Woman Battering and Father-Daughter Incest Disclosure: Discourses of Denial and Acknowledgement

Abstract

This article explores the all too common processes of denial of abuse by those who perpetrate it and often by those who experience it. It is proposed by the authors that the denial of abuse does not reflect characterological pathology but is a behaviour which re-presents the ambiguity towards violence and sexual abuse in western legal and social discourses. A professional interviewer who is not sensitive to this representation is in danger of perpetrating further violence. The article introduces some methods for the avoidance of this threat.