Reactions To Two Types Of Incest Offenders As A Function Of Their Past

The father-daughter incest taboo has existed for centuries, posing critical problems to psychotherapists ranging from disbelief of victims' reports to clumsy therapeutic management of the problem. The majority of father incest-offenders fall into two diagnostic categories, the symbiotic and the psychopathic. In the present study, reactions to simulated stories of psychopathic and symbiotic offenders were compared using 120 college students as respondents. Half of the respondents read descriptions of the deprived and abused childhoods of the offenders, while the other half did not read the childhood descriptions. Male subjects were compared with females. Perceived appropriate consequences for the offense were also ascertained.