PARENTAL ALIENATION: A SIMPLE BUT POTENTIALLY HARMFUL AND POORLY SUPPORTED EXPLANATION FOR THE COMPLEX PROBLEM OF PARENT CONTACT RESISTANCE/REFUSAL

Abstract

This session aims to interrogate the concept of parental alienation (PA) as the cause of contact resistance/refusal in divorce and custody disputes. This panel will examine the history and etiology of PA and its variants; discuss its acceptance in the legal, mental health, and scientific communities; propose a methodology for determining the cause(s) of child contact resistance/refusal; and describe some of the negative consequences of a “diagnosis” of PA. PA was first proposed as “parental alienation syndrome” (PAS) by child and adolescent psychiatrist Richard Gardner in the late 1980s as a defense/explanation for allegations of child sexual abuse between separated parents. Lack of scientific validation led to rejection of PAS by courts. Attempts to have a similar construct, parental alienation disorder (PAD), included in the DSM-5 failed as did recent efforts to get PA terminology into the ICD-11. The session will describe the lack of agreed-upon and validated definitions, whether the locus of the problem is with the parent, the child, or both, and treatment programs that include separation of children from their preferred parents, as well as expensive reprogramming camps with significant possible harms and limited evidence of efficacy. Determining the cause(s) of contact resistance/refusal is a complex undertaking for which one evaluator’s approach based upon decades of work is examined. Efforts to buttress PA include declaring it is a form of child abuse. Limitations and flaws in existing research on PA and the legal challenges and appellate cases addressing PA are presented and discussed. PA is an overly simplified and potentially harmful proposed explanation for the complex problem of contact resistance/refusal following separation and divorce.