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Parents Alienating Children Research Paper

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Parental alienation (or Hostile Aggressive Parenting) is a group of behaviors that are damaging to children's mental and emotional well-being, and can interfere with a relationship of a child and either parent. In this view, alienation is seen as a breakdown of attachment between parent and child and may be caused by multiple factors. When they are threatened however, they can become fiercely entrenched in preserving what they see is rightfully theirs. These behaviors most often accompany high conflict marriages, separation or divorce. Characteristics, such as lack of empathy and warmth, between the rejected parent and child are some indicators. These behaviors whether verbal or non-verbal, cause a child to be mentally manipulated or bullied …show more content…

These behaviors may be conscious and deliberate or, alternatively, may reflect a lack of awareness on the effect of the actions on the children. Direct alienating behaviors occur when one parent actively undermines the other parent, such as making derogatory remarks about the other parent, telling the child that the other parent is responsible for the separation, or telling the child that the other parent is the cause of financial difficulties. I'm not telling him that he can't see you.". They figure out on which side the bread is buttered (who has the power), and their survival needs tug at them. The child, who is already enmeshed with the parent because his or her own identity is still undefined, easily absorbs the parent's negativity. Who discovered Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)? In association with this growing child-custody litigation, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Also, it is not PAS if the child still has a positive relationship with the parent, even though one parent is attempting to alienate the child from him or her. Gardner first identified Parental Alienation Syndrome in the 1980's. Unfortunately, in PAS situations a dramatic and loud complaint from the alienating parent often ends up being acted upon without an investigation as to the accuracy of the allegation. He noticed a dramatic increase in the frequency of a disorder …show more content…

They don't play by the rules and are not likely to obey a court order. It was confounded by what Dr. Gardner calls self-created contributions by the child in support of the alienating parent's campaign of denigration against the targeted parent.

The alienator can truthfully say that the child doesn't want to spend any time with this parent, even though he or she has told him that he has to, it is a court order, etc. The alienator typically responds, "There isn't anything that I can do about it. An important point is that in PAS there is no true parental abuse and/or neglect on the part of the alienated parent.

If this were the case, the child's animosity would be justified. These children feel that they must protect the mother. Because they don't understand how to please other people, any effort to do so always has strings attached. When things are going their way, they can hold themselves

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