The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women . - Revised Edition - Review - book review

Adolescence, Spring, 2001

RUSSELL, Diana E. H. The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women (Revised Edition). New York: Basic Books, 1999. 464pp. $18.00 (p).

Based on findings about San Francisco, this book makes a case for an epidemic of abuse on a national scale. In her analysis, Russell explores the complex variables of incestuous abuse: the changing incidence of abuse over time, the severity of the abuse, the victim's age, factors of class, race, and ethnicity, and long-term effects on victims. In a new introduction to the revised edition, Russell takes on the most important issue to arise in the field since the book was originally published in 1986--the serious backlash that followed the outpouring of reports by victims/survivors, and the controversy over false accusations and "false memories." Chapters include: introduction--the problem and its history; the incest study; can incest be nonabusive?; the prevalence of incestuous abuse in contemporary America; has incestuous abuse increased in the United States?; the tip of the iceberg--reported cases; what actually happened?--the characteristics of incestuous abuse; social factors in the occurrence of incestuou s abuse; the incest victims--who they are and how they coped; trauma through the eyes of the victims; incestuous abuse as a contributing cause of revictimization; ravaged lives--three women's stories; some long-term effects of incestuous abuse; incest runaway--a case study; who are the perpetrators?; father-daughter incest--the supreme betrayal; explaining the differences between biological father and stepfather incest; brother-sister incest--breaking the myth of mutuality; female incest perpetrators--how do they differ from males, and why are there so few?; grandfather-granddaughter incest; uncles who sexually abuse their nieces; brothers-in-law, first cousins, and other more distant relatives; family members--what role do they play?; mothers of incest victims--two case studies; conclusion--incest in the lives of girls and women.