Incest means intimate sexual relations or sexual intercourse between close relatives, such as father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister, uncle and niece. Almost every society has strong taboos against incest, and it is considered a crime nearly everywhere. The reason commonly given for laws against incest is that any child that might result from such sexual intercourse is more likely to suffer from hereditary diseases than is a child resulting from intercourse between a couple who are not close relatives.

A more important reason for condemning incest is that it often means the explotation of a younger member of a family by an older one in a situation where the younger person is to feels trapped and finds it difficult for those involved to establish healthy sexual attachments outside the family and in marriage. A young person who finds himself or herself being forced or tempted into an incestuous relationship should at once seek help, either from another member of the family or someone outside.

Of course, the parents and children in many families express their loving feelings toward each other. These healthy, pleasand, loving expressions are entirely different from the sexual relationships of incest.