Skip to main content

Save up to 30% on Elsevier print and eBooks with free shipping. No promo code needed.

Save up to 30% on print and eBooks.

Incest: A Biosocial View

  • 1st Edition - May 28, 1983
  • Author: MOST
  • Language: English
  • eBook ISBN:
    9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 9 6 6 6 - 1

Incest: A Biosocial View focuses on the sociobiological theory of incest and compares it with other theoretical approaches to the problem. The argument made in this book is that… Read more

Incest: A Biosocial View

Purchase options

LIMITED OFFER

Save 50% on book bundles

Immediately download your ebook while waiting for your print delivery. No promo code is needed.

Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect

Request a sales quote
Incest: A Biosocial View focuses on the sociobiological theory of incest and compares it with other theoretical approaches to the problem. The argument made in this book is that the existence of culture does not lead to the exemption of Homo sapiens from the evolutionary process. Instead, it creates a coevolutionary process, of which the evolution of incest avoidance in human beings is the simplest, yet most instructive, example. Comprised of 11 chapters, this volume begins with an introduction to the problem of incest, followed by a discussion on the sociobiological theory in general and some important methodological issues. Epigenetic rules and the importance of reproduction are considered, along with inclusive fitness and kin selection; kinship altruism (nepotism); reciprocal altruism; mate selection and parental investment, parent-child and sibling conflict; aggression and social order; and the biosocial view of culture. The next three chapters survey the theories and empirical findings that led to the sociobiological theory of incest, with particular reference to the views of Edward Westermarck as well as the kibbutz and the sim-pua. The propositions of the sociobiological theory of incest are then outlined. The book concludes by summarizing the classic theories of incest and synthesizing them in light of the sociobiological theory. This monograph is relevant to psychoanalysts, sociologists, biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists studying the problem of incest.