Possible Recognition of Parental Alienation Syndrome Controversial

May 13, 2011 (Press-News.org) As everyone knows, divorces can often be contentious. Add children to the mix, and it can heighten the animosity, as both parents strive to do what they feel is best for the children. Sometimes these efforts boil over into accusations that the other parent is "bad" in some way -- eventually causing the child to share one parent's dislike for the other. In extreme cases, children have become unfairly estranged from one of their parents as a result.

Over the past 30 years, a name has emerged for this sort of situation -- parental alienation syndrome. Those who feel it is a legitimate psychological problem are hoping to get it recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, but they face stiff opposition from those who feel PAS is "junk science" and maintain it will only be used as a tool in court by abusive parents.

Alienation or Abuse?

Those who favor greater recognition of PAS see it as affecting children and essentially turning them against otherwise loving parents. Supporters have lobbied for its inclusion in the upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (known as the DSM-5) to be published in May 2013 by the APA. The DSM is generally considered to be the "bible" of mental health classification systems, and is used by doctors, researchers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and policy makers. Those who favor including PAS (or as they suggest it should be called in the DSM, "parental alienation disorder" or PAD) feel that doing so would help to legitimize their claims of alienation in court. Some have also suggested that it would lead to greater research into the condition and encourage insurance companies to cover treatment.

On the other side of the argument are those who feel that PAS is simply a way for abusive parents to continue their abuse against children or spouses. Opponents suggest that if PAS is given an air of legitimacy, claims of abuse by one spouse (often, but not always, the wife) will be dismissed in court as merely an attempt to alienate the child from the other parent. Parents who wish to have no contact whatsoever with abusive spouses will be forced by court orders to share child custody with their abusers.

An APA representative who is involved in drafting the next edition of the DSM told CBS News that the APA has received more mail on the issue of including PAS in the DSM-5 -- both in support and in opposition -- than for any other issue. A draft version of the next edition does not include PAS, although the APA does have a committee studying it.

Support for inclusion in the DSM is strong among the fathers' rights movement -- those fathers who feel the court system unfairly favors women in custody battles. But one Florida attorney interviewed by CBS News suggested that much of the support for inclusion now comes from the psychological and counseling communities, who stand to profit from performing PAS evaluations and appearing as expert witnesses in divorce trials.

Legal Ramifications

Whether the DSM-5 contains reference to PAS could have serious ramifications in divorce courts across the country. Current standards for courtroom evidence require certain expert testimony to be based on sound, well-accepted scientific principles before it can be admitted by the court. Those who discredit PAS say that it is not well researched or widely accepted, and claim that including it in the DSM-5 would lend credence to any experts who would testify to having observed its symptoms in children who are the subjects of custody fights. Some courts may currently be convinced that testimony regarding PAS is not widely accepted and thus exclude evidence or testimony regarding it, but recognition by the DSM could change that.

Yet even though PAS is not yet formally recognized in the DSM, the concept of parental alienation is already frequently considered in courtrooms across the country. In Ohio, for example, custody decisions made in court are required to be based on what is in the "best interests of the child." The law lists a number of factors that judges must consider in approving child custody plans in divorce cases, and one of the factors judges must consider in approving any shared parenting scenario is "the ability of each parent to encourage the sharing of love, affection, and contact between the child and the other parent."

This creates a scenario in which any parent who wishes to have at least some custody must either demonstrate that he or she has made no effort to alienate the other parent in the child's eyes, or be forced to take the opposite approach and refute any negative claims made by the other parent by claiming that the other parent is trying to "poison" an otherwise strong parent/child relationship. Unfortunately for those parents, either situation is difficult to prove in court, and yet either way the specter of parental alienation comes into play.

Ultimately it's hard to say whether adding parental alienation syndrome (or disorder) to the DSM-5 would truly help judges and litigants in divorce cases. What is clear is that the concept of parental alienation is already in our legal system and is mentioned in cases throughout Ohio and across the country. Thus it's important for anyone facing the prospect of a child custody dispute -- either as part of a divorce or at some other time -- to have an experienced family law attorney to help navigate the process and prepare for any difficulties that a parental alienation claim might bring.

Article provided by Amy M. Levine & Associates LLC
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