INCESTUOUS SEXUAL ABUSE
Recommended Resources -- Publications
The following are excerpted from The Children We Sacrifice: A Resource Book, edited by Grace Poore, Silver Spring, MD: SHaKTI PRODUCTIONS, 2000. To obtain a copy, contact us. Other recommended publications are marked with 
.
We will keep updating this list as we identify other useful resources. Feel free to email us with suggested resources that you think might be useful.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A Mother's Nightmare Incest: A Practical Legal Guide for Parents and Professionals, edited by John E.B. Myers, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1997.
The book is divided into several parts. While most of his suggestions are for a North American audience, Meyers' approach and recommendations can be useful for a cross-national readership.
Children In Families At Risk: Maintaining The Connections, edited by Lee Combrinck-Graham, New York: Guilford Press, 1995.
In chapter six, "Helping Families Become Places of Healing: Systemic Treatment of Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse," Raymond X. De Maio deals with how to conduct therapy with families in a way that does not destroy them from having to deal with incest and denial. He talks about how to strengthen family connections and the importance of creating a mutually supportive environment to help heal the children. He stresses the need to understand incest systemically, pay special attention to effects of incest and how to help mothers whose husbands abused their children, the role of men in addressing and confronting the problem of sexual abuse by men, and the challenge of recreating a new ideal of masculinity.
The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self, Alice Miller, Basic Books, New York: 1990.
A collection of three essays by the Swiss psychoanalysts who resigned from the institution of psychoanalysis to become a psychotherapist and bestseller writer. This 120-page paperback is described as "a critical examination of how narcissistic parents form and deform the lives of their talented children." Given that prevention of incestuous sexual abuse includes providing a home atmosphere that feels affirming and empowering to children, this is a useful book to look at how children are viewed and treated (or not treated) as individuals.
Female Sexual Abuse of Children, edited by Michelle Elliott, New York: Guilford Press, 1994.
She is a child psychologist and founder and director of the children's protection organization, KIDSCAPE in the UK. Contributors to her book are social workers, psychotherapists, a medical doctor, psychologists, and a nurse. Chapters include: an overview of what survivors say about abuse by women, impact and treatment issues for victims of female perpetrators, helping survivors through counseling, working with female sexual abusers, the paradox of women who sexually abuse children, women abusers, and a feminist view of women who commit sexual abuse. Also included are women's and men's survivor stories as well as a section on self-help for survivors.
Let's Talk MEN: The South Asia Masculinities Project, February 2000.
A series of documentaries by four different filmmakers from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India, aimed primarily at 13-20 year olds, particularly boys and young men in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. The films are also meant for interactive screenings with a general public to raise awareness about gender issues, challenge entrenched patriarchal family dynamics and institutional practices in South Asia, and to provide alternative male role models for boys and young men who are raised to believe that violent behavior towards women and girls is the norm. The films can be seen as stand-alone films or in different combinations. They come with a discussion guide. For more information about the films or to find out about workshops in conjunction with these films, contact Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, Additional Professor of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Services, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore 560 029, India. Phone: 91-80-6995268 or 6995550.
Email: shekharseshadri@rediffmail.com
The Obsidian Mirror: An Adult Healing From Incest, Louise M. Wisechild, Seattle: Seal Press, 1988.
Personal journey of an adult survivor of incest who was abused by stepfather, uncle and grandfather. She reopens closed doors, relives the experience of abuse, self hate and depression and looks at how incest shaped her world. By the end she has taken readers through her process of confronting the family and, eventually, reclaiming self.
The RAHI Findings: Voices From The Silent Zone: Women's Experiences of Incest And Childhood Sexual Abuse, New Delhi: RAHI, 1999.
This report on incidence of incest in India is based on a 1997 study carried out by RAHI, a counseling and support center for adult women survivors of incestuous sexual abuse. The study focused on English-speaking middle and upper class, college-educated women living in five Indian cities Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Goa and Madras. For more information on this report or to obtain their mailing address, send e-mail to RAHI at: rahisupp@del2.vsnl.net.in. Or call: 91-11-6238466 in New Delhi, India.
Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest And After Effects in Women, E. Sue Blume, New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.
Very helpful to survivors and used in support groups.
Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal Of The Child, Alice Miller, New York: Meridian Penguin Books, 1986.
Eighty-five percent of crimes against children are sexual in nature, 70% of women in prostitution were sexually abused as children, 80% of female drug users were sexually abused as children. Within this context, the book "uncovers roots of victimization of the child and shows how to heal the wounds."
Trauma And Recovery, Judith Lewis Herman, New York: Basic Books, 1997.
Provides meaningful insights and analyses that can apply to different socio-cultural realities. Also recommended is "Father-Daughter Incest", Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1981.
Shining Through: Pulling It Together After Sexual Abuse, 2nd Edition, Mindy Loiselle and Leslie Bailey Wright, Vermont: The Safer Society Press, 1997.
This book is for girl children ages 10 and up who are trying to heal from sexual abuse. It covers critical issues such as: body image, trust, how to understand feelings that come up after the abuse, how to deal with people's reactions when they found out about the abuse, how to confront negative messages that blame the victim, what's involved in therapy, and what to do if the family does not want to or cannot get help. The book is filled with suggestions for activities that sexually abused girls can do by themselves or with adults to help them feel stronger and better about themselves in the aftermath of the abuse. One valuable reminder at the front of the book states: "All people help themselves in their own special way ... Helping yourself feel better never happens through force. Experiment gently." While this book is designed specifically for girls, it is also useful for sexually abused boys. Contact Safer Society Press for other books that have been written primarily for boy victims of child sexual abuse.
Family Fallout: A Handbook For Families of Adult Sexual Abuse Survivors, Dorothy Beaulieu Landry, Vermont: The Safer Society Press, 1991.
Based on her therapy practice with survivors and their families and her own experience with sexual abuse healing, the author wrote this easy-to-read slim 76-page book "to help ease the process of disclosure and answer some of the questions and problems that families face when confronted with such devastating realities." The book is premised on the fact that "sexual abuse is rarely the only problem in a family" and that the "fallout from disclosure shakes the old rigid rules and roles in a family." The author advises that if a family chooses to deal with the fallout, "not only will the sexual abuse wound move toward healing, so will many other old and hidden wounds" within the family. Part one is for extended family of origin. Part two is for the survivor's immediate family of choice. Part three is for the survivor's supporters who can be family members, intimate partners or friends. The chapter for partners of survivors is particularly useful for those who are in a relationship with a survivor of child sexual abuse. However, the author assumes that the survivor has only just discovered or realized the abuse. It would have been even more helpful if the book had included an equivalent chapter for partners of survivors who have been grappling for a long time with the effects of childhood sexual abuse.
Top of Page