Academic incest and the reduction of scholarly standards

    Although "academic incest" shares a similar set of pejorative traits as "biological incest", the fact that one is a social phenomenon and other a 'proven' biological fact begs the question as to the actual differences and similarities between the two.  Would the hiring of a department's graduates lower the quality of that department even though it is obviously not a 'genetic' phenomenon per se?  It appears that the answer to this question is affirmative.  While the mechanics of the two processes are obviously different, it does appear that the end results are the same: a gradual degradation of its intrinsic traits that reduce its overall functionality.  Ultimately, academic incest inordinately raises the 'internal competition' within a department, and leads to the generation of aberrant values which gravely clash against traditional scholarly norm of ethical intellectual exchange.  Upon expecting that one will be hired in one's own very department will tempt the student towards unethical intellectual conduct to enhance their social position within a department and view any valid criticisms in a 'personalitic' frame of mind.  If such a student later acquires a position within the department, the department will in fact have rewarded that behavior trait, and stimulate said student towards its continued use in future circumstances where their position is threatened.  As that 'incestuous professor', male or female, becomes more involved in the affairs of the department, they will likely use the same tactics in order to maintain or enhance their power, and in the process spreading this unethical conduct to newer generations of students and professors within the department.  Academic competition is already elevated enough as it is, but the sheer expectation of internal hiring (academic incest) will tend to damage the fragile socio-intellectual balance of its internal debates in a negative manner--in the process transforming a 'virtuous' departmental culture into a 'vicious' one.