DIAGNOSIS OF PARENTAL ALIENATION

The phenomenon known as parental alienation (PA) had been described in the mental health and legal literature for many years. However, it was given its name—parental alienation syndrome—by Richard Gardner in 1985 (Ref 1).

Rejection of one parent, by a child, does not occur naturally unless there is a cause. In PA, this cause is the parental alienating behaviours (PABs) of the alienating parent. A recent scientific paper (Ref 2) stated five factors must be met to conclude PA has occurred:

1. The Child Manifests Contact Resistance or Refusal, ie, Avoids a Relationship With One of the Parent
2. The Presence of a Prior Positive Relationship Between the Child and the Rejected Parent
3. The Absence of Abuse, Neglect, or Seriously Deficient Parenting on the Part of the Rejected Parent.
4. The Use of Multiple Alienating Behaviors on the Part of the Favored Parent. (see table 1)
5. The Child Exhibits Many of the Eight Behavioral Mani festations of Alienation. (see table 2)

Meeting all five factors establishes that a child has not rejected a parent because he / she has been abused by that parent, but rather because of the alienating behaviours of the other parent. Unsurprisingly, the severity of PA positively correlates with the frequency and number of alienating strategies deployed as well as the length of time alienation has gone on for. It varies from mild to moderate to severe which differ in the degree of hostility / rejection of parenting time shown to the targeted parent. In the severe form the child desires the complete cessation of contact.