Pergamon Child Abuse & Neglect, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 19-34, 1997 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0145-2134/97 $17.00 + .00 PII S0145-2134(96) 00132-9 CROCODILE TALK: ATTRIBUTIONS OF INCESTUOUSLY ABUSED AND NONABUSED SISTERS KATHLEEN MONAHAN School of Social Welfare, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook. NY. USA Abstract--This study is a qualitative analysis of the attributions of sisters (abused and nonabused sister dyads, n = 10 and abused sister dyads, n = 10) who grew up in an incestuous family. While the sibling subsystem is reported to be the most important and enduring relational environment in the life of the family, little is known about the cognitions and attributions of siblings, regarding incest. This study examines the attributions of participants regarding the general sibling group, victim selection and nonselection, as well as attributions regarding jealousy, protection, and guilt within the sister relationship. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Key Words--lncest, Sisters, Attributions. INTRODUCTION MY FATHER USED to talk Crocodile Talk . . . you know, how people shed Crocodile Tears and you know that they really don't mean it. Well my father used to talk Crocodile Talk to my sister and I... he'd be nice and sweet to you but you knew he really didn't mean it. After awhile we figured out that it was a sign that he was gonna come after us. Incestuously Abused Sister Several authors (Gold, 1986; Silbert & Pines, 1983) have addressed how women attempt to make sense of the incestuous event, the extent to which they view the world as a just and orderly place, and consequently how their adult adjustment and behavior is guided in response to these cognitions. Silver, Boon, and Stones (1983) explored how women who have been incestuously abused during childhood may embark on a search for meaning--an attempt to understand their abusive experience and make sense of it. Almost 80% of our sample agreed that making sense of the incest was still important to them. Although outward indicators might suggest recovery from their experience, for most women the search for understanding continued: Why did this happen, just why? Why didn't I say no? Why didn't my mother do more about it? Why did my father do what he did? Would it have still happened if I had said no? Or if my sister had said yes? (p. 86). Several studies (Gidycz & Koss, 1991; Kilpatrick, Veronen, & Best, 1985) have addressed battered women with histories of childhood sexual abuse and the subjective meaning given to interpersonal violence. Dutton, Burghardt, Perrin, Chrestman, and Halle (1994) state, "... Preparation of this article was supported by NIMH, Grant No. PHS MH 19107-06 awarded to K. Dan O'Leary, Psychology Department, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Received for publication February 8, 1996; final revision received June 25, 1996; accepted June 28, 1996. Reprint requests should be addressed to Kathleen Monahan, School of Social Welfare, SUNY at Stony Brook, Health Sciences Center, Level 2, Stony Brook, NY 11794. 19