The experience of mother-daughter incest

• Main Author: Ogilvie, Beverly Ann
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4603

A qualitative phenomenological paradign was utilized to explore the phenomenon of mother-daughter incest. Four mother-daughter incest survivors were recruited from Vancouver for this study. During individual, in-depth personal interviews, which were audio-taped, the women described their experience of their relationship with their mother, past and present. Eight common themes were extrapolated from the data using the seven-step model of data analysis as proposed by Colaizzi (1978). The women reported that they experienced their mothers as controlling, emotionally needy and unstable. They experienced profound betrayal, shame and self-blame, boundary violations, impaired sexual development, problems in identification with mother and differentiation from her, and difficulty coping. The results of the study indicated that the women perceived their mother's sexual victimization of them as having profound negative effects on their relationships with self and others.