Incest and Intrafamilial Child Abuse: Fatal Attractions or Forced and Dangerous Liaisons?

Abstract

Intrafamilial child abuse is, today -- as it has been for quite some time -- a vexing issue in contemporary society. Indeed, the continuance of incest and child abuse presages the imperilment, if not the collapse, of the bulwark of the social order: the family. This Article examines the cross cultural vectors of force and the psychopathologies of incest as child abuse. The conclusions reached are that: consanguineous marriages between lineals, especially in the three dyads of father-daughter, mother-son, and full siblings must continue to be condemned, disallowed and punished; evidentiary proofs should be loosened in order to allow recovery in damages for this offense; the legal process needs a stronger working partnership with mental health professionals whereby greater latitude is given to health professionals in the investigatory and therapeutic phases of cases of intrafamilial abuse; safeguarding and advocating the best interests of the abuse child should remain central to the legal process; and sexual abuse treatment centers need to be strengthened.