{"id":16382,"date":"2021-03-04T11:58:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T11:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/?p=16382"},"modified":"2024-02-06T15:33:46","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T15:33:46","slug":"parental-alienation-a-dangerous-and-harmful-concept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/parental-alienation-a-dangerous-and-harmful-concept\/","title":{"rendered":"“Parental alienation”: A dangerous and harmful concept"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Parental alienation”: A dangerous and harmful concept<\/h1>\n

A Safe<\/em> blog by Jenny Birchall, Senior Research and Policy Officer at Women’s Aid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the last few years, the terms \u201cparental alienation\u201d and \u201calienating behaviour\u201d have been used more and more \u2013 in the family courts, in children\u2019s social work, on social media, and even in debates about the new domestic abuse bill.<\/p>\n

But why<\/strong> is \u201calienation\u201d such a dangerous term when it comes to domestic abuse?<\/p>\n

While there are no robust empirical studies to back up the concept of \u201cparental alienation\u201d, and no reliable data on its prevalence,[i]<\/a> there is, as Adrienne Barnett discusses in our Safe<\/em> blog<\/a>, a growing, and increasingly robust evidence base demonstrating the ways that allegations of alienation are used in the family courts to rebut, obscure and distract from allegations of domestic abuse. Put simply, when mothers raise concerns about whether contact between a perpetrator of domestic abuse and a child is safe, they are accused of attempting to \u201calienate\u201d the child from the father. They are also accused of making false allegations of domestic or child abuse. Devastatingly, the results can be that children are forced into unsafe child contact with an abusive parent, or even removed from loving parents and placed with perpetrators of abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>The treatment I\u2019ve had is very cruel. I\u2019ve been punished for speaking about abuse, and I had my children used as a punishment. It\u2019s horrifically painful to have your children taken in any circumstances, like going through a bereavement but they\u2019re still alive. You don\u2019t know how you can still exist. It\u2019s as though we have no rights. We\u2019ve been silenced\u201d (Survivor\u2019s testimony, 2018).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At Women\u2019s Aid, we are hearing these stories more and more frequently. In 2018 we conducted research with Queen Mary University of London<\/a> on domestic abuse and the family courts. The majority of survivors taking part in the project had either been accused of some form of \u201calienating behaviour\u201d, or were worried that they would be, as they tried to negotiate safe child contact for their children. Most disturbingly, several of the women had lost all access to their children as a result of parental alienation allegations made by their abusive former partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe denied the allegations and he claimed I was manipulative, bitter. He said it was parental alienation. He used the term a lot \u2013 he\u2019s a clever man, he knew what to say, how to act\u201d (Survivor\u2019s testimony, 2018).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAn ‘expert witness’ was chosen by my ex’s solicitor. I later found out he says mothers have ‘false beliefs’ in all these cases, and runs workshops on ‘parental alienation syndrome’. On reading about this I realised this was the tactic used against me and is a catch 22 I had no chance to defend against\u201d (Survivor\u2019s testimony, 2018).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since we published our research, we continue<\/strong> to hear from women in similar, impossible situations. Below are just a few recent examples from survivors. Unfortunately, these survivor stories are very common scenarios:<\/h2>\n

After experiencing coercive control, as well as psychological, sexual and financial abuse, one survivor was advised by her GP and IDVA to flee with police support and protection. The case was assessed as high risk and went to MARAC. The survivor had a lot of evidence of the abuse, including police reports, IDVA\/MARAC letters, and GP notes. However, when she raised this in the family court, she was accused by the perpetrator and his legal team of \u201cparental alienation\u201d. She was also accused of being mentally unstable. She could not believe it when, at the end of the hearing, it was decided that contact between the children and father should be reinstated as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

When one of her children threatened to kill themselves if she was forced to have any more contact with her abusive father, one survivor sought help from social services and the case went to the family court. However, the Cafcass officer\u2019s report did not discuss the father\u2019s abusive behaviour, or reflect the concerns and fears of the survivor and her daughter. Instead, it accused the survivor of \u201cparental alienation\u201d. The court agreed, and all were ordered to have therapy together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last year the Ministry of Justice expert panel\u2019s report<\/a> identified the detrimental effects of the \u201cpro-contact\u201d culture of the family courts, which sits alongside a culture of disbelief and victim-blaming around domestic abuse. One of the results of these interrelated cultures and beliefs is that there is so much focus on children having contact with both parents, that valid concerns about domestic abuse and child safety are minimised and put aside. The concept of \u201cparental alienation\u201d is one of the tools used to do this. The examples below show how this happens.<\/p>\n

One survivor was taken to the family court by her perpetrator after he had been convicted of assault against her. She had also made complaints of rape against him. Despite the fact that the children had seen the assault and the rape, and the involvement of Children\u2019s Services, the perpetrator was assessed as no risk to the children. The survivor pleaded with the court not to allow unsupervised access, especially as the perpetrator had a new girlfriend and the children were likely to witness and experience domestic abuse again. However, the judge ruled that the survivor was putting her own anxiety and fears onto the children, and that this was deemed parental alienation. The judge ruled that the children should be removed and placed in the care of the perpetrator. The survivor was only allowed minimal supervised contact with her children.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We also hear from survivors who have been accused of \u201cparental alienation\u201d after raising not only domestic abuse against themselves, but also serious abuse against their children.<\/p>\n

Another survivor explained how, after she fled from her perpetrator, he made an application to the family court for child contact. Despite the fact that the police had been called due to domestic abuse, and Children\u2019s Services had previously been involved with the family due to allegations that the father was sexually abusing his young child, the family court judge refused to allow a fact hearing to take place. The judge viewed the survivor\u2019s concerns about her child\u2019s safety as \u201cparental alienation\u201d. They ordered unsupervised, overnight contact and the survivor was instructed to make her child available.<\/p>\n

After each court-ordered stay the child was left with bruising and injuries\/soreness in their genital areas. The survivor again raised her concerns with the court but was ordered to not make any further allegations either to the court or any other professional. She was again was accused of parental alienation and as having mental health issues, despite the fact that she had never been assessed for or diagnosed with any mental health problems.<\/p>\n

Finally, after irrefutable evidence of child abuse emerged, the perpetrator was arrested. A new application to the court was made in order to vary the order and stop unsupervised contact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The concept of parental alienation is not only being used within the family court system. Worryingly, it has crept into debates around the domestic abuse bill \u2013 as members of the House of Lords have tried to include it in the first-ever statutory definition of domestic abuse in this new law. Whilst the government has rejected these calls, there is still a real risk that the phrase \u201calienating behaviours\u201d will end up in guidance underpinning the bill. This risks legitimising a concept that is not rooted in any robust evidence, but which has devastating impacts on women and children experiencing abuse.<\/p>\n

The voices of survivors clearly show why concepts around \u201calienation\u201d are so dangerous in cases involving domestic abuse. Before accepting any of these concepts, all professionals involved in making decisions about child contact, and decision makers establishing legislation, policy and guidance, must be aware of the dangerous and horrific consequences that occur when domestic abuse allegations are met with those of parental alienation.[i]<\/a> Doughty, J., Maxwell, N. and Slater, T. (2020) \u2018Professional responses to \u2018parental alienation\u2019: research-informed practice\u2019 in Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 42(1); Meier, J. (2013) Parental alienation syndrome and parental alienation: A research review. National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women<\/p>\n

Back to Safe Blog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Parental alienation”: A dangerous and harmful concept A Safe blog by Jenny Birchall, Senior Research and Policy Officer at Women’s Aid Over the last few years, the terms \u201cparental alienation\u201d and \u201calienating behaviour\u201d have been used more and more \u2013 in the family courts, in children\u2019s social work, on social media, and even in debates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":580,"featured_media":16409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[660,1941,659],"tags":[72,527,38,1084,675,275,1178,1176,1177,748,406,337,131,141,48,279],"class_list":["post-16382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-safe-blog","category-key-statements","category-safe","tag-domestic-abuse","tag-domestic-abuse-bill","tag-domestic-violence","tag-family-court","tag-house-of-lords","tag-ministry-of-justice","tag-moj","tag-parental-alienation","tag-queen-mary-university-of-london","tag-safe-blog","tag-social-media","tag-social-work","tag-unsafe-child-contact","tag-vawg","tag-violence-against-women-and-girls","tag-womens-aid","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Parental alienation": A dangerous and harmful concept - 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