Get Ready to Explore Parental Alienation

Parental alienation is a mental condition in which a child—usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce—allies strongly with an alienating parent and rejects a relationship with the other parent, the “target” parent, without legitimate justification.

Lorandos, D., Bernet, W. (Eds.) (2020). Parental Alienation – Science and Law.
Warshak, R.S. (2010). Divorce Poison: How to Protect Your Family from Badmouthing and Brainwashing.

Parental alienation is a family dynamic in which a parent engages in behaviors that can cause a child to unjustifiably reject the other parent. These behaviors are referred to as “parental alienation strategies” or “parental alienation behaviors.”

Baker, A.J.L., Sauber, S.R. (2013). Working with Alienated Children and Families: A Clinical Guidebook.

For the child, the biopsychosocial-spiritual effects of parental alienation are devastating. For both the alienated parent and child, the removal and denial of contact in the absence of neglect or abuse constitute cruel and unusual treatment …. As a form of child maltreatment, parental alienation is a serious child protection matter as it undermines a basic principle of social justice for children: the right to know and be cared for by both of one's parents.

The sad reality is that parents who damage their children's natural affection for the other parent are doing serious—and even abusive—damage.

Heitler, S., posted February 1, 2018. 

Parental alienation can be classified as a psychological hazard to the welfare of a child resuling from an abuse of parental care that exploits the dependency relationship of the child.

Boch-Galhau, W.v. (2018), Parental Alienation (Syndrome) – A Serious Form of Psychological Child Abuse. Mental Health Fam Med 14:725-739.

 In a case where a child rejects contact with a parent, an evaluator can determine if the rejection is unwarranted, which is called parental alienation, by making a thorough investigation of the empirical facts over time. If the child has a legitimate reason to reject a parent, it is called estrangement.

An evaluator can use the Five-Factor Model to identify and diagnose parental alienation. If the answer, after thorough and qualified investigation, to all five questions below is yes, it is most probably a case of severe parental alienation.

1. Does the child refuse contact?
2. Did the child before refusal of contact have a loving relationship with the now rejected parent?
3. Is there a lack of confirmed, reliable information about abuse or neglect from that parent?
4. Is there documentation over time that the other parent has used several of the 17 identified alienation strategies?
5. Does the child manifest the 8 characteristics for an alienated child?

Lorandos, D., Bernet, W. (2020). Parental Alienation–Science and Law.

Abused children don’t exhibit the eight characteristic behaviors that alienated children do.

Baker, A. J. L., Schneiderman, M. (2015). Bonded to the Abuser.

Parental Alienation Study Group, Inc (PASG), is a nonprofit international organization of mental health professionals, legal professionals, targeted parents and grandparents, and child and family advocates who are interested in the study of parental alienation.