An anthropological profile of the incestuous paternal psyche

To date, social science has failed to reveal the determinants of father-daughter incest. Based on both the findings of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory administered to incestuous biological and step fathers, and a cross-cultural survey of pre-industrial societies adapted from the Human Relations Area Files, the author has linked the observed symptoms of personality disorder in incestuous fathers to the decline of male absolutism in contemporary family organization. Consequently, the feminist perspectives on father-daughter incest have been re-evaluated. An incestuous father is objectively examined as a constituent of the wider social system and not as a sex offender per se. Rather than dwelling upon the origin and functions of the incest taboo, the author recommends a new direction in anthropological research that evaluates the socio-cultural determinants of incest.