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Stepfamily Articles -
Parental Alienation Syndrome
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Parental Alienation is a phenomenon that develops almost exclusively as a by-product of separation and divorce.
The late Richard Gardner M.D. coined the term "Parental Alienation
Syndrome, (PAS)" in the early
1970’s when he started to write about behaviors that he observed in
children whose parents were divorcing. In particular, he noted that
among some of these children, their once warm, loving and healthy
relationship with both parents prior to divorce suddenly altered to the
extent where one parent was loved and the other one was outwardly
despised and rejected.
Upon further investigation, it was found that the "loved" or
"preferred" parent had coerced the child into a partnership of
maligning and denigrating the other parent. Therefore, PAS is a
condition where
one parent deliberately attempts to sever the relationship a child has
with the other parent and in doing so, he or she engages the child in
the vilification of the other parent.
Back in the 1970’s when PAS was first identified, mothers were
most
often reported as the parent responsible for this regrettable
situation. Today, there appears to be an even split between mothers and
fathers who initiate PAS in their children.
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