20 Facts About Parental alienation

Parental alienation is a theorized process through which a child becomes estranged from one parent as the result of the psychological manipulation of another parent.

Proponents of the concept of parental alienation assert that it is primarily motivated by one parent's desire to exclude the other parent from their child's life.

Some assert that parental alienation should be diagnosable in children as a mental disorder.

Some propose that parental alienation be recognized as a form of child abuse or family violence.

Parental alienation remains controversial both within the psychological community and the legal system.

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Theory of parental alienation has been asserted within legal proceedings as a basis for awarding custody to a parent who alleges estrangement, or to modify custody in favor of that parent.

Parental alienation describes the breakdown of the relationship between a child and one of the child's parents, when there is no valid justification for that breakdown.

When parental alienation is found to exist between a parent and child, the alienation is attributed to inappropriate actions and behavior by the other parent.

Parental alienation falls within the spectrum of family estrangement, a term that describes when family members become alienated from each other without regard to cause.

Concept of parental alienation is normally raised only in contexts in which the child's alienation from the parent is alleged to be unwarranted.

However, parental alienation is frequently alleged in cases where neither parent has been diagnosed with a personality disorder.

Reports of parental alienation were found to correlate with reports of psychological maltreatment.

Some mental health professionals argue that severe parental alienation should be established as a form of emotional abuse and domestic violence.

However, controversy persists as to whether parental alienation should be treated as a form of child abuse or family violence.

Parental alienation concepts have been used to argue for child custody changes when children resist contact with a non-preferred parent.

Once an allegation of parental alienation is interpreted as abuse by a parent, that interpretation provides a strong argument against custody of or even contact with that parent.

Key among their concerns is that advocates of parental alienation concepts have presented a highly simplified explanation of visitation and contact resistance or refusal by children of couples in high-conflict divorces.

In Israel, parental alienation is known as "nikor horim", and some courts are receptive to efforts to attempt to reunify children who have been estranged or alienated from a parent, although concerns remain that there is little empirical evidence to support the concept of parental alienation.

Parental alienation syndrome was proposed by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner as a means of diagnosing parental alienation within a family by virtue of identifying a cluster of symptoms that he hypothesized would only co-exist if a parent were engaged in alienating behavior.

However, parental alienation refers not to the acts of manipulation, but rather to the child's rejection of a parent that results from alienating behavior.