Familiarity breeds: incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

This paper examines the problem of Ptolemaic incest from a variety of cross-disciplinary perspectives. Specifically, it seeks to establish the following: that there is little in the ancient record to support the common claim that the Ptolemies suffered extensively from the deleterious genetic effects of inbreeding; that the various theories so far put forward as explanations for Ptolemaic incest offer at best only a partial rationale for this dynastic practice; that the most compelling rationale for Ptolemaic incest is to be found in complex, and perhaps unconscious, symbolic motivations analogous to those observed by anthropologists in other cultures; and finally, that, for the Ptolemies, incest was, like the "truphê" for which they were so notorious, a dynastic signature which highlighted their singularity and above all, their power.

Incest, gamete donation by siblings and the importance of the genetic link.

Recently, several requests have emerged in which women wished to be impregnated with donor eggs fertilized with spermatozoa of their brother. An important argument advanced against such applications is that it is a kind of incest. Four definitions of incest are reviewed in this article to evaluate the acceptability of these demands. The first three (sexual intercourse, reproduction with gametes of first-degree relatives and symbolic incest) do not apply to the cases. However, when the sister and her brother intend to raise the child as social mother and father, these requests should be considered as "intentional incest". If the brother only functions as an uncle, the request of the woman resembles the currently accepted practice of oocyte donation from sister to sister. In that case, the wish to receive gametes from a first-degree relative is motivated by the wish to establish as far as possible a genetic link with the child.

Factores que intervienen en el impacto del abuso incestuoso sobre la víctima / Interventors factors on victim´s incestuous abuse impact

El presente estudio aborda el problema del abuso incestuoso (relación sexualmente abusiva padre, padrastro o conviviente de la madre - hija/o), respecto del efecto diferencial que tienen sobre el impacto en la víctima, los diversos factores que operan al momento de la develación. Se estudiaron tres factores: número de eventos abusivos, tipo de rol paterno y patrón de enfrentamiento de conflictos de la pareja parental. Se revisaron las fichas clínicas de una muestra compuesta por 119 niños y niñas víctimas de abuso incestuoso y se estableció el nivel de impacto provocado por el abuso clasificándolo en leve-moderado, grave y profundo. El resultado de los factores sobre la variable dependiente, utilizando la prueba de Chi Cuadrado, mostró una relación no significativa del tipo de rol paterno en el impacto en la víctima, y una relación altamente significativa con los otros dos factores, particularmente con el número de eventos. El mayor nivel de daño resultó relacionado a la cronicidad del evento en situacion de tolerancia frente a la develación por parte de la pareja, mientras que el daño menor en la víctima se asoció a la ausencia de cronicidad y patrón no tolerante de enfrentamiento de conflictos.

The sexual preferences of incest offenders.

Inclusive fitness theory suggests that discriminative solicitude and inbreeding avoidance are important mechanisms regulating parent-children interactions. From an inclusive fitness perspective, sex with one's biological children is paradoxical. The authors hypothesized that incest can occur when these mechanisms are not activated (e.g., if a father is uninvolved in child rearing) or are overwhelmed by another factor, such as pedophilic interest. They predicted that biological fathers, who presumably have been the most involved in the rearing of their victims, would show greater phallometrically measured pedophilic interest than would other incest offenders against children (e.g., grandfathers, uncles, stepfathers). The prediction was not supported. A testable alternative hypothesis to explain biological father incest is presented and the importance of assessing pedophilic interest among incest offenders is discussed.