Parental Alienation

Parental alienation undermines the core principles of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. When verifiable parental abuse or neglect is present, however, an alienated child’s animosity toward the parent may be justified. In such cases, the parental alienation syndrome explanation is not applicable.

The manipulation of an alienated child, with the resulting psychological damage, can distort the child’s developing personality and subsequent life adjustment. Once parental alienation syndrome is identified, appropriate interventions are usually needed to avoid long-term negative impacts. Such treatment options include reunification therapy and parental alienation therapy that reverse the harmful programming of the alienated child.

Sources: Duhaime’s Encyclopedia of Law, Psych Central, Huffington Post: “How Parental Alienation Syndrome is Changing Custody Cases Across the U.S.”