that 68% of her sample of 50 adult paternal incest

survivors had made suicide attempts, 66% of them more

than once.

A number of the effects noted with sexual abuse

victims are connected with their experiences of

betrayal. They may grieve and feel depressed over the

loss of a trusted figure (Justice & Justice, 1979).

 59

They may suffer from grave disenchantment and

disillusionment and there may be an intense need to

regain trust and security. This may be manifested in

extreme dependency and clinging, especially in young

victims (Finkelhor & Browne, 1985). At the other

extreme, betrayal may result in hostility and extreme

anger, and distrust may manifest itself in isolation

and an aversion to intimacy (Courtois, 1979). The

anger stemming from betrayal may lie behind the

aggressive and hostile stance of some sexual abuse

victims, especially adolescents. It may be a primitive

manner of trying to protect oneself against further

betrayal.

Many of the initial responses to sexual abuse

among children are connected to fear and anxiety.

Nightmares, phobias, hypervigilance, clinging behavior

and somatic complaints have been repeatedly documented

among sexually abused children (Finkelhor & Browne,

1985; Gelinas, 1983; Justice & Justice, 1979). These

fears and anxieties often persist into adulthood

(Briere, 1984; Gelinas, 1983). Symptoms of

posttraumatic stress disorder have been noted in incest

victims from preschool age to adulthood (Goodwin,

 70

1985). Many adult victims experience pervasive fear,

either daytime anxieties or nightmares- They may

experience specific fears such as a fear of strangers.

They may recognize the root of their fear or of an

upsetting dream, but because of their feelings of

isolation and aloneness, they may be reluctant to talk

to anyone about it.

Victims of sexual abuse may feel guilt; a guilt

that has the potential to disturb their adult lives

(Tower, 1988). They may believe that they have somehow

caused or contributed to the abuse either by

engineering it or by failing to resist it. As the

victim gets older, her self-blame may intensify. As

adults, they may forget just how powerless they were as

children over the events in their lives. Instead they

may view themselves as the root of the problem, as

having brought it on themselves. Tower (1988)

emphasizes that one of the most significant issues

faced by victims of childhood sexual abuse is that of

control. Victims may come to terms with their

childhood experience, or they may never learn to

internalize control. They may allow themselves to be

controlled by the outside world. They may fall prey to

 71

further victimization. Feelings of worthlessness and

of extreme low self esteem are often reported by

victims (Finkelhor S Browne, 1985). They may see

themselves as incapable of standing alone. They may

sabotage their own success. Coupled with their

feelings of worthlessness may be a feeling that they

have no control over their lives. This lack of control

may manifest itself in many areas of their lives,

placing them in the role of victim again and again.

When victims feel out of control and worthless, as if

life holds no promise or hope for them, self-

mutilation and/or suicidal tendencies may develop

(Finkelhor & Browne, 1985). One of the reasons why

victims may try to destroy themselves is because they

have difficulty facing the anger or rage they may be

feeling.

In reaction to feelings of powerlessness, some

sexual abuse victims may have unusual needs to control

and dominate. Some aggressive and delinquent behavior

may stem from a desire to be tough, powerful and

fearsome. When victims of child sexual abuse become

bullies and offenders, they may be reenacting their own

abuse. It may be in large measure to regain the power

 72

and domination that these victims attribute to their

own abuser (Finkelhor & Browne, 1985).

Trust is an extremely difficult issue for many

incest victims to deal with, and it is not easily

learned. The assault a child experiences may not be as

much what was done to her physically but rather the

inherent betrayal of trust. According to Tower (1988),

the ultimate betrayal is sexual abuse within the

family. Once trust is betrayed to this extent,

learning to believe in oneself and in others is

difficult. Because self-trust is a by-product of

trusting others, that too is destroyed (Miller, 1988).

The victim learns that not only can she not trust

others, but she cannot have faith in her own ability to

trust. Hence she continues to feel isolated.

Difficulty in interpersonal relationships is a common

complaint among incest victims seen in therapy who

often complain about feeling detached, and unable to

trust (Briere, 1984; Courtois, 1979; Herman, 1981;

Herman et al., 1985; Meiselman, 1978). Social skills

may be impaired and this may be partly attributable to

the fact that separation-individuation is often

discouraged in incestuous families (Sgroi, 1982).

 73

In a comprehensive research study on long-term,

incest-specific effects in 58 adult outpatients with a

history of incest (Meiselman, 1978), 47 female

survivors were compared with a control group of 50

female psychotherapy outpatients matched on marital

status, religion, education, occupational group, ethnic

group, and yearly family income. The incest group

presented in therapy with: (1) more sexual difficulties

(24% vs 8%), (2) more physical problems (52% vs. 30%),

(3) more conflict with husband or sex partner (64% vs.

40%), and (4) more conflict with parents or in-laws

(44% vs. 14%).

Herman and Hirschman (1981), through an informal

network of private practitioners, recruited 50 female

outpatients matched by age, social class and religion,

and then interviewed them to obtain background and

current functioning information. A comparison was made

between 40 females with a history of serious, overt

father-daughter incest and 20 females who were not

victims of paternal incest. The incest group had

significantly lower self-images. They also showed

feelings of isolation, negative self identities,

fantasies of power over men, depression, difficulties

 74

in forming trusting relationships, anger toward women

and fears of being inadequate mothers.

Justice and Justice (1979), in a study of 112

incestuous families, found that 94% of the victims were

female. Ninety-one percent had been involved in

father-daughter incest and 9% of the cases involved

brother-sister incest. The authors reported the

following similar effects of incest for female

survivors as reported in the above studies: low self-

esteem, guilt and depression; feeling uniquely

different; problems with sex and men; distrust; and

self-destructive behavior.

Brunngraber (1986) recruited and interviewed 21

women with a history of childhood or adolescent

paternal incest in order to examine the

characteristics, immediate and long-term after effects

of father-daughter incest. Most of the volunteers in

the study reported feeling extremely isolated from

others, different or less worthy than their peers, and

distrustful of others. They reported longterm

difficulty making friends, feeling self-conscious,

insecure and panicky in social situations. In the

psychological-emotional realm, they reported immediate

 75

after effects of suppressing or denying their feelings,

feeling overwhelmed at times by emotions, feeling self-

conscious and dirty, confused, and ashamed. In the

longterm, they reported that they suffered from alcohol

and drug abuse, guilt, confusion, hatred and distrust

of men. Half of the sample reported such long-term

physical effects as gastrointestinal discomfort in

large groups of people; insomnia; sexual dysfunction;

migraine headaches; menstrual problems; and feeling

ashamed of their bodies. In the long term, victims

reported that they avoided or feared sex, or that they

were sexually active, or promiscuous. They experienced

difficulty blending emotional intimacy with sexual

activity. Six of the participants reported confusion

about their sexual identity. Seventeen of the 21

participants experienced an extremely negative self-

image; low self-esteem; feeling powerless, unlovable,

withdrawn; and lacking self-respect. Brunngraber's

(1986) findings suggest that the female victim of

paternal incest may endure more social, physical, self-

identity, familial and interpersonal difficulties

during and shortly after the incest has terminated.

Relationships with men and sexuality may be more

 76
adversely affected in the long term.
In summary, whatever the type of sexual abuse,
incest occurs in a family that is fractured and unable
to provide fundamental emotional development for its
members. Anna Freud (1981) stated that of all the
common forms of maltreatment of children, incest is the
most harmful to the child's normal development.
Combined issues of dominance, fear of loss, and secrecy
make incestuous families into extremely tight knit
units from which escape can be very difficult for any
member. Recognizing that their family was not whole
helps many victims understand that they were in no way
responsible for what happened to them.

Not only do perpetrators frequently have histories

of being sexually abused themselves, they are often
products of physically abusive or neglectful families.
According to Tower (1988), the abuser usually perceives
him/herself as ineffective with his/her peer group.
The abuser feels out of control, and is someone who has
learned that those who have control are powerful. To
feel powerful and to achieve control, the abuser turns
to one less powerful. Thus, the offender feels that
control can only be achieved through victimizing
 77

another.

The effects of incest can only be described as

traumatic (Dominelli, 1989; Ward, 1984), especially if

the abuse is accompanied by violence and threats, and

is directed, as it usually is, at the young pre-

pubescent child. Their impact can stretch over a

number of years causing untold physical and mental

anguish. Although the literature is replete with

examples of a wide range of sexual abuse experiences,

many sexual abuse victims appear to suffer from the

following similar consequences, in varying degrees:

substance abuse, eating disorders, guilt, difficulty in

interpersonal relationships, difficulty in forming

sexual relationships, self-destructive behavior,

feelings of isolation and stigma, poor self-esteem, a

tendency toward revictimization, and depression caused

by a history of abuse (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986;

Courtois, 1988; Dominelli, 1989; Herman, 1981; Herman &

Schatzaw, 1984; Meiselman, 1978).

Effects of mother-daughter incest

Relatively little is known about female sexual

offenders (Matthews, Mathews, & Speltz, 1991). Most of

the research on female perpetrators has been conducted

 78

within the last 10 years and has focused primarily on

profiling the offender. Through these limited research

undertakings, tentative portraits of different types of

female sex offenders are emerging.

Bass and Davis (1988) suggest that although women

sometimes abuse in overtly sexual, or violent ways, for

the most part, their abuse is more subtle and less

forceful, often masked in daily caretaking. "Since

children frequently bond most closely with their

mothers, abuse by mothers in particular can leave a

child with a severe lack of boundaries between herself

and her offender" (p.97). According to Hyde (198G),

when a child's boundaries have been violated by her

mother, she does not grow up with a clear, solid sense

of herself. "Through years of mother's invasion and

impingement, her boundaries become unclear; she has

little sense of where she begins and ends and what

constitutes intrusiveness" (p.80).

Incest between mother and daughter has been

reported to result in aftereffects similar to those

resulting from other forms of incest (Courtois, 1988;

McCarthy, 1986). Goodwin and Divasto's (1979) research

however, highlighted the fact that victims feel

 79

additional shame and stigma when their abuse is "out of

the ordinary." "As a result, they may be even more

scared and reluctant to disclose the incest than

victims of other, more commonly discussed types"

(Courtois, p. 6 ) . This may account for the fact that

mother-daughter incest is underreported and

under investigated.

Evert (1987), in her autobiography which

describes her experience of mother-daughter incest,

speaks of deep-rooted shame, and of the embarrassment

she felt as a result of being violated by her mother.

She addresses feelings of deadening isolation and of

how incredibly strong, from the beginning, the taboo on

telling was; how difficult it was to break the

conspiracy of silence. When she connected the words

"mother-daughter incest" with her experience, she

recalls the deep emotions that the words stirred in

her. As Evert said, "In my guts, the idea of having

been sexually used by my mother is difficult at best,

and impossible most of the time. There's not only

terrible conflict about it but some ragged, torn wounds

in my self-concept" (p.98).

Evert (1987) found the idea of incest at the

 80

hands of her mother to be distasteful, disturbing and

degrading. She wanted to believe that it never

happened. She felt flawed, used, depressed, confused,

crazy, anxious and alone. She wondered how long her

condition of helplessness would persist. She felt that

the difficulty of her past would forever have the power

to simply expand and recapture her. Sometimes she felt

there was no escape. She speaks of tremendous

difficulty with self-esteem, trust, and being able to

receive positive messages. She addresses the struggle

with the wounded child within, and to break the taboo

of silence imposed on her a long time ago.

Hyde (198S), in her discussion of the female child

victim of covert incest at the hands of the mother or

the father, recognizes the deep sense of confusion that

the victim feels about what is wrong with her.

According to Hyde, as a woman the victim may be a high

achiever and a perfectionist, but secretly aware of

her deep hidden depression, her hidden sense of

despair, and a deep exhaustion that she does not

understand. She may feel cut off from her feelings and

her body. She is afraid of intimacy, and has low-self-

esteem. She feels guilt-ridden, different from others

 81

and isolated. She feels profoundly unlovable. "She

has no words for what is wrong with her, no language to

explain to herself or anyone else what was done to her"

(p.76).

Mother-daughter incest is more difficult to

recognize because society accepts a greater closeness

between mothers and daughters. According to Mayer

(1988), this greater latitude in mother-daughter

relationships means that when the line is crossed, the

victim's trauma is deeper. The mother-daughter incest

survivor may feel depressed, suicidal, and confused

about her own identity. Tower (1988) posits that it is

not uncommon for a mother-daughter incest survivor, in

search of a non-exploitive mother figure to love her

for herself and not for her sexual acquiescence, to

choose lesbian partners in later life. Survivors who

are not lesbian may be plagued by fears and confusion

about the meaning of their feelings toward other women.

"The victim of mother-daughter incest may feel
guilty and tainted. She may bury her secret deep within
her mind. Because her mother, the abuser, is of her
own sex, the victim may experience more self blame and
self-destructive behavior" (Tower, 1988, p. 44). She
 82
may reach a point where she believes that she must have
imagined what happened to her-that it couldn't have
really happened. Mother-daughter incest survivors may
doubt their experience since it took place at the hands
of the one person who was supposed to protect them and
nurture them, their own mother. Her feeling that her
perception of the abuse is somehow distorted and that
she is crazy, may become more intensified if, as a
child, her attempt to tell someone was met with
disbelief. The victim's feelings of isolation, the pain
in remembering the abuse, and the secrecy involved make
it easier to deny its existence. As an adult, she may
find that carrying her shame is too overwhelming, and
that it is easier to doubt her memories than to live
with them or take the blame. "By assuming that her
abuse experience was a fantasy, she may also prevent
herself from trusting her instincts and recognizing
that there are people and situations that may involve
her, blindly, in repeating her past" (Tower,1988,
p.32).

So deep is the effect of the abuse that often

victims of mother-daughter incest find it difficult to
mother their own children. Some may even cross the
 83

line with their own daughters, Goodwin (1982) found

that in a study of abusive mothers, 24% of them had

been incest victims. "Because it is the very first and

fundamental relationship, that of mother and child,

that is abusive, the road to wholeness for the victim

can be a difficult one (Tower, 1988, p.45). Given the

fact that one of the strongest bonds, that of mother

and daughter, was abusive, and given the sense of

aloneness and isolation that a mother-daughter incest

survivor feels, it may be very difficult for her to

become intimate with anyone. Nonetheless, like many

victims of sexual abuse, mother-daughter incest

survivors move on by affirming the strengths they have

developed, and by recognizing their own resiliency and

drive to be healthy (Bass & Davis, 1988).

In summary, although social awareness of sexual

abuse has greatly increased over the past decade, a

dearth of information exists in the area of mother-

daughter incest. This study explores the phenomenon of

mother-daughter incest. It is hoped that as our

knowledge of the dynamics of female-perpetrated abuse

increases, so too will our understanding and

perceptions of mothers as offenders change.

 84

Chapter Three
Methodology
Design

A qualitative phenomenological paradign was utilized in

the study since the attempt was to identify and

understand the phenomenon of mother-daughter incest.

Phenomenology refers to a method which captures the

phenomenon as it is lived by the individual (Colaizzi,

1978). It is a particularly valuable method of inquiry

when little is known about a phenomenon (as is the case

with mother-daughter incest), or when perceived biases

or omissions permeate the literature.

The phenomenological approach provides the

researcher with the following guidelines. First, the

researcher must observe and describe the phenomenon as

it is experienced by people as accurately as possible

in a manner that retains the meaning of the experience

for the co-investigator. Second, rather than taking

the stance of a distant and impartial observer, the

researcher is "present in every imaginable way and

involved" (Colaizzi, 1978, p. 54). Third, the

researcher investigating a phenomenon must acknowledge

 85

that she/he is influencing it. Through readily

examining his/her biases, the researcher is propelled

to more clearly understand the investigated phenomena

from a personal as well as an objective point of view.

Participants

Cochran and Claspell (1987) delineate the following

criteria for selection of co-researchers: (a)

experience with the phenomenon; (b) ability to

articulate the phenomenon; and (c) sufficient

involvement as well as distance from the experience.

Four co-investigators (participants) from the general

population, who satisfied the criteria, volunteered for

the study. Inclusion in the study was based on the

following dimensions: (a) females who had experienced

an incestuous relationship before the age of 18 with

their biological mothers; (b) who had received

individual and/or group counselling to assist them with

their recovery. It was believed that participants, who

had received counselling, would feel more comfortable

sharing their stories and that they would be better

able to articulate their experience than would

participants who had not received therapy.

 86
Procedure
Participants for the study were recruited through
notices placed with several clinics, agencies and
professionals specializing in the provision of services
and programs for sexually abused women in Vancouver.
An advertisement placed with a small women's newspaper,
"Kinesis," served to recruit one of the participants
for the study. Word of mouth also contributed to the
recruitment of two volunteers. In addition to the four
co-researchers who participated in the study, there
were three respondents who expressed interest in
participating in the study. Two of these respondents
withdrew from the study on the day they were to be
interviewed. The other respondent did not satisfy the
selection criteria. A pilot study was completed prior
to the recruitment of participants.

Women interested in participating in the study

were asked to contact the researcher by phone. At that
time, those individuals were asked if they satisfied
the selection criteria. Participants who met the
selection criteria were accepted for participation in
the study and a time was set within the upcoming weeks
for an in-depth personal interview. Interviews were
 87

tape-recorded and transcribed at a later date.

Interviews occurred in settings mutually agreeable to

the participants and the researcher. Three of the

participants were interviewed at their residences since

they felt safer there. The fourth participant however

requested that she be interviewed at the investigator's

residence. During an initial phone call, and again in

a meeting over coffee of up to 60 minutes in duration,

the participant and researcher became better

acquainted. At this time, participants were oriented

to the purpose of the study and encouraged to express

only what felt comfortable to them. Participants were

reminded that they were under no obligation to complete

the interviews and they could discontinue participation

at any point. They were reminded that their identity

would not be revealed in any written or oral material

resulting from this research. At the outset of the

initial meeting, participants were asked to read and

sign two copies of an ethical consent form and to

suggest an appropriate pseudonym for the purpose of

ensuring confidentiality in any oral or written account

of the data. They were also given a copy of sample

questions that were asked by the investigator during

 88
the personal, indepth interview.
Personal interviews, up to two hours in length,
provided depth, fulness and detail about the victim's
experience of her relationship with her mother, past
and present. Open-ended questions (such as "How would
you describe your relationship with your mother, past
and present"? "How have you integrated the abuse
experience into your sense of self?") were extremely
effective. They served to facilitate further
elaboration and a comprehensive understanding of the
participant's experience. Open-ended questions allowed
the interviewer to respond to expressions of
uncertainty, and served to gather additional
information and elicit fuller, more individualized
statements of each participant's thoughts and feelings
(Cleveland, 1985). The use of empathy, paraphrasing,
reflection and clarifying questions helped to elicit
information about the experience. Probes were utilized
to establish detail while allowing for individual
construction of meaning. Silence was employed to allow
participants full expression before probes were
utilized. Interviews were loosely structured and
informal. The co-researchers were eager to
 89

participate, and readily responded to the questions.

Although the subject matter was very unsettling at

times, the investigator found the experience of

interviewing these women very moving.

Upon transcription of the data, co-researchers

were given the opportunity to examine their transcripts

in order to make additions or deletions to their

stories. At a second interview of a 30-45 minute

duration, they were shown a list of themes identified

by the researcher, and an exhaustive narrative called

the phenomenoloqical description (Colaizzi, 1975). The

participants were asked to review this material for the

purpose of involving them in their role as co-

researcher and providing a measure of internal

validity. Participants were given the opportunity to

recommend corrections, additions and/or deletions to

the text to ensure that it more closely represented the

essence of their experience. Themes were clarified and

refined further during this interview. Each co-

researcher was asked during this validation interview

how representative each theme was of her experience and

what needed to be deleted, or refined to more

faithfully describe her experience. This was

 90

incorporated into the final construction of themes.

The co-researchers were engaged as editors in the final

description of the phenomenon of mother-daughter incest

by softening certain statements, emphasizing others,

making additions and deletions so that the final

research product faithfully described their experience.

When the co-researchers were convinced that the

description reflected their experience, internal

validity was achieved.

Data analysis

The seven-step model of data interpretation as

proposed by Colaizzi (1978) was followed. This method

involved (a) reading the descriptions and acquiring a

general feeling for them; (b) extracting significant

statements from each protocol that directly pertained

to the investigated phenomenon; (c) formulating

meanings of each significant statement by the process

of creative insight; (d) organizing meanings into

clusters of themes that provided a structure of the

data while remaining true to each participant's

experience; (e) integrating the results into an

exhaustive description of the investigated topic; (f)

formulating this description into a statement of the

 91

participants' experience; (g) returning to each

participant, and validating that the investigator's

descriptive results compared with her experience. Any

new data that emerged from these interviews were

integrated into the final synthesis of the research.

Limitations of the Study

Since the study was based on self-report, it was

limited to what the participants were capable of

reporting. Any study involving retrospection is

affected by memory. Possibilities of distorted recall

exist especially with sexual abuse survivors since

dissociation is a commonly reported occurrence. With

only four co-researchers, no claim to generalizability

can be made. Results cannot be generalized to all

females who experienced a sexual relationship with

their mothers. Generalizability is not achieved by one

study, but by ongoing dialogue as other women tell

their stories and researchers check, dispute, sharpen

and challenge the themes to more faithfully reflect the

experience. This study made no attempt to examine

other incestuous relationships but, instead, was

delimited to the exploration of mother-daughter incest

from the perspective of the daughters. Only one member

 92
of the family/system was involved in the study. Only
one source of data was collected.
 93

Chapter Four

Results

This chapter will include a summary of the importance

of therapy in the women's experience, a brief synopsis

of the women's stories, a listing of common themes

found in their experiences, and a detailed discussion

of each of the themes. In reference to the context of

this study, it is important to set the frame by

emphasizing that the co-researchers volunteered to

describe their experience of mother-daughter incest.

They came to the study, then, focused on telling their

stories of mother-daughter incest, which had a definite

effect on the nature of their disclosures.

Importance of Therapy in the Women's Experience

All the women in this study received long-term therapy

for their abuse, which enabled them to better

articulate their experience during the interviews.

This had a significant effect on the study. The women

reported that therapy started them on their healing or

recovery process. They emphasized that their

motivation for seeking therapy was to break the

silence, find meaning in their abuse experience.

 94

breakdown feelings of isolation and shame, and promote

healing. The women reported that therapy provided them

the opportunity to explore unconscious material about

their childhood that they had repressed in order to

survive. During therapy, they learned to recognize,

label, and express their feelings. Therapy allowed

these women to process their multiple losses and break

away from patterns of behavior, and feelings of fear

and guilt. The women explained that therapy provided

the arena for them to build their self-esteem,

recognize their strengths which enabled them to

survive, confront guilt and self-blame, and acknowledge

their right to anger and other intense feelings.

Therapy offered these women hope for a fuller, richer

life.

The Womens' Stories

The four women who were interviewed for this study were

recruited through notices placed in agencies in the

lower mainland that deliver services to incest

survivors. An advertisement placed in Canada's only

feminist newspaper, "Kinesis," served to recruit one of

the participants for the study. Word of mouth resulted

in the recruitment of two of the volunteers for the
 95

study. The fourth participant was recruited through a

sexual abuse recovery association. The participants

chose their own pseudonyms for the study. Following is

a description of each of the participants:

Beth

Beth, aged 34, is the second youngest of 4 children.

She is single, a recovering bulimic, and lesbian. Her

parents divorced when she was adult. During the first

year and a half of her life, she was frequently

hospitalized with a serious heart condition. The bulk

of her sexual abuse occurred between the ages of one

and a half and two and a half. It primarily involved

sexual behaviors such as touching and fondling which

occurred in the context of bathing or changing. Beth

recalls one "assaultive episode" by her mother which

involved painful digital penetration of her vagina for

a long period of time. At this time, her mother was

pregnant with Beth's youngest brother. Shortly after

the birth of Beth's brother, her mother had a breakdown

which resulted in her hospitalization. Beth's older

sister assumed the role of mother and was expected to

look after her ill mother. Beth experienced her sister

as very maternalistic.
 96

Beth has recollections of being sexually abused by

her mother more subtly when she was between the ages of

4 and 9. At this time, the abuse involved primarily

touching and fondling that was often disguised in

caretaking and nurturing activities. Beth's father was

physically absent during the time of her sexual abuse

since he worked regular daytime hours. In reference to

her mother, she remembers being "home alone with her

during the early stages" of her violation since Beth's

siblings were attending school at the time. Her

background, and that of her siblings, involved a

"strong undercurrent of physical abuse," by their

mother. Beth recalls episodes of "being knocked down,

beaten, tormented and teased by her mother." These

abusive episodes were interspersed, however, with

"family fun times which were culturally enriching."

Currently, Beth works in the area of mental health

and is a student as well. She is politically active,

working to defeat violence against women. She has

regular contact with her family, but is attempting to

separate herself from her mother as much as possible.

Louise

Louise, age 36, is the oldest of 4 children. She has

 97
two brothers, one 2 years younger and the other 9 years
younger than she. Another brother died shortly after
birth. Her sister is 5 years younger. Louise's
parents were married at a young age. At that time, her
mother was pregnant with Louise. Her parents
separated, however, when Louise was 15, and divorced a
year later. Louise maintains contact with her family
including her grandmothers. She has regular contact
with her mother, now disabled, as well as her "maternal
grandmother who also figured in on some abuse." On
occasion, her father will visit Louise and her sister
who she is living with, along with her sister's two
children. Louise is separated from her husband and
their two daughters. She presently works with children
who have behavior problems.

Louise was sexually abused by her mother primarily

from the time she was an infant to age 5 when she
started school. Her mother sexually abused her
covertly on a daily basis, while the overt abuse
occurred approximately 4 times weekly. Types of
sexually abusive behavior ranged from fondling and
voyeurism to masturbation and penetration digitally and
with implements. To this day, her mother sometimes
 98

violates Louise's boundaries when she pats her behind

as she is leaving her mother's house.

Louise grew up in the presence of an extremely

angry mother. Physical abuse usually preceded any

sexual abuse. Louise remembers her father as being

emotionally and physically withdrawn while she was

growing up since he worked the majority of the time.

She was also quite isolated from her friends.

Taylore

Taylore is a 28 year old single mother of a 5 year old

girl. She has 2 older brothers; one is 4 years older

and the other is 3 years older. Another brother died

at birth. Taylore's father, an alcoholic, and her

mother, a heavy drinker, separated when Taylore was 6

years of age. Taylore's mother remarried 3 years after

her divorce from Taylore's father.

After one and a half years of marriage, Taylore

separated from her husband. One year later, when her
husband was visiting from Calgary, he sexually abused
their daughter. Taylore has reason to believe that he
had previously abused their daughter when she was 5
weeks old.
 99
Taylore is the victim of ritual abuse which
occurred between the ages of 6 weeks and 8 years of
age. It was during the day, when Taylore's brothers
were at school, that the sexual abuse took place.
Taylore's father owned his own business so he worked
flexible hours. The sexual abuse, initially
perpetrated by her father while her mother watched,
involved oral and anal sex until she was 3 and a half
years old, at which time he penetrated her. Up until
this point in time, her mother's role in the sexual
abuse was one of voyeurism. As if the taking of
Taylore's virginity was, in her words "a ceremonial
rite of passage," her mother became an active
participant in Taylore's abuse for the next 4 and a
half years. Between the ages of 3 and a half and 4 and
a half, Taylore was locked in her room. During this
time, she only received sex and the occasional meal.
She remembers sitting on the hardwood floor in the
corner of her room day after day. She was subjected to
mental and physical cruelty at this time; she recalls
having to eat the majority of her meals off a toilet
seat when she wasn't locked in her room. Sexual abuse
by her father ceased when she was 6 years of age, at
 100

which time her parents separated. But for the next 2

years, she was subjected to severe sexual abuse at the

hands of her mother. She was forced to kiss and caress

her mother, have oral sex with her, masturbate and

penetrate her. Taylore was subjected to bondage, being

hung from the ceiling while her mother penetrated her

with anything from coat hangers to soup cans. She has

flashbacks of being placed in a coffin, having blood

poured on her, and of snakes crawling over her body,

entering her mouth and her vagina.

Taylore has no contact with her mother,

stepfather, or brothers. On occasion, she has phone

conversations with her father, who is seriously

mentally ill. She is supported by social services

while on stress leave due to her sexual abuse. She

leads self-help support groups for adult as well as

teen survivors of sexual abuse.

Christine

Christine is a 30 year old student presently working in

the science field. She has an older brother and a 6

year old half-sister who she is very close to. Her

biological parents separated when she was 2 years old.

Her mother remarried three years later. She has

 101
contact with her brother, natural father and step-
father. Christine, who was married for 7 years, is a
recent divorcee of one year. She maintains contact
with her ex-husband as well as her mother-in-law, who
she terms a "surrogate mother."
Both Christine and her brother sustained physical
abuse and sexual abuse at the hands of their mother.
Christine received 3 skull fractures, several broken
bones, and was stabbed by her mother. She was run over
by a car with her mother behind the wheel. To this
day, she is still petrified of her mother.

As early as age 6 and continuing until age 17,

Christine was exploited in that her mother allowed
others (neighbors, relatives, friends, babysitters,
rock musicians, local pedophiles) to use Christine
sexually. She would tease Christine after friends or
relatives had oral sex with Christine or seduced her.
She was pimping Christine and using her "as a sexual
carrot" to attract men to her. Both Christine and her
brother were subjected to their mother's nudity, her
frequent conversations about how good she was at sex,
her participation in sexual activity with her husband
in the living room of their house, and to pornography.
 102

Christine's step-father was continously occupied

elsewhere: as a student, for a while at his own

business, or working elsewhere. While growing up,

Christine was extremely isolated from her friends.

They refused to visit her at home because they feared

her parents. At age 14, Christine left home to live

with a girlfriend, and later her brother.

Common Themes

The process of data analysis yielded eight common

themes which were extracted from the women's in-depth

interviews as well as the validation interviews. Each

of the themes mirror the experience of all the women.

The quotations were chosen because they most accurately

represent the essence of their experience. The first

three themes involve mother as agent; the victim is

agent in the remaining five themes:

1. Experience of mothers as controlling

2. Experience of mothers as emotionally needy and

unstable

3. Experience of profound betrayal

4. Experience of shame/self-blame

5. Experience of boundary violations

5. Experience of impaired sexual development

 103

7. Problems in identification with and differentiation

from mother

8. Experience of difficulty coping

Experience of Mothers as Controlling

The women in the study reported feeling suppressed,

dominated or possessed by their mothers; of being kept

from reaching out to others. This cultivated in them a

sense of aloneness and of being different. The

following words of Louise, in reference to her

inability to express her frustration, exemplified the

extent of her mother's control over her: "anger came

really easy but it was always thwarted. I was in my

room all alone or I was slapped into submission."

Similarly, Christine spoke of suppression and

domination by her mother in terms of how she and her

brother were prevented from expressing their anger:

"It was o.k. for her to yell at us but it wasn't o.k.

for us to yell at each other or at her." Beth

identified her mother as "a totally cold tyrant that's

pulling a string inside." Beth also addressed her

mother's attempts to possess her: "I own you, I'll

never let you go, you'll never have anything without

me. "
 104

Experience of Mothers as Emotionally Needy and

Unstable

All the women in the study strongly emphasized that

they experienced their mothers as lonely, insecure, and

isolated. They perceived their mothers as having

extreme needs for attention and affection. They felt

their mothers relied on them for emotional support, as

exemplified in the following words of Louise: "When I

came home, she was sitting up waiting for me like she

always would all through my teens, and it was 20

questions....! just couldn't stand coming home and have

her ask all these quest ions...she wanted it all."

Beth, in reference to her mother's response to

their disagreements, described her mother's

instability: "When I lose it, it's such a big hassle

because it's not like dealing with a normal person

where you can call and say hey...I had a bad day. It's

because she's miserable and isolated. A two minute

incident ruins her week or her month."

Similarly, Christine described her experience of

her mother's unsettledness: "She never stayed in one

job very long. After a year she would start to think

that everybody was out to get her. She was really

 105
paranoid and she would say everybody at work was trying
to get her."
Taylore in reference to her being "put in the
lover role" by her mother, angrily reported her
mother's need for affection: "She really liked to be
caressed. She wanted my touching her to feel like
love...she always wanted to be kissed alot."

Experience of Profound Betrayal

This theme was accentuated more than any other by the
women and occurred repeatedly during the analysis of
the transcripts. In light of these abusive
experiences, the women in the study felt they received
little nurturance and guidance from their mothers when
they were growing up. The women were left feeling that
they had been deceived, double-crossed, misled,
deserted or taken in by their mothers. All of the
participants reported an impaired ability to trust
themselves and others. The women focused on their
difficulties in learning to believe in themselves and
others. In reference to their upbringings, they
expressed grief and depression over the absence of a
trusted figure as indicated by the words of Louise
while referring to the lack of intimacy in her
 105

relationship with her mother: "There was never any

physical contact like hugging or sitting beside each

other on the couch, or sitting on her knee."

The women also ventilated feelings of extreme

hostility and anger as a result of feeling cheated out

of the kind of relationship they would like to have had

with their mothers. As Beth replied: "I have a strong

sense that I don't want anything more taken off me.

That's why I'm struggling to get through school and pay

the rent here...I'm saying to my mother and the world

you've taken enough. I've paid my dues!"

The women reported confusion, anger and a profound

sense of loss about the fact that their mothers did not

bond with them. As Taylore said: "What about the

mother-child bond? Where the hell was mine? Why

didn't she bond with me...comfort me, hold me, and

chase away all the boogiemen and kiss all of my booboos

better?" Taylore reported an incredible sense of loss

in these words: "My life's been put on hold for so

long trying to...see above the debris ...she left me.

She didn't leave a legacy of happiness and smiles and

those lovely talks that mothers and daughters have.

There wasn't any of that."

 107

The women reported little recognition by others of

their victimization at the hands of their mothers. As

such, the women felt that they had also been betrayed

by significant others in their lives. Christine

expressed her frustration in these words: "Nobody

helped me. I told my friend's mother about my mother

abusing me and she told me what a terrible kid I was."

The women felt extreme anger as a result of

feeling deceived and ostracized by society, as evident

in the following quotation by Taylore: "Start looking

at the offender as the offender instead of the victim

as the offender because I didn't do anything

wrong...stop pushing us away and isolating us cause

we're already isolated enough."

As a result of their abuse experience, the women

voiced that they felt uniquely different. They stated

that they felt extremely isolated and alienated.

Taylore described her isolation: "It's a very big

feeling of being alone... It's like I have all these

people telling me that I'm weird because this happened

to me...society thinks I'm weird because there's no

books on mother-daughter incest. There's nothing to

say that other women have had this happen to them."

 108

Louise also stressed her feelings of detachment in this

message: "Because I am a mother-daughter incest

survivor, I feel so isolated. The group that I was in

spoke of the men who abused them. It took me a long

time to say to these women that my mother abused me."

For all the women, these feelings of detachment

were manifested in an impaired ability to trust and an

aversion to intimacy. Hence they experienced

difficulty with interpersonal relationships. They

struggled with self-mastery and control, and felt

confused about their relationships with other women.

They sometimes experienced, however, an intense need to

regain trust and security. At times, they longed for

relationships and connection.

Experience of Shame/Self-Blame

All 4 women expressed that they felt responsible for

the abuse; that they had somehow caused, engineered or

contributed to it. Christine illustrated that she felt

that she was to blame for her abuse: "I still blame

myself for the abuse. I just figured that there must

be something really wrong with me. Somehow it was the

way my body was or my personality.... it's just so hard

not to believe that it wasn't my fault when it's your

 109
mom. "
During the study, self-blame took the form of

self-criticism and condemnation by these women, as

delineated in the words of Louise: "I still blame

myself for the abuse by the males in my life. The

first time it happened I was somewhere that my mother

told me not to go... I shouldn't have been doing what I

was doing or I shouldn't have been there. Still now,

if anything goes wrong, I blame myself in any aspect of

my life. I become very defensive if I'm reprimanded for

something." These women saw themselves as deficient

individuals, particularly in their daughter role.

Due to their abuse experience, the women felt

debased or discredited, diminished, humiliated, cast

down, humbled or degraded. Christine reported feeling

ashamed: "I'm really ashamed right now of myself. I

still have alot of shame around it." She also

expressed feeling uncomfortable with her body since the

abuse: "I hated my body from then on. I wore

bathrobes and I tried to hide my body as much as

possible.... I still can't stand to look at my

body...I'm still ashamed... I still dress in layers

and layers and I can't wear skimpy clothes. I'm afraid

 110

to go out in a bathing suit."

Experience of Boundary Violations

All the women in the study described feelings of

personal violation by their mothers, as portrayed in

Louise's words: "Still to this day sometimes when I

leave her home, she'll pat my bum."

The women described that the boundaries between

themselves and their mothers were blurred or diffuse:

"There were never any boundaries between us," said

Taylore. "She always wanted to know everything that

was going on with my boyfriend sexually."

The women reported that they had been invaded,

offended and intruded upon by their mothers, as

exemplified by the following quotes of Christine: "She

would bring guys in, cousins, friends, some of them

were pedophiles, to abuse me. She would either watch

or tease me about it afterwards."

Beth spoke of invasion by her mother: "I

remember my mother powdering me after a bath when I was

8 or 9 and that was sort of the condition that I could

have this powder if she could put it on me." Louise

also felt invaded: "The bathroom door was not to be

locked and she would just come in and watch me when I

 Ill
was having a bath. When I was buying bras and stuff,

she would have to come in and watch me put them on when

I was a teenager." Although some of the violations on

the part of the mothers were overtly sexual in nature,

many of them were more subtle, often masked in daily

caretaking.

Experience of Impaired Sexual Development

The women experienced themselves as being easy prey for

further victimization. Feelings of powerlessness and

shame led to further victimization as exemplified in

this quotation by Beth: "I was gang raped when I was

19 and every destructive relationship brought its own

set of garbage and memories."

Taylore spoke of her susceptibility to sexual

victimization due to her feelings of powerlessness: "I

went out with guys that would insist I have sex with

them 5 or 6 times a day, and I would do whatever they

told me to do, whether I wanted to, or whether I felt

safe... Even if I didn't like what a guy was

doing....! did it because I was afraid not to."

The women reported difficulty with intimacy and

sexual identity. They generally expressed that they

were promiscuous during their teens. However, at times

 112

they avoided or feared sex, and were sexually

dysfunctional, as suggested by Louise in referring to

her sexual relationship with her husband: sex was

"...a huge issue with my husband...We always had a hard

time sexually." Beth stated that she was committed to

a lifestyle of celibacy at this point in time because

of many sexually and emotionally abusive relationships:

"the fact that I have been celibate for 6 years is no

accident."

Taylore recounted her confusion about the role of

sex in intimate relationships during adolescence in

saying: "I slept with guys who were just friends

because I had this philosophy that sex is like

baseball- if you like to play the game, why don't you?

I didn't look at it as being something intimate between

two people."

Christine depicted her repetitive sexual behavior

during late childhood and early adolescence: "I was

masturbating excessively and I began a cat and mouse

game with my mother where she would try to burst in and

watch me." She also discussed confusion about her

sexual orientation: "I don't even know what my sexual

orientation is. I'm really confused about my sexual

 113

identity."

Similarly, Louise also expressed confusion about

her sexual identity: "He said to me one time, are you

celibate, not interested, or are you lesbian? I really

couldn't answer him."

In summary, the women reported that they felt

conflicted about intimacy and trust. They displayed

impaired sexual development throughout their lives in a

variety of ways.

Problems in Identification with and

Differentiation from Mother

All of the women in the study experienced difficulty in

identifying with and differentiating from their

mothers, as indicated by the words of Louise: "I still

struggle with being as far away from my mother as

possible identity-wise." The women reported extreme

anxiety and fear of being like their mothers: "I don't

want to be similar to her in any aspect. I don't want

to look at anything the same way that she does because

to me that would be too close that I might carry her

mental illness. That's a really big fear that somehow

I'll become crazy like her," said Taylore.

Louise expressed her enormous desire to be

 114

different from her mother: "I wanted to be as

different as I could from my mother and I wore my

brother's clothes... just to be as different as I could

be. "

Beth discussed her reluctance to disown her

mother: "It's hard for me too because I don't want to

reject everything of my mother in me. A person can't

be a whole person if you're trying to deny half of what

you are."

Louise further described her difficulty with

identity formation due to her enmeshment with her

mother: "I had no sense of who I was at all. When I

was little, I didn't know who I was...as a teen, I

didn't...either."

Since the women perceived their mothers to be

inadequate in their mothering role, they reported deep

anxiety about becoming inadequate mothers themselves.

"I read books and go to seminars and do everything that

I can do," said Taylore, "to find out what healthy

parenting is." Similarly, Louise addressed this

impaired identification with her mother: "When I was a

teen and even a young adult, I wasn't going to have

children at all...I was scared because I had been told

 115
all my life that I was so much like my mother...if I
were to have children, then I would be like her."
The women in the study emphasized that they
struggled with separation and identity issues. Because
of the inevitable modelling relationship between mother
and daughter, abuse by their mothers resulted in
extreme anxiety on the part of the women in the study
that they might abuse another. Two of the women feared
they might abuse their own children.

Experience of Difficulty Coping

All the women described self-destructive, non-adaptive
methods of coping with their sexual abuse including
such behaviors as self-mutilation, suicidal tendencies,
substance abuse, depression, promiscuity, eating
disorders, suppression or denial of feelings,
difficulty with self-mastery and control, as well as
physical difficulties and somatic complaints. The
statements of the participants which follow are
indicative of some of the above maladaptive coping
behaviors.

Beth spoke of complications due to her eating

disorder: "I have physical scars. I had two surgeries
directly resulting from my bulimic behaviors."
 116

Christine disclosed her past substance abuse and

suicidal behaviors: "I did lots of drugs and I

attempted suicide at 21, and again just two years ago."

Taylore had childhood physical repercussions as a

result of her abuse: "When I was a child every holiday

that came around, my skin would break out in some kind

of a bizarre rash....I didn't want them to do it to me

at Christmas. I didn't want them to do it to me at

Easter. I just didn't want them to do it to me at

Easter." All of the women in the study suffered from

physical and somatic effects.

In response to the women feeling that they had

little control in their lives, they experienced an

excessive need at times to dominate others or take

control over situations (especially sexual situations),

as indicated by Taylore's quotation: "I always took

the initiative with sex as a teenager. I had to have

control over that first time we had sex." Christine

also described her attempts at gaining control: "I

would fake a seizure whenever I was pressed into sex or

beaten, and it worked."

Throughout their lives, due to the enormity of

shame they felt as a result of their abuse experience.

 117
the women suppressed or denied their feelings. As Beth
stated: "I guess that a lot through my childhood, I
was denying that any of it happened. It just sort of
went into this numb nowhere place."

In conclusion, the women in the study perceived

their mothers as having abandoned their mothering role.
As victims of mother-daughter incest, the women in the
study felt guilty and tainted. Hence, they buried
their secret deep within their minds. As the above
eight themes demonstrate, the women experienced their
relationships with their mothers as "complicated" and
"contorted." All four of the women felt that they were
"left holding the bag." Two of these women reported
that it is inconceivable that they will ever have any
further relationship with their mother. For the other
two, who choose to maintain contact with their mothers,
extreme tension between themselves and their mothers
magnifies their feelings that their relationships with
their mothers "will never be healthy."
 118

Chapter Five

Discussion

It was the purpose of this study to explore the

phenomenon of mother-daughter incest from the

daughter's perspective. The research question asked

was "How do females who were sexually abused by their

mothers in childhood experience themselves in relation

to their mothers, past and present?" In this chapter,

a narrative will be presented, representing a synopsis

of the women's experience. Sample characteristics and

nature of abuse will be addressed before discussing the

results, the implications for future research,

implications for counselling, and meaning of this study

for the investigator.

Narrative of Maternal Abuse

The four women in the study were clearly from

fractured families that were unable to provide

fundamental emotional development for their members.

There was a lack of nurturance and safety provided for

the women throughout their childhood and adolescence.

There was inadequate parenting due to the fact that the

needs of the children were sacrificed for those of the

parents. The children were expected to look after

 119

inconsistent in their discipline of their children.

As children, the women were often ignored one day while

exhibiting a certain behavior, but the next day would

be severely punished for the same behavior. The threat

of violence was always present during childhood. The

women constantly felt physically, emotionally and

sexually threatened by their mothers. Physical

violence was the norm for these women. Threats of harm

by their mothers ensured that the secret of abuse would

be kept. Hence, these women lived in social isolation

which was enforced by their mothers. Although they

were violated in varying degrees by their mothers, the

grave consequences of their violation impacted them

developmentally throughout their lives. As children,

these women carried the secret of their abuse into

adulthood, leaving them with conflicts that affected

their daily functioning.

In spite of the severe physical, sexual and

emotional abuse they experienced throughout their

lives, the women in this study survived by finding and

tapping their inner strength. Although the road to

healing has been long, and their search for wholeness

 120
fervent and sometimes arduous, all the women expressed
that their struggle has been worth it.
Sample Characteristics and Nature of Abuse
The bulk of the abuse for three of the women
started during infancy and continued for a minimum of
six years. The fourth participant, who was primarily a
victim of sexual exploitation, was victimized from age
6 to 17. The participants experienced a wide variety
of overt and covert sexual behaviors ranging from
voyeurism, exploitation, kissing and fondling to oral
sex, digital penetration and penetration by implements.
As mentioned earlier, all of the women experienced
other forms of abuse by their mothers. Two of the
women sustained skull fractures and numerous broken
bones. One woman was stabbed and run over by a car,
with her mother behind the wheel.

In terms of the women's response to their abuse

experience, comparison to the following factors that
have been discussed in the literature will be made:
identity of the abuser; duration of the abuse; extent
of the abuse; and age of the abused child (Courtois,
1988; Pelletier & Handy, 1986; Tower, 1988). Given the
lengthy duration of the sexual abuse, the severity of
 121

the abuse, the young ages of the victims when the abuse

occurred, and the fact that the abuse experience took

place at the hands of their mothers, the women in this

study sustained severe physical, emotional and

psychological damage which resulted in long-lasting

scarring.
According to the literature (Courtois, 1979;

Pelletier & Handy, 1985; Tower, 1988), the closer the

relationship with the abuser, the deeper the sense of

betrayal and guilt. Indeed, the women in the study

experienced an intense sense of betrayal and guilt

because their abuser was their mother. In terms of

duration of abuse, Courtois (1988) highlights the fact

that if the abuse had occurred over a long period of

time, the effects are generally much greater on the

victim. Consistent with this hypothesis, the sexual

abuse of the women in the study transpired over several

years. They reported that the abuse had profound

negative effects on their lives. Courtois (1988) also

emphasized that the extent of the abuse has a definite

impact on the degree of trauma experienced by the

victim. Given the fact that the women in the study

were compelled to participate in extensive sexual abuse
 122
and subjected to physical abuse, they reported that the
trauma they experienced was intensified. Some
researchers have argued that the younger the age of
onset of sexual abuse, the greater the degree of damage
(Herman & Schatzow, 1987). Certainly, the young age of
the women in the study at the time of their abuse, had
a significant bearing on their development throughout
childhood and adolescence, and on how they viewed their
abuse experience later in life.
Finkelhor and Browne's (1985) model of traumagenic
dynamics emphasizes the conjunction of the four
following trauma-causing factors as unique to the
sexual abuse experience: traumatic sexualization;
betrayal; powerlessness; and stigmatization.
Certainly, the women in this study, as children, had
their sexuality shaped inappropriately as a result of
sexual abuse. They experienced betrayal due to the
fact they were harmed as children by someone they had
been been vitally dependent upon. As Finkelhor and
Browne (1988) stated, a child feels powerlessness when
her "will, desires and sense of efficacy are
continually contravened" (p. 532). The authors refer
to stigmatization as negative messages that are
 123

communicated to the child and then integrated into the

child's self-image. Given the difficulties the women

experienced in their sexuality in terms of profound

feelings of betrayal, powerlessness, shame and guilt,

it appears that the women were deeply impacted by their

abuse experience.

Comparison to Sexual Abuse Literature

According to Tower (1988), any episode of sexual abuse

has the potential for leaving scars, especially when

the victim is a child and powerless against an adult.

In accordance with the findings of Faria and Belohlavek

(1984), Justice and Justice (1979), and Kosky (1987),

the immediate reaction of the women in the study to

their sexual abuse experience was depression, anxiety,

acting out behavior, school difficulties, fear, somatic

complaints, social withdrawal and abnormal interest in

sexual play. Similar to the findings of DeYoung

(1982), Herman and Hirschman (1977), Meiselman (1978),

Sgroi (1982), and Wodarski and Johnson (1988) on male-

perpetrated abuse, the women reported self-mutilation,

suicidal tendencies, poor self image and low self-

esteem. During adolescence, the women reacted to their

abuse with depression, suicidal behavior, substance

 124

abuse, and sexual acting out. As adults, they reported

difficulty trusting, intimacy and sexuality problems,

feelings of being flawed, and poor self esteem. These

findings are in agreement with those of Briere and

Runtz (1984), Gelinas (1983) and Russell (1985).

As is the case for many sexual abuse victims, the

women in this study reported boundary violations, and

overwhelming feelings of infringement and invasion.

This finding is consistent with Courtois' (1988)

perspective that families where incest occurs typically

demonstrate boundaries which are too rigid or too

permeable.

Many sexual abuse victims are described in the

literature as lonely, and as perceiving themselves as

markedly different from others (Weiner, 1988; Tower,

1988). Briere (1984) addressed the sexual abuse

victim's feelings of stigmatization and isolation as a

result of her abuse experience. In accordance with the

findings of the above authors, the women in the study

reported similar feelings of aloneness and

stigmatization as do victims of other forms of sexual

abuse.

According to Miller (1988), when one person in a

 125

relationship has more power than the other, the danger

of harm increases. From this perspective, the weaker

person has great difficulty altering the course of

events in her life, and struggles with ventilating her

reactions to her abuser's actions. In accordance with

Miller's perspective, the women in this study were

suppressed and dominated to the point that they were

cut off from the outside world. They felt trapped with

no place to go. The offending mothers verbally and

emotionally abused these women, leaving them feeling

worthless and powerless to stop the abuse. The

combined issues of dominance, fear of loss, and secrecy

made escape from their incestuous mothers unlikely for

these women.

A significant number of sexually abused victims

come to believe that something about them caused the

sexual abuse to occur (Courtois, 1988). Due to

feelings of responsibility for the abuse, the women in

this study reported self-hatred and negative self-

esteem. They reiterated that something must have been

inherently wrong with them if their own mother abused

them. This finding supports Tower's (1988) statement

that the closer the relationship with the abuser, the

 126

more intense the guilt feelings on the part of the

victim. The belief that they had engineered or

contributed to the abuse coupled with guilt and anxiety

resulted in a shamed sense of self for the women in the

study. They believed they were unlovable, damaged,

flawed, deserving of the abuse, and unworthy of care.

In response to feelings of worthlessness and

powerlessness, many sexual abuse victims fall prey to

further victimization (Tower, 1988). Certainly this

appears to mirror the experience of the women in this

study. The message that these women received

throughout their childhood and adolescence was that

mastering their own lives or becoming a worthwhile

person without their mother was impossible. The only

way they could justify their existence was to be used

over and over by someone else. They conceptualized

that since they had experienced extreme disconnection

and violation (Miller, 1988) at the hands of their

mothers, somehow they were less worthy of respect, and

deserving of further victimization. Hence the women in

this study found themselves in extremely vulnerable

positions time and time again.

The literature is replete with evidence that

 127

incest strongly affects later sexual behavior. Many

incest victims experience sexual difficulties of one

sort or another (Courtois, 1988). During adolescence

and beyond, perhaps as an attempt to gain some control

over their bodies and their sexuality, the women in the

study alternated between being indiscriminately

sexually active or being socially and sexually

withdrawn. Browning and Boatman (1988) reported that

confusion about sexual identity may arise as a result

of sexual abuse. Consistent with this literature, two

of the women in the study indicated that they were

confused about their sexual orientation. Herman (1981)

and Meiselman (1978) stated that a child may become

confused about the role of sex in affectionate

relationships or may develop an aversion to all sexual

experiences and intimacy. In accordance with this

literature, the women in the study experienced

confusion about the role of sexuality in intimate

relationships, and at various points each developed

fear and aversion to all sexual experiences.

The literature is replete with references to the

secrecy and isolation imposed on the sexual abuse

victim. Tower (1988) addressed the perpetrator's role
 128
in cultivating the victim's sense of aloneness.
Certainly the women in the study felt isolated and
alienated. Their mothers throughout their childhood
and adolescence definitely cultivated the women's sense
of how different they were from other people. This
served to prevent the women from venturing outside the
family for social interaction. They reported that the
stigmatization they felt contributed to their substance
abuse, self-mutilation behaviors, and suicide attempts.
These findings are similar to those of Briere (1984),
DeYoung (1982), Herman (1981), and Justice and Justice
(1979) who reported that victims of sexual abuse often
get involved in drug and alcohol abuse, self-
destructive behavior and suicide attempts due to the
stigmatization and isolation they feel.

In conclusion, the findings of this study are

similar to the literature on the experiences of other
sexual abuse or incest victims. The sexual abuse
experiences of these women affected their personality
development and every major sphere of their lives. The
results of this study are different however from the
literature on other sexual abuse experiences in that
the women reported additional shame, stigmatization.
 129

impaired identity development and, for the women in the

study who were mothers, fear of replication of their

abuse experience with their daughters.

Comparison to the Literature on Mother-Daughter Incest

According to Vanderbilt (1992), incest is about

betrayal of trust. It is usually an offense committed

by adults against children, by the powerful against the

weak. In accordance with the perspectives of Urbanic

(1987) and Pelletier and Handy (1986), the women

experienced betrayal of trust by someone who was

expected to be their adult protector, the sense of

helplessness without support, and imposed secrecy.

Pelletier and Handy (1985) emphasized that the closer

the relationship with the abuser, the more intense the

sense of betrayal. According to Tower (1988), because

of the strength of the mother-daughter dyad, victims of

mother-daughter incest, perhaps more so than other

incestuous dyads, feel betrayed, deserted and rejected

since their abuser was their mother. In accordance

with this literature, the women in this study reported

that they experienced profound betrayal by their

mothers.

All of the women emphasized that because they felt

 130
they couldn't trust their own mother, they had an
impaired ability to trust themselves and others. They
feared intimacy and experienced difficulty with
interpersonal relationships. They particularly
struggled with trusting women. They accentuated the
fact that they feel isolation and alienation because of
the uniqueness of their abuse experience. As a result
of society's disbelief that mother-daughter incest can
occur, feelings of betrayal, of being defective,
different, and stigmatized for these mother-daughter
incest survivors appeared to be exacerbated. These
findings are consistent with those of Goodwin and
DiVasto (1979), Bass and Davis (1988), and Courtois
(1988) in that they reported mother-daughter incest
survivors may feel additional shame and stigma because
their abuse experience is in the minority.

The literature identifies the incestuous mother as

relying on the daughter for love and mothering,
attention, affection and emotional support (Lloyd,
1987; Mayer, 1983; Steele & Pollack, 1958). Consistent
with this literature, the women in this study
experienced their mothers as lonely, in need of
intimacy, dependent, isolated, insecure, inadequate.
 131

unstable and unempathic. Even in adulthood, the women

struggled to try to, as one participant explained,

"avoid the lassoo" or "fish line," and loosen their

mothers' grip on them.

According to Courtois (1988), since mother-

daughter incest is the last taboo, forbidden by

society, mother-daughter incest survivors feel

additional shame and stigma because their abuse

experience is "out of the ordinary" (p. 88). So huge

was their secret that the women in the study couldn't

share the awful truth for fear that it would drive away

the few individuals they trusted. This served to feed

their feelings of complete isolation and alienation.

In essence, they felt "locked out of the possibility of

human connection" (Miller, 1988, p. 7 ) . These feelings

of deep-rooted shame and deadening isolation were

similar to those expressed by Evert (1987) about her

own experience of mother-daughter incest, and by Hyde

(1985) in her discussion of the effects of covert

mother-daughter incest.

The women in the study felt guilty and tainted.

According to Tower (1988), mother-daughter incest

survivors may experience more self-blame and self-doubt

 132

because the abuse experience took place at the hands of

their mother. The women reported overwhelming feelings

of self-blame. Due to the extreme pain, as well as

feelings of isolation and profound shame, they found it

easier to doubt their abuse experience. This finding

is in agreement with Tower's (1988) perspective that

mother-daughter incest survivors may reach a point

where they believe their abuse experience couldn't have

happened. According to Goodwin (1982), the effect of

mother-daughter incest may be so deep that mother-

daughter incest survivors may struggle with mothering

their own children. Consistent with this literature,

two of the women in the study experienced difficulty in

their mothering role, particularly in terms of

establishing boundaries. These mothers reported that

they had crossed the line with their own children.

They had begun to commit boundary violations against

their daughters which contributed to their decision to

seek therapy.

In conclusion, the women in the study reported an

impaired ability to trust self and others and an

incredible sense of aloneness and isolation.

Consistent with the literature (Goodwin, 1982; Mayer,

 133

1988; Tower, 1988), the women found it extremely

difficult to become intimate with anyone. They

experienced the road to recovery as an extremely

difficult one.

The Importance of the Mother-Daughter Dyad

Chodorow (1978) and Rubin (1983) indicated that

diffuse boundaries and a less separate sense of self

are integral to mother-daughter relationships. Similar

to this perspective. Flax (1978) and Mitchell (1987)

postulated that the dynamics of mother-daughter

relationships may result in a different process of

separation-individuation. In accordance with the

perspective of Bass and Davis (1988), given the

closeness of the maternal bond, abuse at the hands of

their mother left the women in this study with a

confused sense of self, and a severe lack of boundaries

between themselves and their mothers. They reported

that because their mothers had poor boundaries

themselves, it was difficult for them to learn that

they had distinct boundaries. Consistent with the

above literature, the women found it extremely

difficult to establish a sense of differentiation from

their mothers. They struggled with a separate sense of

 134
self that was unique and different from their mothers.
Given the dynamics of mother-daughter incestuous
relationships wherein individual boundaries are
diffused to the extent that mothers and daughters fail
to recognize where one ends and the other begins
(McCarthy, 1985), the women in this study continued to
grapple with a separate sense of identity.
Several authors (Bromberg, 1987; Friday, 1977;
Jordan, 1991; Magrab, 1979; Viorst, 1979) have
addressed the significance of the mother-daughter
relationship in the mental and emotional development of
the daughter. In particular, Jordan (1991) emphasized
that the daughter undergoes an on-going identification
process with her mother while establishing her own
identity. Because of the inevitable modelling
relationship between mother and daughter (Friday, 1977;
Jordan, 1991), mother-daughter incest survivors may
have impaired identification with their mothers. The
women in this study were not provided with the
opportunity to identify with a caregiving mother. To
the contrary, they experienced their mothers as
deficient and defective in their mothering role. It
was difficult for them to identify with their mothers
 135

as active caretakers. Their identity was not based on

positive identification; there was an absence of

connectedness based on what Surrey (1991) called

"mutuality of caring that is found in healthy mother-

daughter interaction" (p. 246). As a result, the women

in the study feared themselves to be incomplete or

insufficient. They were afraid they were like their

mothers. Two of the women were fearful that they too

were inadequate mothers. Given the role of empathic

communication and mutual attentiveness in the

establishment of self-esteem and self-affirmation

(Kaplan, Gleason, & Klein, 1991), it is not surprising

that the women in this study felt that they lacked

strength and competence in their relational capacities.

In summary, given their relationship with their

abuser, the women in this study experienced extreme

difficulties in identification with and differentiation

from their mothers. This may be one of the critical

differences in this type of sexual abuse.

Implications for Future Research

The findings of this research are consistent with

past findings in the area of short and long-term

effects of childhood sexual abuse. It is hoped that

 136
the findings presented in this study will stimulate
research in areas such as the long-term effects of
female perpetrated sexual abuse and same-sexed abuse.

This study only represents a beginning exploration

of the phenomenon of mother-daughter incest. Further
research is needed in this area to obtain data about
mother-daughter incest from which to formulate theory
and to design therapeutic interventions. Research
aimed at expanding current knowledge of the
characteristics of the abuser and the long-term effects
of mother-daughter incest is needed in order to
understand the female perpetrator, the etiology of
mother-daughter incest, and the consequences of such
abuse.

Only the experiences of four mother-daughter

incest survivors were examined in this study, and
clearly all of the participants sustained severe damage
as a result of their abuse experience. Given the small
sample size of this study and the fact that all four
participants were white, more research utilizing larger
samples and varying ethnic groups and cultures, is
needed to further verify the themes. This study only
explored the mother-daughter incest survivor.
 137

Therefore, research with female perpetrators is

necessary to expand knowledge about differing dynamics

based on gender of the abuser. Given the fact that

emphasis in this study was on the female survivors of

maternal incest, further research comparing male and

female victims of both paternal and maternal abuse is

needed to increase knowledge in the area of effects of

gender of the perpetrator on the victim's perception of

and reaction to the experience.

In summary, treatment issues for mother-daughter

incest victims will be further clarified for both child

and adult survivors once information becomes available

on short-term and long-term consequences of mother-

daughter incest. The women in this study perceived the

multiple violation and deprivation they experienced in

childhood as having a traumatic and devastating effect

on their lives. This study indicates that the women

perceived their mother's sexual victimization of them

as having a severe negative impact on their

relationships with self and others. These results may

help to stimulate other researchers to further explore

the phenomenon of same-sexed abuse, whether it be

mother-daughter or father-son incest.

 138

Implications for Counselling

To understand incest and to help victims in their

recovery process, clinicians must acknowledge that
women as well as men sexually abuse their children.
According to Vanderbilt (1992), the therapist working
with mother-daughter incest survivors must be open and
able to hear what the survivor needs to say. The
therapist must be able to believe what is said, to
provide human contact, warmth, and engaged conversation
in therapy.

The women in this study expressed that they needed

their therapists to serve as parent surrogate for them,
and to educate them in basic life skills, interpersonal
relations, decision making, conflict resolution,
sexuality, assertiveness, parenting, and boundary
establishment. Hence the clinician must be open to the
fact that the mother-daughter incest survivor may seek
some education and skill-building. Given the fact that
mother-daughter incest survivors have experienced
unhealthy role modelling, the clinican must be open to
the possibility that mother-daughter incest survivors,
who are mothers, may present with deep concern and fear
about continuing the cycle of abuse. Certainly, the
 139

mothers in this study reported anxiety and fear that

they might at some point victimise their own children.

The therapist must be able to ask the survivor if she

has offended due to the fact that she may be playing

out her own sexual abuse with another.

Given the impaired identity development of the

women in the study due to problems with identification

with mother and differentiation from her, it may be

important for the clinician to acknowledge that mother-

daughter incest survivors struggle with the process of

separation from their mothers which may trigger

symptoms of low self-esteem, poor interpersonal

relationships, depression and fearfulness. This

difficulty with differentiation must be identified

during therapy in order for the survivor to be

consciously aware of her difficulty with the process of

identity formation, and to develop her own

individuality separate from her mother and other

significant people in her life. The therapist may

suggest and encourage opportunities for identity

development, self-definition and self-regulation for

the client so that she will be able to determine who

she is apart from her mother and her incest experience.

 140

The therapist must encourage the mother-daughter incest

survivor to break away from patterns of behavior

conditioned by fear, anxiety, self-blame and guilt such

that she can reclaim lost parts of herself. The

therapist may encourage the survivor to resolve fears,

learn new ways of coping and relating, accept her body

and her sexuality. The therapist can facilitate these

changes through encouragement and patience, which will

also serve to enhance the client's self-esteem and

self-efficacy. Counselling may focus on how the

mother-daughter incest victim coped with her abuse.

The therapist can give the mother-daughter incest

victim respect by honoring her methods of surviving her

abuse experience.

Given the fact that the women in this study

experienced boundary violations by their mothers, it

may be critical for the therapist to pay particular

attention to the establishment and maintenance of clear

boundaries within the therapeutic alliance such that

the client does not face further violation.

After years of individual and group therapy, the

women in the study continued to struggle with trusting

their therapist(s). Given the women's profound sense

 141

of betrayal, it may be important for the clinician to

pay particular attention to fostering the development

of a therapeutic alliance and a safe environment within

which to conduct treatment. The therapist might expect

that a lengthy period of time may be required to

establish a therapeutic relationship. The clinican

must be open to the fact that, because of the severity

of the abuse, its devastating impact on the

developmental process, and the time required to

establish a therapeutic alliance, therapy may be long-

term. Because the incest wound is particularly deep,

mother-daughter incest survivors may respond slowly to

treatment. One of the women in the study had been in

therapy for 11 years.

The therapist also needs to be receptive to the

fact that the shame of mother-daughter incest is more

profound and the stigmatizing more extreme because the

abuse experience is in the minority. Hence, she may

feel reluctant to disclose that her mother was the

abuser. Certainly the women in the study experienced

extreme reluctance to disclose their abuse experience

during their lives. One woman for years failed to

disclose that her abuser was her mother but instead

 142
allowed her group members to assume that her abuse was
male-perpetrated. Group therapy can be helpful for the
survivor however, since it provides the context for
reworking the impaired interpersonal functioning and
mistrust which resulted from the trauma of the abuse
experience (Courtois, 1988). Group therapy encourages
breaking of the silence, isolation and stigma resulting
from the abuse. The sharing and empathy within the
group help to build a safe and consistent environment
within which to explore the effect the abuse experience
has had on members' lives. Trust is developed and new
skills and behaviors rehearsed which help group members
undo the damage from the abuse.

The clinican needs to pay particular attention to

the fact that distance in the therapeutic relationship
may touch the client's shame. The mother-daughter
incest victim may long for a restorative relationship
in therapy. The female therapist, in particular, needs
to be receptive to the possibility that a mother-
daughter incest victim may need to make connections
with other women. Certainly the women in the study
endeavored to develop trust in their relationships with
their female therapist(s).
 143

The clinician must address the issue of therapist

gender, given the nature of the abuse experience by

mother-daughter incest survivors. The clinican must be

open to the fact that a mother-daughter incest survivor

may choose a male therapist, basing her preference on

the belief that she cannot trust a woman. Secondly, it

might better meet the clients' needs if one group

leader is male and the other female. In all

likelihood, many female therapists will work with

maternal abuse survivors. Given this fact, the female

therapist may need to be aware of tranference issues

surrounding anger and rage toward the mother. The

female therapist must not dismiss the anger and

mistrust that the survivor may feel toward her, but

instead may need to be open to the exploration of it.

On the other hand, the therapist needs to be receptive

to the possibility of non-angry, ambivalent feelings

that the client may experience toward the mother. The

female therapist due to her strong identification with

the client, must pay particular attention to the fact

that she does not overidentify with or overprotect the

client, making it difficult to maintain professional

boundaries within the therapeutic relationship.

 144
A therapist must be open to the possibility that a
sexual abuse victim may present with issues around
paternal incest, when in reality, the abuse had been
perpetrated by her mother {Goodwin & Divasto, 1979).
Furthermore, a mother-daughter incest victim may
experience difficulty with labelling her abuse as
mother-daughter incest. The therapist in this case
must attempt to understand and respect the client's
position, in particular, the shame and stigma the
client may be feeling as a result of her abuse
experience. This shame and stigmatization may
contribute to her reluctance to disclose or accept that
her mother may have been her abuser.

In summary, the therapist needs to be open to the

possibility of mother-daughter incest. Although rare
as a phenomenon, it appears to be devastating in its
impact, with implications that extend far and deep in
the lives of its survivors. Since betrayal of trust is
a major cause of wounding for the mother-daughter
incest victim, the therapist needs to pay particular
attention to the therapeutic alliance and to the
maintenance of healthy boundaries between client and
therapist.
Conclusion

This study explored the phenomenon of mother-

daughter incest from the daughter's perspective. The

results clearly indicated that the experience of

mother-daughter incest was traumatic for the women who

participated in this study. Due to their premature

sexualization as children, the profound betrayal of

trust because their perpetrator was their mother, and

the taboo and enforced silence which has historically

surrounded the phenomenon of mother-daughter incest,

the women inevitably experienced deep wounding leaving

a devastating impact on their lives.

Meaning of this Study for the Investigator

The experience of exploring the phenomenon of mother-

daughter incest was personally moving but disturbing.

The co-researchers opened their hearts and homes to me-

As a result of spending five to six hours with each of

the women as they told their story, I experienced a

great deal of their pain. Their desire to break the

silence, and promote healing of themselves and other

mother-daughter incest survivors was enormous. Their

belief in this project served as a real motivator for

me. I was left in awe of the inner strength of these

 146
women. Despite the extreme physical, sexual and
emotional abuse that they experienced throughout their
lives, they survived. They expressed an inner
strength, the source of which at times remains a
mystery to themselves and an inspiration to me.

Because of the profound taboo against mother-

daughter incest and the fact that research in the area
has been sparse, I was of the opinion that the topic of
mother-daughter incest needed to be explored. The
experience of this study has personally brought to
light the incredible bond that I share with my mother
and the tremendous love and respect for each other that
my family so richly enjoys.
 147

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 157
Appendix A
Recruitment Letter

WOMEN
SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

My name is Beverly Ogilvie. I am currently conducting

a study on childhood sexual abuse of females by their
biological mothers, for my masters thesis in the
Department of Counselling Psychology at UBC.

I plan to conduct personal interviews with 5 adult

female survivors of mother-daughter incest.
Participation in the study is voluntary, so
participants can withdraw from the study at any time.
Inclusion in the study will be based on the following
criteria: (a) females who as children experienced an
incestuous relationship with their biological mothers;
and (b) who have in the past received individual and/or
group counselling regarding the issue of mother-
daughter incest.

It is hoped that information gained from the study will

provide some insight into the phenomenon of mother-
daughter incest. Your participation will be helpful
and valuable to my research. Please feel free to call
me anytime at XXX-XXXX if you are interested in
participating in the study, or you may call my research
supervisor at UBC, Dr. Judith Daniluk, at XXX-XXXX, if
you want more details. Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely.

Beverly Ogilvie
Graduate Student
Dept. of Counselling Psychology
University of British Columbia
5780 Toronto Road
Vancouver, BC
 158

Appendix B
Consent Form
I am presently a UBC masters degree Counselling
Psychology student conducting a study of childhood
sexual abuse of females by their biological mothers.
My supervisor's name is Dr. Judith Daniluk and her
phone number is XXX-XXXX. This research will help us
to understand the experience of mother-daughter incest-

If you choose to participate in the study, you will be

personally interviewed by me at a place of your
choosing. You will be one of three to five
participants taking part in the study. During this
personal, in-depth interview(s), you will be asked to
tell about your relationship with your mother now and
in the past. The interview will last as long as you
need to "tell your story." A second interview may be
required in order for you to complete your story.
Interviews will be audiotaped and then transcribed at a
later date. A follow-up interview will also be
required which should take no longer than 50 minutes to
complete. During the follow-up interview, you will be
asked to review the themes and the meaning I've drawn
from your transcript, and to recommend corrections,
additions or deletions to the text to ensure it more
closely represents the essence of your experience.

You are under no obligation to complete the interviews,

and you may decide to discontinue your participation at
any point. Your identity will not be revealed in any
written or oral material resulting from this research.
The tapes will be erased upon completion of the study.

I have read and understand the preceding and hereby

consent to participate in this study. I acknowledge
receipt of a copy of this consent form.

Date Applicant's Signature

Researcher Address
 159
Appendix c
Sample Questions

Can you tell me about your family constellation,

present situation, number of children,etc.?

Can you tell me about your experience of sexual abuse

by your mother,i.e. When did it start? Did it happen
several times? How old were you when it stopped?

What was going on for you (happening in your life) at

the time of the abuse?

How would you describe your relationship with your

mother, past and present?

How did you make sense of the abuse in your own mind?

How do you think it has influenced the way you mother?

(your attitude toward mothering)

How have you integrated this experience into your sense

of self?
What aspects of your relationship with your mother
are/were most difficult for you?

If you could remake your relationship with your mom,

what would it look like?

How would you describe your mother? What stands out

most in your mind in terms of who she is?

Do you see yourself in her? How? In what ways?

How are you different?

In what ways do you feel you carry the abuse experience

with you? in terms of your relationship with self? in
terms of your relationship with others?