What is parental alienation syndrome (PAS)?

Introduction

Parental alienation syndrome (PAS) has arisen primarily in the context of child custody in divorce actions. Divorcing parents getting joint custody find that the interactions that must take place in transferring the child between households further complicate emotions for both parents. There is an ongoing confusion in both the legal and the medical professions as to the syndrome’s nature and dimensions and how PAS can be detected. The courts have four main criteria to guide attorneys in establishing PAS.
Criterion I must show active blocking of access or contact between the child and the absent parent for the protection of the child.




























Criterion II establishes that permanent termination of visitation has occurred as the result of accusations of physical abuse against the absent parent.


Criterion III establishes that a positive relationship existed between the child and the absent parent before the divorce or separation, but has severely deteriorated since then. Healthy established parental relationships do not erode naturally.


Criterion IV establishes that the alienating parent is creating a fear-based environment, causing a child to fear abandonment by the resident parent.

These criteria seem easy to identify separately. However, when coupled with actual court cases, absolutes of the human behaviors involved are difficult to establish.

Possible Causes

Courts have become the arena for determining what the legal system believes to be “the best interest of the child” because PAS arises primarily from child-custody disputes. Parents who initiate PAS seem to be psychologically stuck in the first stage of child development, when survival skills are learned. The initiating parent needs total control of his or her environment and the people in it. These parents expect emotional recompense for any attempt on their part to please other people; they do not know how to give and are not likely to obey court rules because they do not play by the rules. Through many studies, these traits have been shown to be intergenerational in dysfunctional families. PAS can be a very effective tool in obtaining complete custody. Numerous motivations are involved, such as a desire for money in the form of child support, or because the alienating parent wants to remarry and not have the first spouse in the picture.

Diagnosing Parental Alienation Syndrome

Actual diagnosis of PAS in a legal proceeding is left to a mental health professional. The diagnosis by a physician or psychologist called to testify might be presented in clinical terms that are not always clear to the layman, especially to the emotionally biased parents involved. The diagnosis is therefore open to interpretation and argument by opposing attorneys. There is an ongoing argument among medical professionals regarding whether PAS is a syndrome (a number of symptoms occurring together, constituting a distinct clinical picture) or a disorder (a disruption or interference with normal functions or established systems). Further complicating the issue is the fact that PAS does not appear in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
or in the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and many clinicians do not accept it as a legitimate diagnosis.

One parent turning a child against another parent is not a complicated concept on its own. Historically, however, PAS has been hard to prove because of the unpredictable, often untruthful human behaviors involved. There is also attempted PAS, when the legal criteria are not met, but the parent has tried, without success, to alienate the child from the other parent.

Treatment Options

Arbitration by a family counseling specialist must be ordered before court proceedings begin. False accusations can psychologically damage a child for life. As adults, these children often seek out the alienated/absent parent, only to find that the accusations were unfounded. If severe guilt and emotional distress do exist, professional help is recommended immediately.

Controversy

PAS has not been received uncritically in the fields of psychology and law. Many psychology experts consider it lacking in scientific basis, noting that the original publications about PAS were self-published and that subsequent publications in peer-reviewed journals have been anecdotal case studies. As of 2014, no large-scale, repeatable, falsifiable clinical studies of PAS had been made. Neither the American Medical Association nor the American Psychiatric Association recognizes PAS, and the American Psychological Association declines to give a position on it due to the lack of data.

In the legal realm, courts in Canada and the United Kingdom have decided that a diagnosis of PAS is not admissible in a custody case; courts in the United States may still accept it, but its lack of support from the psychiatric and psychological community complicates its use in custody battles.

Additionally, some child advocacy and women's groups have raised concerns that Gardner's formulation of PAS demonizes mothers (whom he labeled as the alienating parent in the vast majority of cases) and enables the dismissal of legitimate instances of child abuse. Some therapists and clinicians working with children in divorce situations also take issue with PAS's placement of the blame solely on one parent, believing that often both parents contribute to the problems.

Bibliography

Baker, Amy J. Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties That Bind. New York: Norton, 2007. Print.

Bond, Richard. “The Lingering Debate over the Parental Alienation Syndrome Phenomenon.” Journal of Child Custody 4.1–2 (2008): 35–54. Print.

Bow, James N., Jonathan W. Gould, and James R. Flens. “Examining Parental Alienation in Child Custody Cases: A Survey of Mental Health and Legal Professionals.” American Journal of Family Therapy 37.2 (2009): 127–45. Print.

Clawar, S. S., and B. V. Rivlin. Children Held Hostage: Dealing with Programmed and Brainwashed Children. Chicago: Amer. Bar Assn., 1991. Print.

Crary, David. “Parental Alienation Not a Mental Disorder, American Psychiatric Association Says.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Sep. 2012. Web. 29 May 2014.

Emery, Robert E. “Parental Alienation Syndrome: Proponents Bear the Burden of Proof.” Family Court Review 43.1 (2005): 8–13. Print.

Gardner, Richard A. Parental Alienation Syndrome. 2d ed. Cresskill: Creative Therapeutics, 2000. Print.

Gardner, Richard A. “Should Courts Order PAS Children to Visit or Reside with the Alienated Parent?” The American Journal of Forensic Psychology 19.3 (2001): 61–106. Print.

Moskovitch, Deborah. The Smart Divorce: Proven Strategies and Valuable Advice from One Hundred Top Divorce Lawyers, Financial Advisers, Counselors, and Other Experts. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2007. Print.

Turkat, Ira Daniel. “Questioning the Mental Health Expert’s Custody Report.” American Journal of Family Law 7 (1993): 175–177. Print.