Incest and Parental Contact: A Psychologist's Personal Case and Literature Review

摘要

A psychologist's husband molested their young daughter. Consulting psychologists purported that research indicated it would be developmentally advantageous for their daughter to continue a relationship with the father following the marital separation. The consulting psychologists did not reference the literature, prompting the mother to conduct a literature review herself. The available literature recommending that a child continue the paternal relationship cites research on children of divorce, not research on the treatment of child sex abuse victims. The scant child sex abuse research that addresses contact with the abusing parent actually indicates more harm than benefit occurs to the child.