Parental Alienation Syndrome Research Articles

CASE MANAGEMENT IN THE CASES OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME

Divorce is a rather difficult process for both children and parents. After separation or divorce, the child may reject one of the parents, s/he may typically strongly object seeing one parent or may not want to go to that parent. This rejection may be for normal or acceptable reasons, or the child’s “alienation” against the parent may be the reason. Defined as Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), this case is actually a form of emotional abuse. This process can be carried out in a healthy manner by ensuring coordination among the court, treatment providers, children and families; that is, case management. Child abuse is related to multiple disciplines in terms of causes and consequences. Hospital-based, multidisciplinary teams meet the legal, psychosocial support, and treatment needs of the abused child in a holistic approach. There are views on PAS, stating that it is a syndrome or just alienation. The ongoing discussions about it do not change the fact that there is a clinical situation affecting the children and parents. In this study, it is aimed to create a roadmap for the evaluation of these cases, by presenting the examples where the reports, which has been prepared at the end of the process evaluated at a hospital-based Child Protection Centre and conducted with case management, have affected the Court’s decision. In PAS cases, separate works carried out with a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach by multiple professionals can be conducted at a low cost with a case management by the coordination of a social worker at the team. The reports submitted to the courts will include the evaluations of all the professionals in the team and will transparently and clearly highlight the common decision that is made in line with the child’s primary benefit. The reports prepared in this way will affect the decisions of the Court and the victimization of children and parents will be prevented.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) as a Challenge to Russian Family Law

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) as a Challenge to Russian Family Law

Magnanimity: A Screenplay Exploring the Unconditional Forgiveness

This creative thesis focuses on unconditional forgiveness, exploring the question of how a son can really hate his father. The first theory, Parental Alienation Syndrome, answers how a child can hate one parent because of the insult from the other parent. The child affected by Parental Alienation Syndrome has eight distinct symptoms. Furthermore, this creative thesis wants to explore how the son can forgive his father without the father’s repentance. Employing the Process Model of Forgiveness, the thesis shows the step-by-step journey of forgiveness without any repentance. Both theories will be applied in the creative work, a screenplay. The screenplay is about a victim of Parental Alienation Syndrome haunted by his hatred of his father ever since his parents' separation. The protagonist experiences the three symptoms of Parental Alienation Syndrome. Moreover, he will go through each stage of the Process Model of Forgiveness until achieving reconciliation with his father.

Role of narcissism in parental alienation phenomenon. A narrative review.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a term addressed to describe negative, psychopathological feelings, thinking and behaviours, including hostility and fear, exhibited by children who have been alienated from one parent by the other parent. Despite its relevance in the clinical psychology field, theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding and deepening the many facets of this concept are still few. In particular, literature aimed at disentangling the alienating parent's psychological characteristics is scarce and fragmented. Our contribution encompasses a narrative review of scientific literature since the term PAS was coined in 1987 by Gardner, to delineate narcissistic proneness in alienating parents. Namely, considering the narcissistic drift the western society is going toward, we hypothesised that narcissism has a pivotal role in parents' alienating behaviours against the alienated ones. Firstly, the elements that emerged from our literature search confirmed our theoretical hypothesis, in terms of the likely role of narcissism/narcissistic marked traits in alienating parents. In the second section, we contextualised the phenomenon in a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theoretical framework. Finally, based on previous findings/considerations, the developmental trajectories of children with PAS have been traced. An improved theoretical knowledge of this phenomenon, also in terms of the psychopathology associated with its genesis, means to refine the diagnostic and treatment tools to prevent it.

Examining Parental Alienation Syndrome Behaviors in Divorce, Custody and Personal Relationship Cases

In this study, the objective was to conduct an analysis of behaviors associated with Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) within the context of divorce, custody disputes, and personal relationship with children. The present inquiry employed the document/text analysis method, one of the qualitative research methodologies. The reports prepared by psychologists, social workers, and pedagogues (psychological counsellors), including the researcher, in the cases held by Ankara 10th Family Court were included in the study. 27 selected files were descriptively analyzed with respect to PAS behaviors and alienation strategies. Answers were sought to the questions about PAS behaviors toward mother, father and relatives, and what PAS behaviors are in court processes and relations with the child. Results showed that parental alienation behaviors toward parents and relatives are common in divorce, custody, and personal relationship with the child cases. It was found that divorce, custody, and personal relationship with the child cases negatively affect the relationship between the mother, the father, and the child. The research findings, PAS behaviors put all the parties in a difficult situation in the legal process. Therefore, providing psychosocial services to the families, raising the awareness of court experts about PAS, and conducting more research on this issue are important.

Социальные представления о субъектах отчужденного родительства как компонент обыденного сознания

The article presents the results of a study aimed at identifying the typical psychological portraits of the alienat-ing and alienated parent that exist in everyday psychology and ordinary consciousness of some Russians. Por-traits include both those psycho-emotional characteristics of a person that disrupt the harmonious process of mutual parenthood and interpersonal communication, and characteristics that support the successful course of the personal and social components of family life. Based on the empirical study conducted using qualitative methods (associative experiment), the similarities and differences in social perceptions of the alienating and alienated parent in two groups of respondents – those involved and those not involved in social processes re-lated to the alienated parenting syndrome (PAS – parental alienation syndrome) – were analyzed. As an ad-junct, a fragment of a study of the actual psychological characteristics of respondents involved in the symptoms of alienated parenthood, carried out using quantitative methods, is given.

Opposite sides of the same coin: syndrome evidence, child abuse and the wrongful conviction of Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis

Introduction of evidence relating to the now-discredited behavioural-science syndrome known as ‘child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome’ in R v Ellis demonstrates the danger of syndrome reasoning in judicial fact finding. Comparable syndrome evidence is still used in the Family Court in the form of ‘parental alienation syndrome’. Ellis should sound the death knell for all forensic applications of unreliable syndrome reasoning in the courts.

Challenges of the digital culture in education in the family

The effects of digital culture have transformed society and human ethos, and exponential digitalization has led to an anthropological transformation. By causing profound and complex changes in all levels of the sociocultural environment, digital culture has also changed the psychological, physiological, spiritual, and moral consequences of an individual and family in general. The challenges that digital culture poses to family life by modifying relations of spouses, are also reflected in the upbringing of children and their education, reshaping language, changing mentality, and restructuring value hierarchies. This paper approaches the topic through two thematic units, the first of which aims to detect some of the most serious challenges of digital culture confronting education in the family. The second part discusses the phenomenon of the “technological disconnect” of family members and some aspects of the challenges that this new phenomenon poses to education in the family. This part of the paper discusses the “technological disconnect” of parents and its implications on children and their moral education, observing the problems of shifting responsibility for upbringing and education to the technology and media, as well as the phenomenon of parental alienation syndrome. While not disregarding all the benefits of the postmodern digital culture, this work aims at emphasizing and contributing to the discussion on the negative implications of “technological disconnect” on the moral aspect of education in the family.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Psychological and legal implications

IntroductionThe first definition of PAS, enunciated by Richard Gardner in 1985, refers to a disorder originating in the context of legal conflicts related to child custody. Its main characteristic would be a smear campaign by the child towards a parent, in the absence of plausible arguments. In this context, the child would experience an oppositional and dichotomous feeling towards his or her parents. In recent years, the presence of PAS has become increasingly important, both in the legal and health fields, largely due to the controversy and debate surrounding its approval and recognition, and there is currently no consensus on the matter.ObjectivesThe main objective of this work is to examine the current state of PAS in depth in the different fields in which it is emerging: the medical-scientific and legal spheres. The current controversies and debate, both scientific and legal, will be developed. Research will be carried out on the origin of the concept and its evolution, its symptomatic presentation, the neuropsychological consequences in minors, the role and legal value of expert reports, as well as the existing evaluation methods for the assessment of PAS.MethodsAn extensive literature review was carried out on the subject in question, extracting information mainly from scientific articles, but also from legislative documents, manuals and books.ResultsThere are currently no specific laws regulating PAS in European countries. According to Article 10.2 of the Spanish Constitution, norms related to fundamental rights shall be interpreted according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a direct consequence of the chronic psychological stresses experienced by children, adaptive disorders may appear, often characterised by symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, a multitude of neuropsychological consequences have been observed not only in the affected child, but also in the adult he or she will become.ConclusionsCurrently, there is a fervent debate about the validity and recognition of PAS as a diagnostic entity, spanning different disciplines, ranging from health to social and legal. In Europe, professionals in the scientific field have not reached an agreement regarding the approval of PAS. On the one hand, there are those for whom PAS is a verified phenomenon; on the other hand, there are those who flatly reject the existence of this phenomenon. The latter consider PAS an unscientific construct, referring to it as “court syndrome” or “patriarchal alienation syndrome”.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Parential Alienation in the Polish Legal System

Abstract The aim of this article is to present an issue that has recently become more and more important in the social and legal discourse, namely parental alienation. This phenomenon is generally only partially regulated in the Polish legal system, hence there are questions about penalizing behavior that manifests itself in counteracting contacts or exercising alternate custody. The aim is to explain the concepts of parental alienation syndrome and parental alienation, to analyze the legal aspects of parental alienation, and to point to the alternate seal as a possibility of preventing cases of parental alienation.

The child and custody gender, the age of the child at the time of divorce, and its relationship to the attitude towards parents among children with parental alienation syndrome at the end of the custody age

The study aimed to verify the relationships between the child gender and the custodian, the child age at divorce, and its relationship to the attitude towards parents among children with parental alienation syndrome at the end of the custody age. The study relied on the descriptive-analytical method. The sample consisted of 102 cases whose ages ranged from 16 to 21 years old. The sample was chosen intentionally. The study relied on the diagnostic list of symptoms of parental alienation to select the sample. The study prepared a measure of attitude towards parents. A chi-square test used for the independence of two variables to analyze the required relationships. The study concluded that there is a dependence of the custodian gender variables and the attitude towards the target parent levels. While the variables of the level of attitude towards the target parent and the child's gender were independent, the levels of attitude towards the target parent and the dominant parent were independent.

Parental Alienation Syndrome as a Consequence of Paranoid Contagion or Shared Psychosis

IntroductionParental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) was proposed by Richard A. Gardner in 1985. It is assumed to occur in some distressing marriage break-ups, when a parent “brainwashes” his children so they reject the other parent in an unjustified way. But, is it the result of a conscious act as Gardner suggests? Or could it also appear as part of a shared psychosis?ObjectivesTo assess the possibility of the appearance of PAS as a consequence of paranoid contagion or shared psychosis.MethodsWe present the case of a 45-year-old patient and her 9-year-old daughter, who is allegedly assaulted by her father during visits, according to both. Mother and daughter continually request attention in the emergency department for this reason, with no obvious injuries. A bibliographic review is carried out on the PAS and shared psychosis. We compare the existing data with our case.ResultsA paranoid cognitive style is observed in the 45-year-old patient, and it is observed that her daughter stops rejecting the father when she spends time separated from her. The contagion of delirium is the nuclear mechanism of shared psychosis. It is known that children with PAS may have distorted memories and incorporate beliefs of others through suggestion. There is also an inverse relationship between the number of visits by the alienated parent and the undervaluation of the child. We have not found any studies linking shared psychosis with PAS.ConclusionsThe existing bibliography on PAS is scarce. The possibility of an existing paranoid contagion mechanism has not been addressed yet.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Divorce in the family consequences for the social and emotional functioning of adult children

The article relates to the issue of parents' divorce and its negative implications for the functioning of adult children of divorced people. The aim of the research, the results of which are described in the article, was to know and characterize the parent's behaviour during the conflict over a child/children, to verify whether parentification and parental alienation syndrome appear during the parents' conflict and to know the negative effects of parents' divorce on the social and emotional functioning of their children, both in childhood and in adulthood.The need for an individual approach and recognition of the emotional and social situation of adult children of divorced people resulted in the inclusion of a qualitative research orientation in the conducted research. The information acquired over the course of the research confirmed the negative effect of the parents' divorce in terms of social and emotional functioning. The analysis of the biographies of the respondents allowed to characterize the most common negative consequences of parents' divorce in the emotional and social sphere, present both in childhood and in their adulthood.

Gender Bias in Cross-Allegation Domestic Violence-Parental Alienation Custody Cases: Can States Legislate the Fix?


 
 
 “Parental Alienation Syndrome” (PAS), developed by Dr. Richard Gardner in 1985, posits that a frequent dynamic in child custody disputes involves vengeful mothers falsely convincing their children that they have been sexually abused by their fathers. Although PAS is widely discredited and courts have ruled it inadmissible, new formulations of the theory, such as Parental Alienation (PA), continue to play a dominant role in custody proceedings. Proponents of PA assign the label to a broad range of custody cases in which children favor one parent and reject the other. However, despite the seemingly more gender-neutral framing of PA, empirical research shows that courts use PA to discredit mothers’ allegations of domestic violence and abuse and justify custody switches away from the mother. This Note analyzes the gender bias in family courts’ handling of custody cases involving cross-allegations of domestic violence and PA, and then proposes four legislative provisions aimed at reducing the effects of such bias in custody proceedings.
 
 

Alienação parental e a mediação dos conflitos nas legislações brasileira e portuguesa

This article aimed to analyze parental alienation and conflict mediation with minors. It introduced the concept of parental alienation; analyzed some of the behaviors of those involved in parental alienation; discussed the meaning of family power; and finally, Civil Liability on the topic. A literature review was carried out based on books, scientific articles related to the topic made available for free in Portuguese, as well as documentary analysis, notably in Brazilian and Portuguese legislation. Keywords: Parental alienation. Parental Alienation Syndrome. Parental power. Conflict mediation. Civil responsibility.

Parental alienation syndrome: A case alienated from the mother (eng)

Parental alienation syndrome: A case alienated from the mother (eng)

Otuđenje od roditelja i obiteljska medijacija

With the increased number and intensity of disputes related to the realisation of parental care, the number of children who, during these procedures, reject one parent and his or her family under the influence of the other parent has also increased. Such behaviour was firstly described by Gardner in 1985 who called it a parental alienation syndrome. Ever since the concept has been developing through contributions from other experts, so that now it is called parental alienation, and its causes, signs and possible treatment approaches have been described in detail. If timely and adequate help is not provided, alienated children may develop problems in social and physical functioning, as well as psychogenic disorders. A family mediator who is trained about this problem can contribute to its early detection and to the provision of adequate help, because he/she can recognise the problem and refer the parents to court without wasting time on family mediation in the cases in which that is an inadequate intervention. The aim of this paper is to present insights into parental alienation and to explain the role of the family mediator in the assessment and treatment of the same. Key words: parental alienation; family mediation; high-conflict divorce; manipulation, prevention and treatment

Loyalty Conflict and Parental Alienation in Children with Divorced Parents

A divorce can have painful consequences, especially for the children, as they can develop loyalty conflicts or parental alienation. The custody problem increases the rate of disagreements between parents and the smallest decisions can become opportunities for physical, moral or judiciary confrontation. Conflicts can be accompanied by the formation of an alliance between one parent and the children, in order to disqualify and denigrate the other parent. According to R. A. Gardner, extreme conflicts can lead to the development of a so-called Parental alienation syndrome, the painful cases in which the children, after a divorce, refuse to see a parent due to a combination of indoctrination fueled by the alienating parent and the child’s own contributions towards the denigration of the targeted parent. This syndrome still is a topic of debate for researchers, some of them agreeing with its existence while others argue that it lacks scientific value.

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

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.

متلازمة النفور الوالدی لدى أبناء الاسر المطلقة من ضحایا التقاضی فی المحاکم الشرعیة

هدفت الدراسة إلى التحقق من البنية العاملية لمقياس متلازمة النفور الوالدي لأبناء الأسر المطلقة ضحايا التقاضي في المحاکم الشرعية. وقد تکون المقياس من ثمانية مؤشرات تم صياغتها في 17 مفردة وذلک لتلاشي غموض المفردات لدى المستجيبين عليها من الوالد المستهدف غير الحاضن للطفل. وتکونت عينة الدراسة من عينة متاحة بلغت 32 والد، وقد کانت متوسط المدة لعزل الطفل عن رؤية الوالد غير الحاضن 2.1 عام. استخدمت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي في الإجابة عن أسئلة الدراسة. وتوصلت الدراسة إلى تحقق خمس مؤشرات لمتلازمة النفور الوالدي للطفل، وأکدت الدراسة أن متلازمة النفور الوالدي ليست نابعة عن سوء العلاقة أو الوشاية أو التشويه للوالد غير الحاضن فحسب، وإنما من ظروف الضغط النفسي للطفل والمشاحنات بين الأبوين للطفل والتي تجعله کارها للوضع المتواجد فيه. AbstractThe study aimed to verify the factorial structure of the parental alienation syndrome scale for children of divorced families. The scale consisted of eight indicators that formulated in 17 items to dismiss the uncertainty of the items among respondents from the target parent who is not the custodian of the child. The study sample consisted of an available sample of 32 parents.