Incest

Abstract

Paternal incest has been known and recorded in all periods of history and in all types of civilization. It seems to be a universal phenomenon which does not recognize any historical, geographical, racial or social boundaries: it was practised by royal families in classical Egypt, Greece, Peru and Japan; it occurred among some ruling families in mediaeval Europe; nowadays it has been reported in most industrial countries of Europe and America, as well as in the remote islands of Polynesia. Incest seems to exist everywhere, in spite of the fact that it is regarded as taboo in many primitive societies (Cooper, 1932; Freud, 1919; Walker, 1940), and is condemned in all Western societies, both by the Church, which regards it as a serious 'sin’ and by the Law, which makes it an indictable offence.