NCJ Number
122316
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: (1990) Pages: 121-127
Date Published
1990
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Based on the analytical concepts of narcissism, perversion, and clinical material, an hypothesis is presented for the understanding of the mental functioning of the physically and sexually abusive parent.
Abstract
Relating the aggressive instinct to narcissism and the sexual instinct to perversion, two modes of functioning are presented which have points in common and diverging, but which show the dynamics involved in physical and sexual abuse. The narcissistic double occurs when the parent is confronted with his/her own childhood experiences via the child. The abusive parent's aggressiveness is usually directed against himself/herself; the child's body serves as an extension of the parent's self. Another type of abuse can be qualified as perverse; the aggressive act aims at pleasure which corresponds to another type of stimulation. Although the stimulation is not always explicitly sexual, the desire that incites the parent is of a sexual nature. Understanding the type of emotional relationship between the parents and the type of their emotional investment in their child reveals how the complicity of parents works against the child. This understanding implicitly gives insight into the structuring of the personality of the child-victim, who in turn undergoes the risk of becoming a physically and/or sexually abusive parent with his/her own children. 13 references. (Author abstract modified)