Evaluation of the mother in incest family: An accomplice or a secondary victim?

The aim of this study is evaluation of mother in cases of incest by the population and the professionals which are closely related with incest and revealing the perception about mothers. The sample of this study consist of 251 participants from the population and 257 participants from professionals. In the population group, there are 182 female (%72.5) and 69 male (%27.5) participants and the average of age is 31.2 (SD:9.51). In professionals group, there are 179 female (%69.6) and 78 male (%30.4) participants and the average of age is 32.4 (SD:8.78). In this study, these questionnaires which are prepared by the researcher were used: Demographic Information Questionnaire which include different questions for each group, Incest Awareness Questionnaire and Scenario Questionnaire for Evaluation of Mother in Cases of Incest which include same questions for each group. At the end of this study, it was determined that female participants are more blaming toward mothers according to male participants (t(501)=3,742, p<0,001). In addition to this, it was revealed that there is a difference between the population and the professionals in terms of the awareness about demographic features of incest and the professionals has high awareness than the population. Besides, it is not to be found that statistically meaningful difference between the population and the professionals in terms of the perception about mothers (t(501)=-1,108, p>0,05). Key Words: incest, mother blaming, non-offending mothers, sexual abuse in family