Trauma of Father/Daughter Incest
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As a writer and former child-abuse victim, Laura Davis states, "All sexual abuse is damaging, and the trauma does not end when the abuse stops. If you were abused as a child, you are probably experiencing long-term effects that interfere with your day-to-day functioning" (Bass & Davis, 1990, p. 252). This research will examine the trauma of child sexual abuse, specifically incest between fathers and their daughters. The incest victim goes through a similar pattern of dealing with victimization, and often even the long term effects experienced are similar. Some of the more common feelings and emotions of incest victims are shame, guilt, anger, confusion, and denial.Most studies group incest with all sexual-abuse victims so statistics on incest are hard to find; however, the number of incestuous sexual-abuse cases is either rapidly rising or being disclosed more often more than likely both: In 1986, all of the nation's child protective agencies recorded 83,000 complaints against people responsible for the child's welfare. By 1990, the number had leapt to 75,000. Because many cases of abuse still go unreported, the actual number of victims who come from all social classes, races and religions is probably much, much higher (Darnton, 1991, pp. 70-71). A typical case study in daughter-father incest victims is former Miss America 1958 Marilyn Van Derbur Alton. She has experienced many of the emotional and identity problems associated with typical psychological assessme
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believe it? Van Derbur Alton's sister finally disclosed that she too had been a victim of her father. Bass and Davis (1990) claim that the incest victim needs validation to feel whole and that "talking to people who believe you and validate your experience is essential" (p. 254).
Denial plays a large part in helping to keep the memories of incest victims repressed until later in life, when, over time, the memory of the abuse fits together piece by piece. Survivors often go to great lengths to deny their abuse for various reasons. They imagine they dreamed it or that it was a past life instead of confronting the pain, anger and confusion:
This type of denial might seem surprising, but in reality, it is a necessary stage in dealing with traumatic pain. Denial gives you a respite when you cannot bear to align yourself with that small, wounded child for another minute (Bass and Davis, 1990, p. 253).
Van Derbur Alton confirms these feelings when she explains about her own denial: "You have to make up a fantasy world you live in and you need it to survive. It is simply too painful" (Darnton, 1991, p. 71).
Celebrities have also been disclosing their child abuse in the media in recent years. For example, Roseanne Arnold, Opra
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Approximate Word count = 1579
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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