The Ultimate Betrayal: The Enabling Mother, Incest and Sexual Abuse »

This self-help resource takes a close look at a nasty secret that has been ignored or downplayed by other books on incest and childhood sexual abuse: that the nonperpetrating parent usually bears a great deal of responsibility for the child's sexual abuse. Twenty five case histories explore how a mother's behavior often sets up the child for abuse, and discuss the characteristics of mothers who enable incest or sexual abuse of their children, as well as the ways in which the woeful effects of the enabling mother continue into the survivor's adulthood. Different than previous scholarship, this book treats the enabling mother not as a victim, but as an adult responsible for her failure to protect her child. Self-help exercises are interspersed with analytical material throughout the book, useful for both survivors and therapists.