Power, control, and domination in sexual abuse

Power, control, and domination in sexual abuse Feminist theory also posits that incest is an abuse not only of power, but of a
powerful, dominant, and controlling patriarch (Herman, 1981). A large body of
empirical literature supports this dynamic, as other types of violence frequently coexist
with the incest. Indeed, many victims are also physically abused (Herman, 1981;Sirles, Smith, & Kusama, 1989), and domestic violence also occurs in many of these
families (Sirles & Franke, 1989; Williams & Finkelhor, 1990). For example,
Alexander and Schaeffer (1 994) found high levels of physical violence in more than
half of the families of origin of adult survivors of intrafamilial abuse. In 90% of
these high-violence families, the father was the primary perpetrator of violence. In
some families, an older son might also be sexually abusing the victim or another sister.
Indeed, one study found that abuse by a brother was preceded by father-daughter
incest in one-third of the families in which sibling abuse occurred (Smith & Israel,
1987). High levels of domination and control are also found in families in which
father-daughter incest occurs (Dadds, Smith, Webber, & Robinson, 1991 ; Herman,
1981). Thus, father-daughter incest is only one type of violence and control
perpetrated by the male members of these families.