In this blog, we at PsychLaw.net believe parental alienation (PA) refers to a mental condition in which a child – usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce – allies himself or herself strongly with one parent (the alienating parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the target parent) without legitimate justification.
The most common cause of PA is indoctrination of the child by the alienating parent to dislike or fear the target parent. Parents have been characterized as: mildly alienating (making negative comments about the other parent but without a serious intention of undermining the child’s relationship with that parent); moderately alienating(having a conscious intention to undermine the targeted parent, knowing it is wrong and possibly harmful to the child); and severely alienating (determined to destroy the child’s relationship with the other parent).
The eight criteria for the diagnosis of PA are: the child’s campaign of denigration against the target parent; frivolous rationalizations for the child’s criticisms; lack of ambivalence; the independent-thinker phenomenon; reflexive support of the alienating parent; absence of guilt over exploitation of the target parent; borrowed scenarios; and spread of the child’s animosity toward the target parent’s extended family.
There are many treatments for PA. The choice of treatment depends on whether the level of PA in the child is: mild (the child resists contact with the target parent, but enjoys the relationship once parenting time is underway); moderate (the child strongly resists contact and is persistently oppositional during parenting time with the target parent); or severe (the child persistently and adamantly refuses contact with the target parent).