In the International Handbook,
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discuss the theory, diagnosis,
treatment, and legal aspects
of Parental Alienation Syndrome:

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Parental Alienation Syndrome: Real or Imagined?
Article by Kelly Stephens, Family Court Specialist, for the State of Kentucky

The scene: A child caught in the middle of a custody dispute is being interviewed by a court appointed therapist. The following exchange takes place:
Therapist: I’m very sorry to hear your grandfather died.
Billy: You know, he just didn’t die. My
father murdered him.
Therapist (incredulously): Your father murdered your grandfather, his own father?
Billy: Yes, I know he did it.
Therapist: I thought your grandfather was in the hospital. I understand he was about 85 years old and that he was dying of old- age diseases.
Billy: Yeah, that’s what my father says.
Therapist: What do you say?
Billy: I say my father murdered him in the hospital.
Therapist: How did he do that?
Billy: He sneaked into the hospital, at night, and did it while no one was looking. He did it while the nurses and the doctors were asleep.
Therapist: How do you know that?
Billy: I just know it.
Therapist: Did anyone tell you such a thing?
Billy: No, but I just know it.
Therapist (now turning to the mother, who is witness to this conversation): What do you think about what Billy just said? Mother: Well, I don’t really think that my husband did it, but I wouldn’t put it past that son-of-a-b*#%.

Dr. Richard Gardner described the above scene in his book The Parental Alienation Syndrome to illustrate a phenomenon of the same name.
In particular, he defines Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) as a “disorder that arises primarily in the context of child custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of the programming (brain- washing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s own con- tributions to the vilification of the target parent.”
In the above example, Billy has convinced himself that his father is capable of patricide (an unjustified assessment of this particular father, according to Gardner) and the mother reinforces this unreasonable opinion either through explicit or tacit approval and encouragement.

Since its introduction in the late 1980s, Dr. Gardner’s theory has been met with skepticism, opposition, and outright scorn from critics. It has been embraced by father’s groups and vilified by the National Organization for Women.
Because Gardner also had very controversial ideas about child sexual abuse allegations and his PAS theory is couched in terms that can be very offensive to women (he hypothesizes that 90 percent of parents who alienate their children from the other parent are mothers), much of the core idea behind parental alienation syndrome has been lost in gender, legal and scientific politics.

This article is not intended to take a position on the validity of Gardner’s theory or other parental alienation theories, or to encourage its use in courts of law. Rather, the purpose of this overview is to recognize a growing issue of concern to Family Court staff and the families they encounter, and to raise the issue in a manner that cautions against both the wholesale acceptance or rejection of the theories.

Many court personnel, family law attorneys, social workers and guardians ad litem have probably witnessed a parent engaging in negative behaviors toward the other parent at some point in their careers. And while there may be a nugget of truth in the parental alienation theories, most professionals run into difficulty when forced to distinguish between so-called “normal” behaviors by parents and children going through divorce or other high-conflict litigation and something that rises to the level of unacceptable conduct by parent and child. Even more difficult is determining the proper role of the courts in intervening in such a delicate matter.

Development of Other Parental Alienation Theories
Subsequent social scientists, who recognize alienating behaviors but disagree with Gardner’s formulation and scientific method, have reformulated the PAS theory into less controversial terms, omitting the focus on blaming an alienating parent. Therefore, it is not uncommon to run across the term “parental alienation” (PA), coined by Johnston and Kelly, which noticeably drops the use of the word “syndrome” and attempts to fashion the theory more as a systematic reaction to a shift in the family structure due to divorce rather than a medical diagnosis of a mental disorder.
Children may still be estranged or alienated from a parent, but there may be factors at work other than the active programming or brainwashing by the other parent.

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