TY - JOUR PY - 2000// TI - Differentiating incest survivors who self-mutilate JO - Child abuse and neglect A1 - Turell, Susan C. A1 - Armsworth, M. W. SP - 237 EP - 249 VL - 24 IS - 2 N2 - OBJECTIVE: This study was an exploratory analysis of the variables which differentiated incest survivors who self-mutilate from those who do not. METHOD: A sample of women incest survivors (N = 84) were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of self-mutilation. Participants included both community and clinical populations. A packet consisting of a demographic questionnaire, Sexual Attitudes Survey, Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms, Dissociative Events Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory was completed by each participant. RESULTS: Demographic, incest, and family of origin variables distinguished the self-mutilating women from those who did not. These include ethnicity and educational experiences; duration, frequency, and perpetrator characteristics regarding the incest; and multiple abuses, instability, birth order, and loss of mother in one's family of origin. Psychological and physical health concerns also differentiated between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Many variables may differentiate between women incest survivors who self-mutilate from those who do not. A rudimentary checklist to describe the lives of incest survivors who self-mutilate resulted from these findings. The importance of the concept of embodiment is also discussed.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0145-2134 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -