Alienation of parents and children is involved in many of the high conflict cases that have to be adjudicated at court. There are a number of different forms and causes of the alienation. These have been called “Parental Alienation” or “Child Alienation” and sometimes the worst form of “Parental Alienation” has been called the “Parental Alienation Syndrome”.
While a child may sometimes have good reason not to want to spend time with the other parent because of past abuse, or sometimes even just the type of relationship the child may have had with the other parent, a child who previously had a good relationship with the other parent may sometimes develop a completely different and false view of the other parent, which may be based on false allegations and manipulations by the parent intending to cause the alienation, or it may be as a result of the child having a distorted perception of the rejected parent, without any influence from either parent.
Some professionals believe the type of alienation that results from a parent making false allegations to a child about the other parent so that the child then alienates the other parent should be separated from the other various categories of alienation by calling this type of alienation the “Parental Alienation Syndrome”. More recently it has been proposed that all forms of alienation that have been called “Parental Alienation” should be viewed as “Child Alienation” which is said to have taken the focus off the behavior of the parents, and focused on the child’s behavior in response to various situations after separation, some of which may have also existed during the marriage or de facto relationship.
There is international debate about whether or not the form of “Parental Alienation” that results in a child alienating a parent without good reason should be called the “Parental Alienation Syndrome”. “Child Alienation” also consists of a number of different levels of alienation, including the worst kind where the child has a distorted perception of the alienated parent.
The question being debated is whether this form of either “Parental Alienation” or “Child Alienation” is a pathology and whether it should be included in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) used by psychiatrists and psychologists to identify psychological disorders or psychoses so that appropriate treatment can be applied. The DSM-V is expected to be published in 2012 and until then there is continual international debate amongst professionals.
There are many different strategies used by parents in order to cause a child to alienate the other parent. Some of these are as follows:
· Bad-mouthing the other parent.
· Limiting contact with the other parent.
· Withdrawing love, or being angry with the child for feeling for the other parent.
· Telling the child that the targeted parent does not love the child.
· Telling the child that the only parent who cares about the child is the alienating parent
· Forcing the child to choose between the parents.
· Creating the impression that the targeted parent is dangerous.
· Confiding in the child about adult issues in the relationship with the other parent.
· Limiting mention and photographs of targeted parents.
· Forcing a child to reject the targeted parent.
· Limiting contact and belittling the extended family.
· Belittling the targeted parent in front of the child.
· Inciting conflict between the child and the targeted parent.
· Telling the child that only the alienating parent can provide safety for the child.
Emotional abuse is more difficult to observe and document although it is described in the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (PL 93-247)(USA)[1] as
“a repeated pattern of caregiver behaviour or extreme incidences that convey to children that they are worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or only of value in meeting another’s needs.”
Some issues that result in the child having psychological pathologies are when the child: has been rejected, isolated, ignored, terrorised, corrupted, verbally assaulted, over-pressured, witnesses parental abuse of drugs and alcohol, threatened with abandonment, exposed to domestic violence, told that the targeted parent does not love the child, told that the targeted parent is unworthy of love, told of personal details that exceed the child’s cognitive and emotional capabilities, made to feel responsible for an adult’s well being.
Such children are often identified by personal characteristics, perceptions, and behaviours that convey low self-esteem, a negative view of the world, and internalised and externalised anxieties and aggressions, and have inappropriate and exceptional social behaviour and responses.
Whether the worst form of “Child Alienation” or “Parental Alienation” is a psychological disorder that should be included in DSM-V appears to be the major issue of contention and continuing debate. Although the cause. may be the brainwashing of a child by a parent who has unresolved emotional and separation issues, and sometimes who may have a psychosis that is responsible for their behaviour, the cause may also be specific to the child and the child’s distorted perception, or developmental stage, or may be a realistic perception of the rejected parent based on factual physical, emotional or sexual abuse either perpetrated on the child or perpetrated on the other parent and witnessed by the child. The question remains as to whether this should be treated as psychological disorder.
There has been some limited research on adults who experienced alienation of a parent during childhood or adolescence. The adults researched reported the long term effects of that alienation on their relationship with the rejected parent, and on other relationships in their adulthood. In many cases, the alienated child, now adult, rejected the parent who had caused the alientation. As for other psychological disorders, such as personality disorders, therapy is required to remedy the psychological consequences of the alienation as a child.
Properly used psychometric tests together with clinical observation and recommendations for appropriate management by psychologist experienced and competent to do this at an early stage in court proceedings may assist the court to make appropriate orders, and may enable the problem to be remedied before it becomes too entrenched. The psychometric tests can shorten the process of discovering what the cause of the problem is, and how it might be treated. It can also be more objective than a purely clinical observation, although the clinicial observation by an experienced psychologist used together with the psychometric tests, are the most beneficial according to a number of professionals.
It is possible for a lawyer to apply for orders that psychometric tests of the family together with clinical observations are made as soon as possible, although there is still lack of knowledge about such tests by many lawyers.
It is possible for a lawyer to apply for orders that psychometric tests of the family together with clinical observations are made as soon as possible, although there is still lack of knowledge about such tests by many lawyers.
