Court Intervention in Child Alienation Cases

The severing of a relationship between a parent and a child compromises a child's healthy development and is an emotionally devastating experience for the family. There is a substantial body of psychological literature that demonstrates significant negative short-term and long-term consequences for children who become alienated from one parent in the context of a divorce. Research studies, clinical observation and case reviews show that alienated children suffer from an array of emotional problems. At the very least, they begin to have distorted views about personal relationships and poor reality testing, they can become manipulative and callous in ways that compromise their interactions with others, and they have separation and identity issues.

Alienated children are at far greater risk for adjustment difficulties and emotional distress than children from litigating families who have not become alienated. Fidler, BJ and Bala, N. (2010). Children Resisting Postseparation Contact with a Parent: Concepts, Controversies and Conundrums, Family Court Review, 48 (1), 10-47.There is also evidence that the impact of alienation is long-lasting. Low self-esteem, self-blame, and guilt are reported by adults who were alienated as children. Baker, A.J. L. (2007). Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome, Breaking the Ties that Bind. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.