Parental alienation (syndrome) in child custody cases: survivors’ experiences and the logic of psychosocial and legal services in Italy

ABSTRACT

Parental alienation (syndrome) is a controversial issue, criticized by experts in different fields. However, this concept is often used by professionals and is frequently cited in courtrooms. This qualitative study focuses on parental alienation and explores women’s experiences as well as legal and social services’ practices in child custody cases. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with separated mothers who were victims of intimate partner violence, and with social workers and psychologists/psychiatrists designated by courts to evaluate parenting skills. Expert reports, psychological assessments and legal documents were also analysed. Results show that professionals endorsed parental alienation and considered it a ‘feminine problem’. Women were often blamed and labeled as ‘engaging in parental alienation’ when they were trying to ensure their children’s safety. Children’s accounts were interpreted as being a result of their mothers’ manipulation. In contrast, fathers were treated as victims of vindictive women who want to keep children to themselves. Men’s violent behaviours were not considered, and their role as fathers was seen as ‘inviolable’. These practices seem to reflect the ‘good-enough father’ approach, according to which the presence of the father is essential for children’s development, regardless of his violent behaviours.     

‘It’s Not OK’, but ‘It’ never happened: parental alienation accusations undermine children’s safety in the New Zealand Family Court

ABSTRACT

While the public campaign slogan in New Zealand when referring to family violence, is ‘It’s Not OK’, many women in New Zealand report that the Family Court prefers the catchphrase ‘It never happened’. When women and children escaping violence and abuse reach out to the New Zealand Family Court for protection believing the justice system will help them, they often enter an alternative reality where they are not believed and are subsequently made less safe. This is particularly so for those women whose well-founded fears for their children’s safety get reinterpreted as evidence of a deliberate attempt to alienate the children from their fathers. The Backbone Collective, an independent organisation, surveyed New Zealand women about their experiences in the Family Court, finding that many women reported being accused of parental alienation. This paper investigates the sources of these allegations of parental alienation and how they impact mothers and their children. We argue that the use of parental alienation in the New Zealand Family Court is undermining the international rights of children.     

Penalizing women’s fear: intimate partner violence and parental alienation in Canadian child custody cases

ABSTRACT

This paper explores Canadian family law cases involving claims of parental alienation and of family violence from 2014–2018, reporting the data on these claims, their resolution, and their impacts upon custody and access. A close reading of those cases where both alienation and intimate partner violence claims are made reveals troubling patterns in how intimate partner violence is discounted in this context. We suggest that the rise of shared parenting as a dominant norm assists in understanding why alienation has achieved such unquestioned status, and call for greater focus on safety and women’s and children’s voices.     

Parental Alienation and Misinformation Proliferation

Since parental alienation syndrome (PAS) was identified in the 1980's, there has been a remarkable amount of misinformation regarding both PAS and parental alienation (PA). These falsehoods were published in professional journals, presented at conferences, and distributed through internet websites and blogs. This article summarizes five examples of published misinformation regarding PAS/PA. Each case study includes: the false statements that were published in the medical, psychological, or legal professional literature; the names of the individuals who made the false statements; and the steps taken to refute the falsehoods and correct the record. The writers of the misinformation were from Sweden, Tunisia, Spain, and the United States, which illustrates the international scope of PAS/PA. In one example, the misinformation reached the U.S. House of Representatives and was almost included in a formal resolution adopted by that body. The article discusses various underlying causes of the high level of polarization in PAS/PA scholarship. The article also proposes steps that both mental health and legal writers can adopt to reduce the destructive polarization that has occurred. In general, however, clinicians, forensic practitioners, and legal professionals should remain vigilant when they read articles or listen to presentations about topics that might be considered controversial.     

Contact disputes and allegations of gender violence in Spain

ABSTRACT

In Spain, progress is being made to restrict contact between aggressors and their children in cases of gender violence. However, visits and communication, even shared custody, are still granted by judges despite shared custody being prohibited by law in such cases since 2005. Under recent legal reforms, children are now considered primary victims of gender-based violence. However, even today, Spanish judges frequently allow contact and even grant shared custody to the aggressor. This is despite the fact that in cases of gender violence, there are usually measures in force that include restraining orders and prohibitions against communicating with the mother. In these cases, communication between the father and his children is effected through grandparents or at the so-called ‘family meeting points’ – neutral spaces supervised by professionals. Insufficient budgets and shortcomings in the management of these meeting points have led to many problems, including women being murdered by their partners after leaving one of these meeting places.     

Proponents Bear the Burden of Proof

Richard Gardner claimed to be able to diagnose parental alienation among contentious parents disputing custody, and asserted that his "syndrome" is supported by scientific and legal authority. Despite influencing many custody proceedings, Gardner's ideas fail to meet even minimal scientific standards. The burden of proving any new hypothesis falls on its proponents, and given the complete absence of objective replication, parental alienation syndrome (PAS) must be viewed as nothing more than a hypothesis. The lack of clear guidance in the law allows concepts like PAS to gain temporary credibility, as judges look to mental health professionals for help in making decisions under the vague best interests standard.     

A history of the use of the concept of parental alienation in the Australian family law system: contradictions,collisions and their consequences

ABSTRACT

This paper presents insights into the history and current deployment of the concept of parental alienation in the Australian family law system. It begins in 1989, when an article on parental alienation syndrome was first published in an Australian law journal. It then traces aspects of the socio-legal and social science research, gender politics, law reform and jurisprudence of the following 30 years, paying attention to moments of significant change. The impacts of major amendments that emphasise the desirability of post-separation shared parenting outcomes in 1996 and 2006 are specifically considered. More recently, in 2012, reforms intended to improve the family law system’s response to domestic and family violence were introduced. The history reveals an irreconcilable tension between the ‘benefit’ of ‘meaningful’ post-separation parent-child relationships and the protection of children from harm. When mothers’ allegations of violence in the family are disbelieved, minimised or dismissed, they are transformed from victims of abuse into perpetrators of abuse – alienators of children from their fathers. Their actions and attitudes collide with the shared parenting philosophy. This is arguably an inescapable consequence of a family law system that struggles to deal effectively with family violence in the context of a strong shared parenting regime.     

The legitimization and institutionalization of ‘parental alienation’ in the Province of Quebec

ABSTRACT

This article examines the legitimization and institutionalization of ‘parental alienation’ discourse in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It draws upon an analysis of 31 documents (legislation, research reports and articles, training documents, professional documents and media articles) and interviews with 13 key informants, who were selected based on their knowledge of ‘parental alienation’ in research, policies or practices. The research findings reveal that the legitimization and institutionalization of ‘parental alienation’ discourse is a more recent process than in other provinces and countries, but that it has now permeated child custody as well as child protection proceedings. Academic researchers and media have been instrumental in this legitimization and institutionalization process, while the role played by changes to child protection policies is more ambiguous. The findings reveal researchers’ and experts’ tendency to distance themselves from Gardner’s controversial work on ‘parental alienation syndrome’ and to address the critiques by proposing new approaches and new concepts. However, the terms ‘parental alienation syndrome’, ‘parental alienation’ and ‘alienating behaviours’ are often used interchangeably, and assessment practices tend to rely on similar indicators.     

A genealogy of hostility: parental alienation in England and Wales

ABSTRACT

This article explores the emergence and development of parental alienation (PA) in England and Wales. It considers the background into which PA first appeared in private law proceedings concerning children in England and Wales, and examines how it progressed in the case law through the changing political and discursive context of private family law from 2000 to the end of March 2019. A clear pattern emerged of, initially, parental alienation syndrome and subsequently PA being raised in family proceedings and in political and popular arenas in response to concerns about and measures to address domestic abuse. The case law revealed a high incidence of domestic abuse perpetrated by parents (principally fathers) who were claiming that the resident parents (principally mothers) had alienated the children against them, which raises questions about the purpose of PA. More recently, a PA ‘industry’ appears to have amassed comprising experts, therapists and lawyers, advocating transfers of children’s care from ‘alienating’ mothers to non-resident fathers, as well as PA therapy for children and parents. While PA has had a chequered history and is not without its critics, it has become part of the discursive repertoire of current family law, with increasingly harsh consequences for women and children.     

Constructing Women Who Experience Male Violence: Criminal Legal Discourse and Individual Experiences

This article examines the relationship between how women who experience violence from a male partner construct themselves, and how criminal legal discourse constructs female victims of violence. It is argued that in both arenas, women are constructed according to norms which emanate from a discourse of conventional femininity which operates together with a practice of shame. Utilising empirical data gained from qualitative interviews with women who experienced male violence, the article contends that the construction of the female victim of violence in criminal legal discourses as imbued with stereotypical ‘feminine’ characteristics such as passivity and weakness, may influence these women’s own construction and understanding of themselves. The existence of a practice of shame further consolidates the self-regulation of the women themselves to these norms of femininity. This construction is posited to be problematic as the experiences of women of male violence rarely ‘fit’ within these explanations. The article contends that in order to better understand women’s experiences of male violence; both criminal legal and individual women’s discourses need to be read in terms of the power, knowledge and effects which they exert upon individual women. It is argued that this alternative reading of these discourses has the potential for transformation as they are invested in the subject.

Exploring the trend of violence against women in India

ABSTRACT

India is witnessing growing violence against women including horrific rapes even in major metropolitan areas that have attracted considerable media attention. Insecurity and physical threat to women is real and a major concern. Justice Verma Commission that examined the Delhi rape case has recommended several measures including changes in laws involving crimes against women, yet little has changed. In this paper we conduct a variety of qualitative and quantitative analyses using open source data to understand the nature and extent of crimes against women in India. Police records indeed suggest a growing escalation in serious crimes against women. The paper also critically examines the efforts of the police and others, particularly non-governmental groups to combat such crimes. A number of policy recommendations are made for prevention including comparative efforts in Korea where crimes against women are similarly serious.     

U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show?

ABSTRACT

Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation claims to discredit a mother alleging that the father has been abusive or is unsafe for the children. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of ten years of U.S. cases involving abuse and alienation claims. The findings confirm that mothers’ claims of abuse, especially child physical or sexual abuse, increase their risk of losing custody, and that fathers’ cross-claims of alienation virtually double that risk. Alienation’s impact is gender-specific; fathers alleging mothers are abusive are not similarly undermined when mothers cross-claim alienation. In non-abuse cases, however, the data suggest that alienation has a more gender-neutral impact. These nuanced findings may help abuse and alienation professionals find some common ground.     

Parental Models of Family Violence and Associations with Partner Violence for College Women from Three Countries

The present study provides a cross-national comparison of parental models of family violence as predictors of romantic partner violence reported by college women. Participants included college women from the United States (n?=?319), Spain (n?=?95), and Turkey (n?=?207) to report violence in five relationships: father-to-mother, mother-to-father, father-to-participant, mother-to-participant, and romantic-partner-to-participant. Multiple regression revealed that partner violence received by college women was best explained by mother-to-father violence for the United States sample, but by father-to-mother violence for the Spanish and Turkish samples. Results may be useful for college women to identify family and cultural risk factors for romantic partner violence so that they may work to protect themselves and their educational opportunities.     

The Significance of Shame in the Lives of Women Who Experience Male Violence

Recently there has been recognition of the cultural politics of emotion, that is, the ways in which emotions impact upon individual life experiences. Significantly, it has been shown how emotions can produce effects of power on and through the bodies of individuals. Despite this knowledge, the law and legal responses tend to minimise, obscure and deny the ways in which emotions, and in particular shame, impacts upon individuals. This article therefore argues that the lives of women who experience male violence cannot be fully understood without reference to the ways in which shame affects those experiences. It explores how shame operates as a gendered set of self-regulatory practices, which are also practices of male power in individual womens’ lives. In order to do this findings from a small scale qualitative study which used semi-structured interviews with women who have experienced violence are utilised, together with a Foucauldian theoretical framework. The article contends that an awareness and understanding of how shame affects the lives of women experience male violence can improve law and social policy responses to male violence against women.     

Establishing a Relationship Between Behavior and Cognition: Violence Against Women and Children within the Family

The goal of our study is to determine whether a person’s cognitions regarding violence against women and violence against children within the family are associated with recourse to violent behavior toward them; and (2) the extent to which an adult who has a narrow conception of violence against women also has a narrow conception of, tolerant attitudes toward, and biased attributions with regard to violence toward children. Thirty men and 32 women took part in the study. Generally speaking, respondents more easily recognized physical aggression than psychological aggression, rated it more severely, and used it more often against their children than their spouses. Further, cognitions regarding violence against women and of parental violence against children appear to be strongly associated. Our results also suggest that the conception of violence toward women is associated with violence toward children.     

Women Police Stations as a Dispute Processing System

Abstract

In 1992, the Tamil Nadu State government in India began to introduce all-women police stations whose primary role is to deal with crimes against women, including family violence and dowry disputes. Dowry giving is a customary practice in India, which often results in disputes between young wives and their new families. As a result, the young women may be subjected to physical and mental ill treatment, sometimes resulting in death. Using detailed data from 474 case records and interviews with 60 dowry victims, the present study examines how women police stations serve as a dispute processing system, and describes the services extended by the stations to the victims of dowry disputes. Many cases were successfully resolved and violence was frequently reduced. The study holds implications for the extension of training in dispute resolution for women police in India.     

Women in the Nigerian judiciary: considerable headway or organised progress?

ABSTRACT

Women have made considerable progress in terms of their entrance into the legal profession, such that they are advancing towards parity with men on the High Court benches in Nigeria. This study is a product of qualitative empirical data gathered from interviews with judges and information gleaned from government records and personal files of judges in the Archives of the judiciaries in Mid-Western Nigeria. It identifies reasons for the increase in the number of women on the High Court Bench in the area. Women entering the legal professions in Nigeria from the 1930s opted for a career in government legal service and the Magistracy with less financial remuneration but regular work hours, than in private legal practice that provides higher remunerations and irregular work hours. Findings reveal that the number of women judges increased when it became fairly established to tunnel 90% of appointments to the High Court from these channels. The preliminary conclusion therefore, is that, although women lawyers have made considerable headway as High Court judges, the increase in their numbers on the High Court bench was not as a result of any organised policy to increase the number of women judges in Nigeria.     

Characteristics of Callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men

Intimate partner violence (IPV) by women against men has been the subject of much debate. Feminists typically argue that IPV is committed only by men against women. Others argue that violence is a human problem and women also commit much IPV. To resolve these debates, IPV has been classified into two categories: common couple violence captured by population-based studies, and patriarchal terrorism, captured by studies of battered women. This typology ignores male victims of extreme IPV. The current study addresses this omission by describing 190 male callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men. All callers experienced physical abuse from their female partners, and a substantial minority feared their wives’ violence and were stalked. Over 90% experienced controlling behaviors, and several men reported frustrating experiences with the domestic violence system. Callers’ reports indicated that their female abusers had a history of trauma, alcohol/drug problems, mental illness, and homicidal and suicidal ideations.

REJOINDER TO GARDNER'S "COMMENTARY ON KELLY AND JOHNSTON'S 'THE ALIENATED CHILD: A REFORMULATION OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME'"

In this reply to Richard Gardner, we outline our points of disagreement with his formulation of parental alienation syndrome (PAS), showing that his focus on the alienating parent as the primary cause of children's negative attitudes and rejecting behavior toward the other parent is overly simplistic and not supported by findings from recent empirical research. It follows that we strongly object to Gardner's recommendations for legal and mental health interventions with alienated children as well as the use of the term PAS when referring to this problem.     

COMMENTARY ON KELLY AND JOHNSTON'S "THE ALIENATED CHILD: A REFORMULATION OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME"

In a previous issue of this journal, Joan B. Kelly and Janet R. Johnston describe their reformulation of the parental alienation syndrome (PAS). Here, I present areas in which I agree with the authors and areas in which I disagree. Particular focus is placed on these PAS-related issues: the syndrome question, PAS versus parental alienation, the medical model, custodial transfer, gender bias, DSM-IV . empirical studies, and the misapplication of PAS.