Mental health articles

Sibling incest in child sexual abuse Approximately 1% to 2% of all women are victims of sibling abuse. This abuse accounts for approximately 7% to 14% of all intrafamilial abuse and 1% to 4% of all child sexual abuse. Professionals once thought that sibling abuse was a lesser form of sexual abuse, assuming that it involved little more than sex play by children close in age. Empirical evidence, however, has disputed this claim. First, age disparity between victims and offenders is often great, and a series of studies have found that the offender is often more than five years older than the victim (Adler & Schutz, 1995; Russell, 1986). Further, not all offenders are juveniles. For example, Russell (1986) found that only 70% of sibling offenders were juveniles. Siblings also perpetrate more severe abuse. In studies on sibling abuse, 28% to 83% of incidents involve some type of oral, vaginal, or anal penetration (Laviola, 1992; Margolin & Craft, 1989; O’Brien, 1991; Smith & Israel, 1987). In 33% to 64% of the abuse, force or threat is also involved (De Jong, 1989; Gilbert, 1992; Rudd & Herzberger, 1999; Russell, 1986), and 17% to 29% of all abuse involves physical injury (De Jong, 1989; Margolin & Craft, 1989). Often the offenders seem to have little consideration for the pain the victims are experiencing (Laviola, 1992). Much sibling abuse is also of long duration (O’Brien, 1991; Rudd & Herzberger, 1999). For example, Cantwell (1981) found that abuse lasted from one to nine years in 40% of the cases, whereas Adler and Schutz (1995) found that the abuse lasted an average of 22 months. Conversely, in the only study of sibling abuse that derives from a random community sample, Russell (1986) found that it was significantly less likely than other types of incest to last longer than a year. There may be a heightened sexual climate in families in which sibling abuse occurs. For example, Smith and Israel (1987) found that 48% of the sibling offenders in their study had observed sexual activity between parents or with one parent and another party. In 76% of these families, at least one parent was having an extramarital affair, and in 32% of the families, father-daughter incest had preceded the brother’s participation. Laviola (1992) also found that there were other incestuous relations in 7 1% of families in which sibling abuse occurred. Further, a third to a half of victims of sibling abuse are also abused by others (Cantwell, 1981; Gilbert, 1992; Laviola, 1992), often by other brothers or fathers (Cantwell, 1981). Additionally, some offenders abuse more than one child. Across studies, 8% (Smith & Israel, 1987), 27% (Gilbert, 1992), and 53% (O’Brien, 1991) of offenders had multiple victims, and the average number of victims (not necessarily siblings) per offender was 1.8 in O’Brien’s study. In comparison to other adolescent sex offenders, sibling offenders in O’Brien’s study had also committed the most offenses (an average of 18 separate incidents each) and had longer careers as offenders. Several characteristics of sibling incest are similar to dynamics of fatherdaughter incest. First, most offenders are male (approximately 80%) (De Jong, 1989; Smith & Israel, 1987), often the oldest son (Adler & Schutz, 1995), and most victims are female (86% to 94%) (Margolin & Craft, 1989; Smith & Israel, 1987). As such, most abuse (68% to 74%) is heterosexual (Finkelhor, 1980; Smith & Israel, 1987). Stepchildren also appear to be at heightened risk both to offend and to be victimized (Pierce & Pierce, 1990; Smith & Israel, 1987). Further, families in which sibling abuse occurs may have larger families. Laviola (1992) found that more than half of the families in which sibling abuse occurred had four or more children, and the average number of siblings in a small study was 6.2 (Rudd & Herzberger, 1999). Russell (1986) also found that 77% of the victims came from families where six or more members depended on the family income (as compared to 32% of victims of other incest perpetrators). Further, Worling (1995) found that one of the discriminating factors between sibling offenders and other adolescent sex offenders was that sibling offenders had more available younger children in their families. Often there is physical abuse in these families as well (Laviola, 1992; Wiehe, 1990), even more so than in families of other adolescent offenders (O’Brien, 1991) and other adolescent sex offenders (Worling, 1995). Dynamics within families in which sibling incest occurs also appear to be dysfunctional (Laviola, 1992). Studies on sibling abuse have found that parents are often absent, emotionally neglectful, or unavailable (Laviola, 1992; Smith & Israel, 1987). For example, Rudd and Herzberger (1999) found that mothers were often overwhelmed by life circumstances, ill, or alcohol abusers. Fathers were uniformly described as absent through death, alcoholism, mental illness, or extreme emotional distance. Families often experience other stressors as well, including illness or disability of a family member, parental depression, and financial hardship (Adler & Schutz, 1995; Laviola, 1992; Pierce & Pierce, 1987; Rudd & Herzberger, 1999), and responses to these stressors are often maladaptive (Laviola, 1992). For the offenders, the sexual offending is usually one of multiple problems, including prior involvement with the justice system (O’Brien, 1991), school problems, and a variety of behavior problems (Adler & Schutz, 1995; O’Brien, 1991; Pierce & Pierce, 1987). These families also have rigid rules against expressing feelings and deny that problems exist (Laviola, 1992). They have heightened negativity and argumentativeness, heightened marital discord, and low satisfaction within family relations. Findings such as these led O’Brien (1991) to conclude that existing family culture was a contributing factor to the abuse, whereas Smith and Israel (1987) concluded that approximately half of the families were severely disturbed. Not unexpectedly, parents of sibling offenders often have a personal history of sexual abuse. Three different studies found that between 36% and 63% of mothers and 8% to 10% of fathers were victims of childhood sexual abuse (Adler & Schutz, 1995; O’Brien, 1991; Worling, 1995). Another study found that 72% of mothers or fathers of the victim had been sexually abused as children (Smith & Israel, 1987). A large percentage (42% to 52%) of adolescent sibling offenders also have a history of sexual abuse victimization (Longo, 1982; O’Brien, 1991; Smith & Israel, 1987) as well as physical abuse and neglect (Longo, 1982). In one study, offenders were sexually abused most often by their father or another family member (O’Brien, 1991). Finally, O’Brien (1 99 1) found an interesting intergenerational pattern. Those sibling offenders who were previously abused by males most often went on to victimize boys (68%), whereas only 7% of those offenders victimized by females chose boys as victims. These data support a psychodynamic interpretation that the offender may be attempting to achieve symbolic mastery over his own victimization by identifying with the aggressor. Alternatively, sexual arousal and pleasure may become paired with a specific gender via the process of conditioning. In summary, there are numerous ways in which sibling abuse replicates the dynamics of other sexual abuse. Most of the abusers (brothers) are older males (Cantwell, 1981; Finkelhor, 1980; Smith & Israel, 1987), and most of the victims (sisters) are younger females (Finkelhor, 1980). Thus, most of the abuse is heterosexual (Finkelhor, 1980; Smith & Israel, 1987). Family dynamics are also similar to those in father-daughter incest. Families are described as patriarchal, with fathers dominating and controlling other members (Laviola, 1992). There is often physical abuse in these families (Laviola, 1992; Wiehe, 1990) as well as other psychosocial stressors (Laviola, 1992; Pierce & Pierce, 1990). Further, there are often a large number of children and dependents (Laviola, 1992; Russell, 1986), as well as dysfunctional dynamics (Laviola, 1992). Finally, sibling offenders are less likely to be adjudicated than other adolescent sex and nonsex offenders (O’Brien, 1991), and even child protective services appears to minimize this abuse (Adler & Schutz, 1995). O’Brien states that the implication is that society does not see this behavior as serious. He concludes that society must send a stronger message. Russell (1986) also writes of this abuse, “The notion that brothersister incest is usually a harmless, mutual interaction is seriously wrong”.

Tags: child, sexual abuse