Parental Alienation Syndrome: What it means and why it matters?

Parental alienation is a term used to describe a common problem of children being pushed by one parent – the tendency to parenthood – shamelessly rejecting the other parent – the target parent. Parental estrangement often, but not always, occurs when families are separated.

There are seventeen basic parental alienation strategies that have been identified through studies of alienated adults as children and target parents. These 17 PA strategies were recognized as part of the follow-up audit. The top parental alienation strategies fall into five main categories:

1. toxic messages to the child about the target parent that describe the person as callous, dangerous, and unapproachable;
2. limiting contact and communication between the child and the intended parent;
3. remove and replace the target parent in the child’s heart and mind;
4. encouraging children to abuse the trust of the target parents;
5. weaken the authority of the target parent. Taken together, these parental alienation strategies promote conflict and psychological distance between the child and the target parent. When parents engage in this behavior, they can be viewed as toxic exes.

Not all children who are faced with this alienating parenting strategy succumb to pressure and distance themselves. The pressure of choosing one parent over another is resistible for some children. When they can’t escape the pressure, they have to keep their distance. That is, they reject the target parent without protection; Your relationship with the target parent depends on controlling the vulnerable parent’s emotions and not on a genuine encounter with the target parent.

Parental Alienation Syndrome:

“The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them,” said Frank A. Clark. Frank was an American lawyer and politician who served in public and private practice for some 50 years, including 20 years in the United States Congress.

Children who refuse one parent to please the other are considered distant or have parental alienation syndrome. They will communicate most of the 8 social cues:

1. smear campaign against affected parents
2. weak, frivolous, or stupid explanations behind the target’s parent’s refusal;
3. lack of ambivalence about both parents seeing one great and the other terrible;
4. lack of remorse for the mistreatment of the target’s parents;
5. reflective support for caring parents;
6. the use of the situation obtained;
7. the “independent manager” feature;
8. Spreading hostility towards the relatives of the intended parents.