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Criminal Rewards

The Impact of Parent Alienation Syndrome on Families

Lewis and Clark College, ALBrown{at}lclark.edu

Since 1985, the claim of parent alienation syndrome (PAS) has represented the extreme collusion of male entitlement, the mental health profession, and family courts. PAS is a pseudoscientific theory used to prevent battered women from protecting their children from exposure to violent and abusive fathers. It asserts that children who resist parents' visits are not legitimately seeking protection from their fathers but have been "alienated" from their fathers by their mothers. This article examines the impact of PAS on families, its admissibility in courts, and the role of social workers and other mental health practitioners in custody cases through the lens of a social worker, a social justice activist, and a mother who is involved in a PAS custody case.

Key Words: abuse in custody cases • contentious divorce • parent alienation syndrome

Affilia, Vol. 23, No. 4, 388-396 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0886109908323999


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