I invite all listmembers to go to <www.psychohistory.com> and read "The
Universality of Incest," a historical and cross-cultural analysis of incest
and sexual molestation of boys and girls. Here are some brief selections
from the essay:

                        The Universality of Incest
                                        Lloyd DeMause

                     "A new motto: What has been done to you, poor child?"
                                       -Sigmund Freud,

                               letter to Wilhelm Fliess, Dec.22, 1897,
                           citing Goethe, after relating his patient's memory
                            of having been raped by her father at age two.

 Ever since the Greek historians first wrote about the customs of other nations,
 scholars have compared the habits of different cultures, hoping to discover
 meaningful regularities in human behavior.

 Yet the only universal trait that Contemporary social scientists and
historians agree
 has been found in every known culture is the prohibition of incest. As one
standard
 text puts it, "The taboo on incest within the immediate family is one of
the few
 known cultural universals."(1) Kroeber stated, "If ten anthropologists
were asked to
 designate one universal institution, nine would likely name the incest
prohibition;
 some have expressly named it as the only universal one."(2) That "no known
tribe
 has ever permitted incest"(3) has been a truism for cross-cultural studies
ever since
 Durkheim and Westermarck's early books on the subject.(4). . .

 This essay is intended to consider the evidence for the opposite
hypothesis: That it
 is incest itself - and not the absence of incest - that has been universal
for most
 people in most places at most times. Further-more, the earlier in history one
 searches, the more evidence there is of universal incest, just as there is more
 evidence of other forms of child abuse."(14) . . .
Using
 these two studies, then, as the most accurate we have to date, one finds
that either
 38 percent (Russell) or 45 percent (Wyatt) of women interviewed reported
 memories of familial and/or extrafamilial sexual abuse during their childhood,
 almost half of which was directly incestuous.

 Figures as accurate as these for men's memories of seduction are more
difficult to
 obtain. The highest figure reported to date, that of Landis, is 30
percent. Other
 studies report lower figures because they are from brief questionnaires.
Although
 most comparisons of male and female victimization show molestation of boys only
 about a third the rate of girls, (50) there is evidence that males are far more
 reluctant to reveal their molestation, partly because it usually occurs
earlier for boys
 than for girls and partly because victimization may be even more difficult
for boys
 to recall and report than for girls. Because it was conducted by
interviews, the 30
 percent rate of Landis' study undoubtedly is the most reliable we have for
boys.
 Therefore, the best estimates for memories of childhood sexual abuse we
now have
 for the United States are 40 percent for girls and 30 percent for boys,
almost half
 directly incestuous for girls and about a quarter directly incestuous for
boys. (51)

 Yet even these astonishingly high figures are only a portion of the
hid-den true
 incidence rates. Four additional factors raise the actual rates even higher:

     1.The groups interviewed do not include many people in the American
        population who have far higher than average sexual molestation
        experiences, including institutionalized criminals, prostitutes,
juveniles in
        shelters and psychotics (52),
     2.the studies only count admissions to the interviewer of abuse, and it is
        unlikely that no conscious memories were ever suppressed during the
        interviews,
     3.a large percent of each study refused to be interviewed, and these
may have
        been the most victimized of all,(53) and
     4.most importantly, these studies include only clear conscious memories of
        events-unconscious memories, which are usually only uncovered during
        psychotherapy, would increase these rates.

 It is possible to correct the incidence rates statistically for these
factors, Although
 only 11 percent of Russell's respondents recalled being victimized before
the age of
 five, another study shows the most common age of sexual abuse reported to
 authorities is four years, while other studies report that from 21 to 50
percent of
 reported sexual abuse victims involve children under five.(54) Since few people
 consciously recall traumatic events of any kind before the age of five,
and since the
 graph for sexual abuse distribution by age runs roughly level from ages two to
 sixteen,(55) the incidence figures stated above should be increased by at
least an
 additional 50 percent(56) to account for these three factors, Therefore, the
 corrected incidence rates are at least 60 percent for Girls and 45 percent
for boys. . . .



 Outside the U.S., there has been only one comparably reliable study
published: a
 thirteen-hundred-page report on face-to-face interviews of over 2,000 men and
 women done for the Canadian government by the Gallup organization, which
 concludes with incidence rates approximately the same as the U.S.
studies.(77) In
 Latin America, anthropologists report a great deal of family sexual
activity and
 widespread pederasty as part of macho masculine activity, though reliable
statistics
 of incidence are not yet available. (78) In Puerto Rico, for instance,
Oscar Lewis
 found "danger of seduction by stepfathers, sexual rivalry between sisters,
between
 mother and daughters [and] male children erotically stimulated by their mothers
 and by other members of the family,"(79) E. N. Padilla reported parents
and others
 regularly masturbating the infant's penis(80) and Romon Frendandez-Marina found
 Peurto Rican fathers often masturbating their boys to show off their
maleness to
 friends." In Mexico, J. M. Carrier reported a large proportion of Mexican
men had
 sexual relations with nephews, cousins or neighbors between the ages of 6
and 9.
 (82)

 European countries are about two decades behind the U.S. in interview
techniques,
 and since they still use written questionnaires they usually report sexual
abuse
 rates of under one percent. (83) Most European studies do not attempt to study
 statistical frequency, though some - such as a series of studies on
Scandinavian
 incest - report considerable public acceptance of incest in some rural
areas. (84)

 Even though there are no reliable statistics for most European countries,
a recent
 flurry of books, articles and telephone "hotlines" has begun to reveal
widespread
 sexual molestation. A recent BBC "ChildWatch" program asked its female
listeners -
 a large though biased sample - if they remembered sexual molestation, and, of
 the 2,530 replies analyzed, 83 percent remembered someone touching their
 genitals, 62 percent of the full sample recalling actual intercourse.(85)
Official
 estimates of German children sexually abused and raped each year now number
 over 300,000, and sexual abuse hot lines are becoming more widespread.(86) The
 establishment of Italian "SOS-infanzia" hotlines - initially much resented
by the
 public - have begun to reveal widespread pedophile networks, baby
prostitution and
 Boy Scout/Girl Guide molestation, as well as the widespread sexual abuse of
 children within famines, with a particular emphasis on the pederasty of
boys. (87) . . .

Childhood in much of India begins with the young child being regularly
masturbated
 by the mother, "high caste or low caste, the girl 'to make her sleep
well,' the boy 'to
 make him manly..."' This practice has been said to be widespread by many
reliable
 observers, including Catherine Mayo - whose extensive investigations in
India in the
 1920s led to the first child marriage laws(90) - a physician,(91) an
ethnologist,(92)
 a religious scholar (93) and a sociologist.(94) As is the case with
virtually all
 non-Western cultures, the child sleeps in the family bed for several years and
 regularly observes sexual intercourse between the parents. The extent to which
 Indian parents go beyond this and overtly have sex with the child cannot be
 determined. Rampal, the sociologist who recently did interviews modeled on the
 Kinsey studies about contemporary Indian sexual practices, concludes that
"there is
 a lot of incest...It is hidden along with other secrets of families and
rarely gets a
 chance to come out, like seduction at the hands of trusted friends of the
family...
 To arrive at even a passable estimate of incest cases would be to touch the
 hornet's nest.. no one will ever confess to such a deed, therefore, any
attempt to
 collect statistics may prove to be futile at present."(95)

 Boys as well as girls are reported as being masturbated and raped by the men in
 the family, including fathers, older brothers, uncles and cousins.(96) By
the time
 children are four or five, they are usually taken to bed at night by
others in the
 extended household. "A particular uncle may like her to sleep in his room,
which is
 considered a great gesture of closeness."(97) As one girl describes it: "I
hardly ever
 slept with my parents after I was four. I rotated almost every night between my
 various uncles and sometimes my grandmother. But it was difficult to have any
 space in her bed because all the grandsons slept in her bed.. So I
prefer-red to
 sleep in [uncle's] bed, who was very nice and put his arms around me in
 winter."(98) This practice is similar to the customary sharing of their
wives by
 brothers, who have free sexual access to each other's wives, an ancient
practice still
 approved of in some areas in India.(99)

 So acceptable is sex between close relatives in India that uncle-niece and
 cross-cousin marriages were preferred among certain Indian groups.(100) As the
 old Indian proverb has it, "For a girl to be a virgin at ten years old,
she must have
 neither brothers nor cousin nor father." These sleeping patterns with
relatives who
 live in common residences continue even after marriage, since husbands are
often
 cold to wives, and sex with the husband's younger brother is covertly
encouraged by
 the family to give the wife someone to be "close" to.(101) Grandfathers
often call
 the little girls "my little wife," give them candy and "play the role of
an old seducer,"
 teasing them by saying "Don't you want to marry me?"(102) One observer stuns up
 traditional Indian sexual stimulation during childhood as follows: "The
little Hindu
 girls are deflowered by the little boys with whom they play, and repeat
together the
 erotic lessons which their parents have unwittingly taught them on account
of the
 general promiscuity of family life throughout India. In all the little
girls of less than
 ten years of age the complete hymen is wanting.. Incest is often the rule
rather
 than the exception."(103)

 In addition to direct incest by parents, the seduction of little girls who
are taken in
 as wards or servants is quite common. Many older men, Rampal reports, "get down
 to seducing young girls whom they give protection at home for any reason -
 education, service, relationship, close friendship with father or brother.
[They] take
 full advantage of the girl's innocence and her lack of experience in
dealing with
 men who desire them sexually. The girls generally regret such relationships
 because of [the] extreme dualism of calling their secret lovers as 'uncle'
or 'brother'
 before others and indulging in coitus in the privacy of [the] bedroom..."(104)
 Fathers sometimes encourage the seduction by giving a daughter to a friend
to be
 brought up "as his own daughter" so the friend "then initiates her to
incestuous
 coitus."(105)

 The sexual use of boys and girls goes back as far as records exist and
includes all
 cases in India. As Mayo says, "For a period so long that none knows it
beginning,
 the Brahmin has been intensively cultivating, and with priestly authority
handing on,
 a passion for immature girl-children in sexual use." (106) Temple
prostitution of
 both boys and girls has a long history, and Mayo reported in 1927 that
"the little
 boy...is likely, if physically attractive, to be drafted for the
satisfaction of grown
 men, or to be regularly attached to a temple, in the capacity of
prostitute. Neither
 parent as a rule sees any harm in this, but is, rather, flattered that the
son has
 been found pleasing."(107) Both priests and visitors used the boys and girls
 sexually, most of the children being "of good caste." One community of temple
 prostitutes numbered two hundred thousand members, according to government
 statistics.(108)
. . .

I invite all listmembers to go to <www.psychohistory.com> and read the
entire text of "The Universality of Incest."





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