"Father-Daughter Incest" is an exciting addition to the growing
literature of child sexual abuse. It offers the best hope to date
of appealing to a broad range of clinical professionals who have
not yet examined the current rediscovery of incest. The book is
startling, sobering, challenging, and in many ways inspiring. Most
important, it is compatible; it is considerate of the needs, fears,
and vulnerabilities of readers across the entire spectrum, from
those who have experienced incest to those who would deal with it
professionally....[It] is a fascinating, profoundly moving clinical
and cultural expedition into the heartland of incest. -- Roland C.
Summit "Readings"
A timely book of striking humanistic political and theoretical
significance...I also find Herman's book an eloquent expression of
feminist concerns about the oppression and sexual exploitation of
woman at her most vulnerable stage of development. It is indeed
Herman's trenchant feminist analysis that makes this book not just
another research report, but rather a profound critique of female
socialization in this society...This book is written in a clear,
scholarly, and highly readable style. Although the book's message
is passionate, the author maintains a measure of objectivity. She
avoids harangues or polemics and relies on facts and observations
in organizing a convincing presentation. I found this to be an
absorbing, thought-provoking book which deserves to attract a wide
readership among mental health professionals and the lay public. --
Sophie Freud Loewenstein, Ph.D. "Review of Psychoanalytic
Books"
Herman's rethinking of incest is profoundly, passionately
feminist...Her book, the result of years of psychiatric work with
incest victims, is undeniably painful, but it is also full of hope.
-- Mother Jones
In a well-researched and readable book, Judith Herman--an American
psychiatrist--presents a clear and compelling feminist analysis of
father-daughter incest. -- Maryon Tysoe "New Society"
Judith Lewis Herman's fine book is one of the most important
contributions to psychiatric knowledge of the last decade...As an
exemplary model of feminist scholarship, [it] is a rigorous
sociopsychological reconceptualization of our clinical assumptions
about incest...Herman offers a sophisticated, detailed, and
clinically relevant discussion of treatment and issues for victims
and their families..."Father-Daughter Incest" is an eloquent,
illuminating, and empathic analysis of an extraordinarily complex
and troubling phenomenon. It should be required reading for all
mental health professionals and trainees. -- Elaine Carment, M.D.
"Contemporary Psychiatry"
The book is evenhanded, logical, well researched, and thoroughly
gripping. It may have taken a while to get to, but it was truly
hard to put down...Herman's thesis [is] that incest is the
furthermost extension of male domination in a patriarchal society
whose men do not share equally in child raising...The bulk of Dr.
Herman's book, apart from her considerable historical analysis, is
an anecdotal and statistical study of 40 incest victims and their
families. She compares these families with 40 families in which the
father had been merely seductive...In summary, this is an excellent
book that weaves together theory with the very practical
therapeutic guidelines. Most fascinating is the way Dr. Herman
brings to life the family dynamics of an incestuous family. In the
end, the family members take on a mythic quality, like characters
in a Grimm's fairy tale. "Father-Daughter Incest" should be
required reading for anyone treating a victim of incest. -- Judith
Blitman, M.D. "American Journal of Psychiatry"
There is much to commend in the book. It is gracefully written and
reviews a wide literature ranging from the scientific to the
pornographic and from fairy tales to the Bible...The author
presents practical and helpful suggestions on how best to approach
a family facing the problem of incest, the methods of strengthening
the mother's position and improving the mother-daughter
relationship, necessary steps to protect the victim from further
physical and psychological harm, and ways of prosecuting or
treating the father. There is also useful advice on psychotherapy
of grownup incest victims and a discussion of the
countertransference feelings in male and female therapists that are
most likely to interfere with treatment or to make it detrimental.
-- Vera Frances, M.S. "Family Process"
This is an extremely readable survey of father-daughter incest
today. The author describes the incestuous family from several
points of view, including the dynamics typical of the incest
family, and of the seductive father family; the traditional values
of American society that promote the possibility of abusive family
conduct; the political structure of our society that fails to
assist the victim and favors the perpetrator; and the
legal-enforcement-treatment system, which is too heavily funded or
prepared to work with incest/seductive families...The
comprehensiveness of the book, and the well thought out
presentation, make this one of the most thorough pieces of
literature on the subject...The subject matter, statistics and
legal information is accurate and well presented for easy
reference. This book should be mandatory reading for any
professional or paraprofessional who works with women, children and
families. -- Nora J. Baladerian, M.A., C.S.E. "Journal of Sex
Education and Therapy"
Father-Daughter Incest is an exciting addition to the growing
literature of child sexual abuse. It offers the best hope to date
of appealing to a broad range of clinical professionals who have
not yet examined the current rediscovery of incest. The book is
startling, sobering, challenging, and in many ways inspiring. Most
important, it is compatible; it is considerate of the needs, fears,
and vulnerabilities of readers across the entire spectrum, from
those who have experienced incest to those who would deal with it
professionally....[It] is a fascinating, profoundly moving clinical
and cultural expedition into the heartland of incest.
Herman's work is valuable to everyone who has been the victim of
such incest because it offers help; it is valuable to those whose
families are shattered by its occurrence because it offers a means
for reconciliation, and it is valuable to specialists who seek to
assist their victim-clients.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |