Parental alienation is a course of conduct in which one parent uses deprecation, denigration, and various degrees of criticism to alienate a child from the other parent (Bernet, 2020). Parental alienation, however, goes far beyond simple brainwashing or indoctrination (Clawar & Rivlin, 2013). If left unchecked, an alienator’s often obsessive (Darnall, 1998), never-ending message of hate can wreak psychological havoc on a child (Kruk, 2018), creating problems that last well into adulthood (Spinazolla et al., 2014) and possibly alienating the child from the targeted parent forever (Wygant, 2020).
Who first identified Parental Alienation?
The term Parental Alienation Syndrome was originally coined by child psychiatrist Dr. Richard Gardner in mid-80’s (Garnder, 1985). Gardner noticed that changes in legal policy that had started about a decade earlier were having a profound effect on how divorcing parents were dealing with each other. The tender-years doctrine that assumed the mother was always the better choice for custody of younger children (Cutler, 2008; Hyde, 1985) was being replaced by the idea of joint custody (Legal Information Institute, 2023). Custody therefore became a battleground on which divorcing couples could wage war against each other (van Dijk et al., 2020).
What’s the relationship between parental alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome?
Okay, let’s get technical – Though the terms are often used interchangeably, Parental Alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome refer to two related yet distinct phenomena. Parental alienation refers to conduct designed to destroy a child’s affection for the targeted parent, whereas Parental Alienation Syndrome for Richard Gardner, referred to the effect that such conduct has on a child. Today, in order to sidestep the controversy surrounding the term “syndrome” and to fit the DSM-5 diagnostic orientation to CAPRD (Child Affected by Parental Relationship Distress – V61.29 – DSM-5 page 716), researchers, experts and therapists simply use the term Parental Alienation to refer to both of these phenomena.
Doesn’t Parental Alienation remain controversial in psychological circles?
The American Psychological Association (APA) has yet to take an official position on PAS. The courts, however, have embraced the concept of PA in varying degrees, and PA has become an integral concept in custody litigation not only in the United States but also in courts worldwide. The concept and differential diagnosis for parental alienation has passed the Frye test, the Daubert test in the United States, and the Mohan test in Canada. The three essential treatises on Parental Alienation – (1) Parental Alienation – Science and Law (Lorandos & Bernet, 2020); (2) Parental Alienation – The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals (Lorandos, Bernet, & Sauber, 2013); (3) The International Handbook of Parental Alienation Syndrome (Gardner, Sauber, & Lorandos, 2006) bring together researchers from around the world and includes over a thousand bibliographic entries and discussion of hundreds parental alienation cases.
References
Bernet, W. (2020). Introduction to parental alienation. In Demosthenes Lorandos and William Bernet (Eds.), Parental Alienation ~ Science and Law (pp. 5-43). Charles C. Thomas.
Clawar, S. S., & Rivlin, B. (2013). Children held hostage second edition: Identifying brainwashed children, presenting a case, and crafting solutions. American Bar Association.
Darnall, D. C. (1998). Divorce casualties: Protecting your children from parental alienation. Taylor Trade Publishing.
Gardner, R. (1985). Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation. Academy Forum, 29(2), 3-7.
Kruk, E. (2018). Parental alienation as a form of emotional child abuse: Current state of knowledge and future directions. Family Science Review, 22(4), 141-164.
Legal Information Institute. (2020). Joint custody. In Cornell University Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/joint_custody
Spinazzola, J., Hodgdon, H., Liang, L. J., Ford, J. D., Layne, C. M., Pynoos, R., … & Kisiel, C. (2014). Unseen wounds: The contribution of psychological maltreatment to child and adolescent mental health and risk outcomes. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6(S1), S18.
Van Dijk, R., Van Der Valk, I. E., Deković, M., & Branje, S. (2020). A meta-analysis on interparental conflict, parenting, and child adjustment in divorced families: Examining mediation using meta-analytic structural equation models. Clinical Psychology Review, 79, 101861.
Wygant, S. A. (2020). Resolving issues of diagnosis when working with alienated children and families. Feedback: Journal of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland, Summer 2020, 28-42.
