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Healing the incest wound
154
Book Reviews
recommend the book for libraries and resource centers, and individual chapters are certain to be of specific interest. We cannot recommend the book as a whole to indviduals looking for a comprehensive text on this important topic. MARK ALLSOPP DAVID JONES
The Park Hospital for Children Oxford, England Healing the Incest Wound. Christine A. Courtois. 1988. W. W. Norton, New York/London, 1988. 385 pages. $34.95, hardcover. THE BOOK 1S ORGANIZED into three major sections: (1) incest characteristics and dynamics; (2) symptoms, aftermaths, and diagnosis; and (3) incest therapy. The author has accomplished a thorough review of the research and theoretical literature on incest. The book becomes difficult reading in places where it reads more like a compilation of studies without sufficient integration, but the detailed review of so much literature will be an invaluable resource for students new to the field and practitioners wishing to review their knowledge. The second section of the book (symptoms, aftermaths, and diagnosis) provides a particularly nice discussion of the effects of incest, and Chapter 8 (Presenting Concerns and Diagnoses) will be especially useful to students and those new to the field. The third section of the book on treatment provides a brief introduction to the treatment of incest survivors. The topics covered are quite complete, and the experienced therapist will find the review helpful. We have some concern that much of the material in this section is handled far too briefly (e.g., 10 pages on self-damaging behaviors and 4 pages on ethnicity), but this concern should not detract from an otherwise useful resource. Supplemental material providing more detail on treatment issues will help make this a better teaching tool. On the whole, the author has provided a major resource. This is an essential contribution to any professional library. JON R. CONTE
The University of Chicago Chicago, IL Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse. Mike Lew. Nevraumont, New York, 1988. 393 pp. $19.95. THIS BOOK is primarily written for men who have experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The author discusses the effects of sexual abuse, especially incest, and describes the characteristics of male victims and their typical coping strategies. A large part of the book is devoted to the recovery process. The author describes the various intervention strategies found to be effective with male incest survivors, emphasizing the importance of individual counseling and group psychotherapy but also offering a host of other interventions ranging from self-help groups to hypnosis, physical massage, and meditation. The book is written in an inspirational tone, with a great deal of sensitivity and understanding of the victim, who is encouraged to be assertive in choosing the type of treatment best suited for himself. The author is optimistic about the potential for recovery but dispels pollyanish illusions by emphasizing the up and down course of treatment and the painful reworking of the trauma, which is necessary for improvement. There is an excellent chapter on confronting the abuser, and the author deals sensitively with the question of whether or not the victim should forgive the perpetrator. The narrative of the book is interspersed with autobiographical clinical vignettes (called "statements") of male sexual abuse victims, which effectively illustrate the themes of the text. The vast majority of the statements are made by victims with a gay sexual orientation. While the author is very empathic towards the special problems encountered by gay incest survivors, he fails to explain the potential link between
Book Reviews
recommend the book for libraries and resource centers, and individual chapters are certain to be of specific interest. We cannot recommend the book as a whole to indviduals looking for a comprehensive text on this important topic. MARK ALLSOPP DAVID JONES
The Park Hospital for Children Oxford, England Healing the Incest Wound. Christine A. Courtois. 1988. W. W. Norton, New York/London, 1988. 385 pages. $34.95, hardcover. THE BOOK 1S ORGANIZED into three major sections: (1) incest characteristics and dynamics; (2) symptoms, aftermaths, and diagnosis; and (3) incest therapy. The author has accomplished a thorough review of the research and theoretical literature on incest. The book becomes difficult reading in places where it reads more like a compilation of studies without sufficient integration, but the detailed review of so much literature will be an invaluable resource for students new to the field and practitioners wishing to review their knowledge. The second section of the book (symptoms, aftermaths, and diagnosis) provides a particularly nice discussion of the effects of incest, and Chapter 8 (Presenting Concerns and Diagnoses) will be especially useful to students and those new to the field. The third section of the book on treatment provides a brief introduction to the treatment of incest survivors. The topics covered are quite complete, and the experienced therapist will find the review helpful. We have some concern that much of the material in this section is handled far too briefly (e.g., 10 pages on self-damaging behaviors and 4 pages on ethnicity), but this concern should not detract from an otherwise useful resource. Supplemental material providing more detail on treatment issues will help make this a better teaching tool. On the whole, the author has provided a major resource. This is an essential contribution to any professional library. JON R. CONTE
The University of Chicago Chicago, IL Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Sexual Child Abuse. Mike Lew. Nevraumont, New York, 1988. 393 pp. $19.95. THIS BOOK is primarily written for men who have experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The author discusses the effects of sexual abuse, especially incest, and describes the characteristics of male victims and their typical coping strategies. A large part of the book is devoted to the recovery process. The author describes the various intervention strategies found to be effective with male incest survivors, emphasizing the importance of individual counseling and group psychotherapy but also offering a host of other interventions ranging from self-help groups to hypnosis, physical massage, and meditation. The book is written in an inspirational tone, with a great deal of sensitivity and understanding of the victim, who is encouraged to be assertive in choosing the type of treatment best suited for himself. The author is optimistic about the potential for recovery but dispels pollyanish illusions by emphasizing the up and down course of treatment and the painful reworking of the trauma, which is necessary for improvement. There is an excellent chapter on confronting the abuser, and the author deals sensitively with the question of whether or not the victim should forgive the perpetrator. The narrative of the book is interspersed with autobiographical clinical vignettes (called "statements") of male sexual abuse victims, which effectively illustrate the themes of the text. The vast majority of the statements are made by victims with a gay sexual orientation. While the author is very empathic towards the special problems encountered by gay incest survivors, he fails to explain the potential link between