Until very recently around early part of 1970's, the sexual assault of children within their families was rarely openly discussed until the emergence of the second wave of feminism. Incest has been variously defined. The definition that will be used here is a wide one, which includes sexual assault of a female child by a male member of her immediate family ( father or stepfather) or extended family (brother, grandfathers and uncles) and/or trusted family friends. These men are in generally in a relationship with the child which involves trust and respect to an authority on the side of child, and family, social and economic power on the side of the perpetrator. Children are vulnerable and dependent on adults for their very survival.
             As with other crimes of sexual assault, the sexual abuse of children is a crime which is characterized by a high incidence of under- reporting. The reasons for this include the fact that the abuse is taking place within the privacy of the family. The victims are children of all ages some of whom are so young they cannot talk and do not have the knowledge to know that anything is wrong. The perpetrators are men whose authority children are told to obey. Often the child is also threatened to keep what is happening a secret between the victim and the perpetrator and victim.
             Until quite recently, with the rise of feminist base analysis on subject of child sexual abuse, interpretations about child sexual abuse tried to it pinpoint the cause of this crime anywhere but with its perpetrator. In this paper I will explore two different explanations that try to explain child sexual abuse, the psychoanalytical theory as propose by Freud ( I will not analysis farther interpretations of Freud's psychoanalytic theory for it is too broad for the length of this paper nor will I discuss mother blame in this theory because we will take it up in the dysfunctional family model ) and the dysfunctional family model. I wil...