This week we at Pychlaw.net will continue to discuss last week’s topic on PA. Future research will likely show that some of the eight criteria are more important than others. It may be that some criteria will be dropped or modified. It may be that new criteria will be identified and added. The criteria for many psychological disorders – including well known conditions such as autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder – have evolved based on the results of extensive field trials and on-going research.
The child’s symptoms that define PA – refusal to see one of the parents, a campaign of denigration, hatred that is unjustified and disproportionate to the circumstances, etc. – are usually just the tip of an iceberg of maladaptive attitudes and destructive behaviors. PA is a powerful psychosocial force that leads the child to develop comorbid emotional problems, troublesome and often deviant behaviors, and impaired interpersonal relationships. Mental diagnoses often are identified in alienated children including conduct disorders, mood disorders, substance abuse, and personality disturbances.
Johnston, Walters, and Olesen (2005) found that “alienated children had more emotional and behavioral problems of clinically significant proportions compared to their non alienated counterparts.” Johnston (2005) said that alienated children “are likely to be more troubled – more emotionally dependent, less socially competent, have problematic self-esteem (either low or defensively high), poor reality testing, lack the capacity for ambivalence, and are prone to enmeshment or splitting in relations with others.” She also noted:
Severely alienated children also are likely to manifest serious conduct disorders and can behave very inappropriately, at least in the presence of the rejected parent. Extreme expressions of hatred, rage, contempt, and hostility can be acted out in rudeness, swearing, and cursing, hanging up the phone, spitting at or striking a parent, sabotaging or destroying property, stealing, lying, and spying on the rejected parent.
Summarizing a great deal of the research, Fidler and Bala (2010) explained that data consistently shows that alienated children are at risk for emotional distress and adjustment difficulties and at much greater risk than children from litigating families who are not alienated. They reported that clinical observations, case reviews, and both qualitative and empirical studies uniformly indicate that alienated children may exhibit: poor reality testing, illogical cognitive operations, simplistic and rigid information processing, inaccurate or distorted interpersonal perceptions, disturbed and compromised interpersonal functioning, self-hatred, low self-esteem or inflated self-esteem or omnipotence, pseudo-maturity, gender-identity problems, poor differentiation of self or enmeshed relationships, aggression and conduct disorders; disregard for social norms and authority, poor impulse control, emotional constriction, passivity, or dependency, and lack of remorse or guilt.
The principle that family-of-origin relations influence future relationships and life adjustment is the foundation of several schools of developmental psychology. There are many studies that document long-term psychological damage associated with alienation and estrangement. Wallerstein and Blakeslee (1989) exclaimed that they had “seen a great deal of evidence that Medea-like anger severely injures children at every age.” They added:
When one or both parents act the Medea role, children are affected for years to come. Some grow up with warped consciences, having learned how to manipulate people as the result of their parents’ behavior. Some grow up with enormous rage, having understood that they were used as weapons. Some grow up guilty, with low self-esteem and recurrent depression. (p. 196)
Johnston, J. R., Walters, M. G., & Olesen, N. W. (2005). The Psychological Functioning of Alienated Children in Custody Disputing Families: An Exploratory Study. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 23(3), 39-64.
Fidler, B. J., & Bala, N. (2010). Children resisting post-separation contact with a parent: Concepts, controversies, and conundrums. Family Court Review, 48(1), 10-47.
Wallerstein, J. S., & Blakeslee, S. (1989). Second Chances: Men, Women, and Children a Decade After Divorce. New York, NY: Ticknor & Fields.