Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Friendship Between Women : The Influence Of Incest, Laurie Lockert

Dissertations and Theses

This study focused on the mother/daughter relationship in father/daughter incest and how that relationship influences women's friendships with other women. Many researchers have concluded that females who were sexually abused by male authority figures, i.e., father, step-father, grandfather, older brother, minister, babysitter, will have impaired relationships with men. Clinicians surmise that the enormous betrayal of trust involved in the incest leads the child to generalize from her experience with one male to all males. Victims express feelings of distrust, fear of intimacy, and fear of personal expression in all male/female relationships. Studies suggest that in families where father/daughter incest has …