Parental alienation is perhaps the worst experience any family can go through when in a middle of divorce or separation. As a matter of fact, parental alienation puts a child's well-being at risk as they bear the agony of choosing between his or her conflicting parents.
Considered as a form of "emotional and mental abuse," Huffington Post contributor and Parental Alienation Awareness Organization advocate Berni Xiong revealed that parental alienation is a type of abuse that doesn't inflict "visible scars and bruises." However, the agony that comes with parental alienation is never easy to bear and endure alone.
What Is Parental Alienation?
Parental alienation is simply defined as a form of psychological abuse where one parent brainwashes or poisons a child or children against the other parent. This circumstance usually happens when divorcing or separating parents are involved in a hostile and winner-take-all custody battle, a previous Parent Herald report noted.
Parental Alienation: A Criminal Offense?
In Brazil and Mexico, parental alienation is considered a criminal act while it is "widely recognized in the United States and Canada. Due to its negative impact to a child's well-being, some are claiming parental alienation should be made a criminal offense.
Furthermore, there are also "strong arguments" that evidently suggest parental alienation is a form of psychological abuse since it depicts a parent perpetrator's incapability to put a child's feelings and needs above him or her. According to The Law Society Gazette, several legal professionals are acknowledging the existence of the so-called parental alienation phenomenon but people can't also deny the fact that current campaigns and shared parenting laws are not enough to address this issue.
Intensive Help Needed As Parental Alienation Cases Increase
Parental alienation exists in 11-15 percent of divorces involving children and the numbers are reportedly rising. In North America, on the other hand, researchers found that 1 percent of children and adolescents is experiencing parental alienation, The Guardian reveals.
As the tragic reality of parental alienation continues to persist, support service is currently calling for "intensive help." As a matter of fact, parental alienation is now a common feat in most challenging family breakdowns.
With that said, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is offering an "intensive therapeutic pilot program" to help those affected families. According to Cafcass assistant director Sarah Parsons, almost 80 percent of the most intransigent cases that come before the family courts is due to parental alienation.
Parental Alienation Syndrome
Due to parental alienation, children may suffer the family systems pathology called narcissistic parental alienation syndrome (PAS). As per Psych Central, PAS is an "unhealthy coalition between a narcissistic parent and his or her children against 09O-;the targeted, non-narcissistic, non-abusive parent."
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