Incest and Incestuous Relationship - Essay Example

Incest and incestuous relationship research Introduction The concept of families is aimed at creating aunique bond of relationship between and among the family members. In this regard, it is evident that siblings, in any family, play an important role in each others’ lives, which complements the parental companionship as well as the contributions made by friends. Since siblings often grow in the same environment, they tend to have a great amount of proximity and exposure to each other, however, this kind of relationship is described as being egalitarian with the rest of the family members. Additionally, the relationship between siblings is often an indication of the general condition of love and cohesiveness in the family, which is desirable for harmonious living. Inasmuch as effective sibling relationship is encouraged in the family, there are special incidents where it has developed to incest, where siblings engage in sexual relations. Sometimes the father can have an incest relationship with his daughters and boys or the mother engages in an incest relationship with the sons and so forth (Sanni 143). Universally, incest relationship is often regarded as a taboo, yet a lot of arguments over this perspective have increasingly been emerging. This research explores the concept of incest and incestuous desire, examining at how it has become prevalent in the contemporary society. 2. Research question What are incest and incestuous desires, and how do they happen in contemporary times? Are they justified in human societies? 3. Research methodology In facilitating this research, emphasis was placed in the quantitative methodologies, which included an examination of the journals and other research works that have been done on the same concept. This also included a number of books and published sources that have been authored on the evolving nature of human relationship. Additionally, some qualitative methods like interviewing were also done among respondents that have experienced this kind of relationships. Community social workers were also engaged in focus group discussions in trying to find out some of the perspectives that have been held by some people concerning this topic. The need for focus group discussion was thought as very effective in that it helped answer some of the crucial questions that many people have continued to hold on the prevalence e of this relationship, inasmuch as it has traditionally been regarded as a taboo. Resource persons, who included community and opinion leaders were also of great help towards understanding the community and cultural perspectives on incest. 4. Literature review For a long time, the idea of incest and incestuous relationships has been understood from the traditional, modernist, as well as liner perspective. In this research, these concepts have been viewed from the postmodern and social constructionist perspectives. In this approach, a lot of re-evaluation has been done on the traditional descriptions and definitions of the concept of incestuous and incest fathers. Nevertheless, this aspect of several realities means that many theoretical perspectives in this issue need to be put into account, with different explanations seemingly not appearing more valid compared to others. In this research, it is important to comprehend more on the issue of incest before making deep analysis of the terminology. However, it is important to realise that incest and incestuous relationships can be defined from various levels (Gunduz, Kenan and Unal 438). Most available literatures have made definitions of incest based on linear, modernist perspectives. Centuries ago, especially in the Middle Ages, the concept of incest was regarded as being very paradoxical, in literal terms, the term signified an abominable sin that was characterized by consanguineous sex; however, when given an allegorical interpretation, the term signified the mystical union that one had with God (Kuper 76). According to Sanni (2007), incest is defined as the kind of sexual contact that happens between a child and adult within the same family relationship. However, Sanni (2007) has failed to make a right definition of a child and an adult in this context. Additionally, he excludes another important aspect of incest relationships, which involves child-child sexual relationships within the same family. On the other hand, sexual researchers, in (Gunduz, Kenan and Unal 2013) define incest as the “sexual acts, which may or may not include intercourse, between members of a family other than a husband and wife.” On the other hand, Snyder and Casey (2014) makes a definition of incest as being the sexual experiences that happen between members of a family including sexual fondling, sexual propositions, mutual masturbation, oral-genital or oral-genital contact among others. According to Snyder and Casey (2014) family members include members of the nuclear and extended family comprising of in-laws and cousins. According to the literature above, it is evident that many difficulties exist in getting a precise meaning of “incest” and what should encompass. The two main sources of confusion stem from the fact that there are many connotations of sexual activities with several kinds of kinship between the perpetrators and victims. According to this research, as a terminology, incest can be said to be in consistent with the wider distinctive definition of the term as posited by Snyder and Casey (2014), who includes sexual behavior and contact for the aim of sexual stimulations, happening between people of the same family. In this regard, the child may be biologically related to the adult, adopted or simply under the care and guardianship of the perpetrator. At the start of the 80s, there was a big explosion in literatures concerning sexual abuse in children (Snyder and Casey 196). Some of the major factors that contributed to this explosion was the increase in intra-familial sexual abuses that emerged in the same period. Later, sexual abuses have risen to become common in families, with many of the cases going unreported because of the traditionally held beliefs on incest relationship. Many of the perpetrators of this crime will often try to threaten their victims, so that they are not known to be the people that committed the act. 5. Incest and incestuous desire in the Hamlet In the Hamlet, the theme of incest is evident in the entire play, it is frequent in many of the conversations about Claudius and Gertrude, the sister and brother-in-law, who have got married. Incestuous desire, in this play is evident in the relationship between Ophelia and Laertes, the manner in which Laertes converses with her sister is full of sexual terms and during her funeral, he leaps to hold her in her arms on her grave. The strongest incestuous desire overtones come to manifest in the relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet. This is evident following Hamlet’s fixation of the sexual life of Gertrude with Claudius, as well as his preoccupation with her over the whole time they are together. 6. Discussion and conclusion The research discovered that there are many types of incest relationships that happen in families; some of these include, child – child incest involving children under the same parental or guardian care, mother-son incest, which though not common, involves the mother or female parent with the son and the father-daughter incest, which is the most common, between a male parent and the daughter under her care (Snyder and Casey 190). Considerable evidence suggests that the father-daughter incest, in many instances, does not involve severe force or violence. Instead, it is often deliberately planned and coordinated by the perpetrators who use their authority on the victims to defile them. According to a research Wang (2007), he explains that in all the research he undertook, he discovered that only 8% of the victims he came across were raped, the rest were made to participate in the act because of undue influence from the perpetrators. By forcing their victims to be silent for a long time, the perpetrators found an opportunity to defile their victims over and over again. Many of the victims that were rescued from such realities complained of regular defilement from their perpetrators, which went for more than one year. Many of the ladies that have been defiled by their adult perpetrators have often procured abortion when they became pregnant while others have suffered from various venereal diseases. Few of the cases that involved rape were those where the victims tried to resist, forcing their perpetrators to use their physical strength to defile them (Steutel 67). The fact that incest and incestuous desires have been held as a taboo by most cultures have made victims and their perpetrators to keep quiet about incidences in which they have participate in the act (Wang 1320). Many of the children that are born out of such relationships are considered as outcasts in some cultures, forcing them to get adoption in children centres or by people that want children to adopt. On the other hand, the victim and the perpetrators are expected to undergo cleansing rituals for being adopted back in the families again, failure to which they can be excommunicated from the societies for good. In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge the fact that there are many adults who are struggling with the problem of incest relationship. Besides personal conviction, it is important that family counselors take time to address this challenge among parents and teenagers. Between the victim and the perpetrator, it is the perpetrator who needs to be held accountable over this act because they use their authority and power over their victims to force them into sexual activities, thus incest relationship (Wang 1321). In some countries, the law forbids against incest relationships and rape, such that perpetrators are often sentenced to several years in jail and other stiffer penalties especially when the acts were done on under age children. Human rights and child advocate groups have been taking serious the concept of incest relationships, especially when children are defiled by the adult members of the same family (Steutel 65). Many of them conduct investigation and bring the perpetrators to face the full force of the law, in some way; this approach has helped reduce the prevalence of these cases in modern societies. However, family attorney and counselors agree that a lot of parental guidance and counseling is effective in helping parents and adult member of the family to avoid incest relationship especially on children. Annotated Bibliography Gunduz, Tarık, Kenan Karbeyaz, and Unal Ayranci. "Evaluation of the Adjudicated Incest Cases in Turkey: Difficulties in Notification of Incestuous Relationships." Journal of Forensic Sciences 56.2. (2011): 438-43. Print. The authors of this journal trace the case of incest in Turkish community, explaining how such kinds of relationships have often been handled. The explain that in the society, just like other cultures of the world; consider incest as an abomination and a taboo. Families take time to pass the knowledge of this phenomenon to generations, and people that fall victims to this practice are sometimes sent away from their particular communities. The authors explain that many of the ladies that have been victimized often decide to keep silent about the incidents especially when their perpetrators were their father and older members of the family. Kuper, Adam. Incest & Influence the Private Life of Bourgeois England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 2009. Print. In this book, Kuper explains in contemporary times, traditional beliefs that had long been held over incest and incestuous desires are fast dying. This follows the increased interaction between cultures, which weaken the kinship ties and subsequent beliefs that had been held about this practice. The author explains that in many civilized societies, killing the children born out of incest relationships is against the law and people found violating the policy are sentenced according to the laid down constitutional provisions. Instead, there are rescue centres for such children but people are encourage to avoid incest relationships. Sanni, Amidu Olalekan. "Close Relationships – Incest and Inbreeding in Classical Arabic Literature." Die Welt Des Islams 47.1. (2007): 143-44. Print. The author of this journal explains that unlike other cultures, the Islam and Arabic culture to be precise does not have strict rules regarding incest relationship. The Islam religion, which is the cornerstone of the Muslim’s faith accepts incest marriages only with cousins and distant relatives and not immediate sisters and brothers. All this is taught to young people in their early years so that they do not end up marrying their closest family members. However, the culture does not accept father-daughter or mother-son incest. Snyder, Susan M. and Casey Rubenstein. "Do Incest, Depression, Parental Drinking, Serious Romantic Relationships and Living with Parents Influence Patterns of Substance Use During Emerging Adulthood?" Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 46.3. (2014): 188-97. Print. The authors of this journal have examined the correlation between incest relationship and indulgence in drugs. In their findings, they explain that some people feel very ashamed of incest relationships; this is for both the victims and perpetrators. In a society where such kind of relationships are highly abolished, these people sometimes end up indulging in drugs because they are depressed, in the hope of doing away with the negative thoughts and feelings. Steutel, Jan W. "Incest." International Encyclopedia of Ethics, 16.2. (2013). 65-76. Print. The author of this journal examines of the reasons why incest is accepted in some culture and not in otters. Some of the communities that have no issues with incest and incestuous relationships according to the author cite religious books as having examples of incest relationship. The same perspective is held by those that area against the thinking. For this reason, the author explains that the common stands over the validity of this relationship across the world is still divergent inasmuch as it is held as a taboo by many of the communities across the world. Wang, Xiying. "Violence and Desire in Beijing: A Young Chinese Womans Strategies of Resistance in Father Daughter Incest and Dating Relationships." Violence against Women, 13.12. (2007): 1319-338. Print. The author of this journal follows closely the Chinese culture, where this kind of relationship is held as an abomination. He cites various incidences where women and girls have often been exploited by their elder siblings by being forced into such kind relationships. Many incidences have been reported of women and girls that have been hurt because of revealing their ordeals under their trusted cares. This document provides information on some of the reasons why the Chinese culture does not accept such kind of relationships. Works Cited Gunduz, Tarık, Kenan Karbeyaz, and Unal Ayranci. "Evaluation of the Adjudicated Incest Cases in Turkey: Difficulties in Notification of Incestuous Relationships." Journal of Forensic Sciences 56.2. (2011): 438-43. Print. Kuper, Adam. Incest & Influence the Private Life of Bourgeois England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 2009. Print. Sanni, Amidu Olalekan. "Close Relationships – Incest and Inbreeding in Classical Arabic Literature." Die Welt Des Islams 47.1. (2007): 143-44. Print. Snyder, Susan M., and Casey Rubenstein. "Do Incest, Depression, Parental Drinking, Serious Romantic Relationships, and Living with Parents Influence Patterns of Substance Use During Emerging Adulthood?" Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 46.3. (2014): 188-97. Print. Steutel, Jan W. "Incest." International Encyclopedia of Ethics 16.2. (2013). 65-76. Print. Wang, Xiying. "Violence and Desire in Beijing: A Young Chinese Womans Strategies of Resistance in Father Daughter Incest and Dating Relationships." Violence against Women 13.12. (2007): 1319-338. Print. Read More