ABSTRACT
This chapter describes findings from a research project that studied 278 cases of intrafamilial child sexual abuse. In most of the cases either the victim was removed from the family and placed in foster care, or the perpetrator left or was removed from the home. The chapter focuses on the role of the victim's mother in protecting her child as an intervening factor in the determination of the type of intervention. It examines the extent to which certain characteristics of the case are related to the nature and to the type of intervention. Increased intervention experience with the abused child has called into question both the traditional clinical interpretation of incest and the legal processes that treat the incidents as criminal cases. Some observers believe that the harmful effects may be exaggerated due to overreliance on clinical samples. As practitioners become more familiar with a variety of families, it becomes apparent that everyone in the family suffers.
