title: Mis-taken love: conversations on the problem of incest in an Irish context.
abstract: An emotive consciousness of the issues surrounding incest frequently calls forth revulsion, outrage, fear, concern, and competition. Such responses often legitimate a range of actions that include the protection of children, the blaming of mothers, and the punishment of fathers. This article explores a "systemic" dis-position in conversations on father-daughter incest. The notion of a "Fifth Province" (from Celtic mythology) is invoked wherein all emotions, judgements, and descriptions can find acceptance, and whereby a language of control and competition, implicitly negating individuals and their relationships, is suspended as a rationale for action.
authors.affiliation: Family Studies Unit, University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: N O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Byrne
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005190:Family; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012539:Scapegoating; D012919:Social Behavior; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D012931:Social Environment; D014930:Women