Self-Mutilation and Self-Blame in Incest Victims

1 January 1987

journal article
research article
Published by American Psychiatric Association Publishing in American Journal of Psychotherapy

Vol. 41 (1) , 46-54
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1987.41.1.46

Abstract

A case is made for self-blame as the psychic link between children’s experiences of incestuous sexual abuse and their self-mutilating behavior later in life. Representative case histories and the results of a small pilot study are presented to illustrate the author’s theoretical formulation.