Psychodynamics of Father Daughter Incest

Abstract

A study of father-daughter incest confined to men otherwise non-criminal or sexually deviant. Incest is here studied mainly in function of the psychopathology of the father. The father seeks to find in his daughter the young wife of his early years. Unconsciously, however, as a young man he was looking for a mother substitute in the girl he was courting. We face a paradox, that in taking the daughter the incestuous father is trying to return to the mother. Once incest is discovered, there is rarely repetition. Disclosure brings about a breakdown of pre-existing family relations. This is followed either by separation of the participants, or a re-organization where conscious incest barriers now prevail.