Parental Alienation Analysis

“The greatest threat to a child’s well-being in the United States is parental incarceration” –The Sentencing Project. A 500% increase has made “The land of the Free” the top country in the world for housing inmates in its “correctional” facilities, with more than 2.2 million currently incarcerated (BJS, 2011). Excusing one’s views on the appropriateness of the justice system and incarceration, it is evident that parental imprisonment disrupts the relationship between a parent and a child tremendously. In addition to the absence of nurturance, economic stresses are heightened which can cause the remaining family to become unstable. Because there has is not a lot of research dedicated to the wellbeing of children who have a parent incarcerated, it is vital that more attention be paid to the nations children. Our goal in this paper is to examine the impact of parental incarceration on children’s development and attachment style.

Parental Alienation Syndrome is defined as a syndrome where one parent (usually the custodial parent) alienates the child or children from the other parent. A child psychiatrist organized this syndrome by the name of Richard Gardner. The fact that Parental Alienation Syndrome is used in custody litigations makes it a very controversial issue. The syndrome tends to target one parent and favor the other, sometimes leaving the child in compromising situations. Also, Gardner's 'syndrome' lacks scientific background and is seen as nothing more than a theory by many other professionals. Parental Alienation Syndrome should not be considered in court custody battles, as it is nothing more than an inadequate theory.

A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.

Child custody have been an issue for many years but no clear rules have been established until approximately in the 1970’s. In the early colonial years, the arrangement was unappealing to children and their mothers and possibly doing psychologically damage. Luckily, history has evolved and children’s well-being has become a priority in divorce cases.

How does domestic violence between parents and parental figures affect the children who witness it? This is a question often asked by Sociologists and Psychologists alike. There have been studies that prove that children who witness domestic inter-parental violence experience mental health problems, issues with gender roles, substance abuse, the committing of crimes and suicide/suicide attempts later in their lives. This paper will explore all five of these 'effects' of domestic violence on children and show that there is evidence of a clear relationship in which increasing parental violence is associated with increasing outcome risks (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.8).

Although family relationships can provide stability and a sense of wellbeing, they can also involve physical violence, verbal and emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect (Holmes et al., 2016, p.

The children of these parents do not want to be blamed for anything. Students say that growing up without your mom or dad in the picture changes your whole outlook on life. Researchers found that children are hurt when their parents do not tell them the truth about things. When parents do not keep their child updated on things that are going on in the house, this could make the child feel like they are not respected. In the GordonPoll Youth Survey, the children say they just need to know that the divorce was not their fault. A Parental alienation is the creation of one relationship between a child and one parent, to the exclusion of the other parent typical indicator of this would be a child who does not wish to have contact with the target parent and expresses negative feelings towards that parent with no real reason why. There are four forms of parental alienation: mild, moderate, overt, and severe. Mild alienation occurs when a child feels significant discomfort

A little over three years ago, Gabriel Fernandez, an eight year old boy, was beaten to death, allegedly, by his mother and the boyfriend of his mother in Palmdale, California. Based on the reports of the boy’s teacher, who had repetitively conveyed evidence of maltreatment to social services before the child’s death, that fatal incident was not the first time he had been abused (LA Times, 2016). According to the Los Angeles Times (2016), “In the months before the boy was killed, county child protection caseworkers and sheriff 's deputies investigated allegations of abuse without removing Gabriel from the home.” Though the consequences of this situation may be imputed to possible negligence of the social workers involved, this case gruesomely highlights one of the most highly contested policies in child welfare: family preservation vs. child removal. Family preservation can be defined as a social policy which encourages, “comprehensive, short-term, intensive services for families delivered primarily in the home [and is] designed to prevent the unnecessary out-of-home placement of children or to promote family reunification” (Child Welfare League of America). While the definition may sound simple, it is often times difficult for a social worker to determine whether it is best to leave a child in a home to avoid separation, which can be painful, or to remove a child to dodge potential abuse or harm. In order to fully understand the implications of family preservation, it is

When abruptly removing a child from their father is ignoring the emotional needs of that child/children. They end up feeling vulnerable, alone, and frightened

Wang, F., Cox, M. J., Mills-Koonce, R., & Snyder, P. (2015). Parental Behaviors and Beliefs, Child Temperament, and Attachment Disorganization. Family Relations, 64(2),

From my research when dealing with child custody there are four different types of issues and those four have incommon is that it’s a custody battle over a child or children. The first type is legal custody where the parent has the right to make decisions about the child's upbringing, The second type is physical custody where the parent has the right to

Parental monitoring is vital for an individual’s development because it teaches him/her how to make decisions, learn from right from wrong, and (a benefit) how to not get into trouble with the law. Without that monitoring, s/he has to make decisions and guide themselves. However, s/he can make poor judgements and can potentially land themselves having to deal with the criminal justice system. Ryan conducted a study to measure the relationship between child neglect and recidivism on early adulthood (2013). Recidivism is a concept in which an already convicted criminal has a likelier chance of committing another offense (Ryan, 2013). The relationship showed that those who had a history of neglect were more likely to re-offend (Ryan, 2013). If the individual is living in a household with a heavy dysfunctional relationship with other family members, it can lead to the child to rebel and run away from the home (Hildyard, 2002). Those who suffer from child neglect have a likelihood of running away from home. This relates to the constant rejection received at home, and by not living in that household anymore, can have the individual develop a more juvenile and rebellious behavior. Through the acts of child neglect, an individual is at-risk for developing a more delinquent behavior and can potentially place themselves in more trouble with the

Parents who perpetrate or suffer from intimate partner violence are more likely to be parents who mistreat their own children. The explanation that links these two together is dissociation, which allows parents who are abusers to remain distant from and minimize sympathy toward their victims. Additionally, there is a higher rate of dissociation disorders among intimate partner violence survivors and perpetrators. The objective of the study performed by Webermann, Brand, and Chasson in 2004 was to see how prevalent intimate partner violence is among those who commit childhood maltreatment. To gather this data, dissociative disorder clinicians reported on the rates of childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence from 275 patients and assessed the associations between childhood maltreatment and partner violence. The results showed that there was a correlation between the two factors and that physical abuse was associated with physical spouse violence, while neglect was associated with emotional spouse violence (Webermann, Brand, & Chasson, 2014).

• Uninvolved parenting: children of uninvolved parents develop a sense that other aspects of the parents’ life are more important than they are. The child often attempt to provide for themselves, sometimes halt dependence on the parent to have a feeling of independence and mature beyond their years. Child from this environment often withdraw from social situations, this also impacts there relationships later on in life and they show patterns of truancy and delinquency.

In addition, studies have shown that those who have had first hand experience of a divorce in their home are 38% more likely than to go through their own divorce than those who did not. These children suffer through weakened relationships with nearly all family members, especially those members with whom the child does not visit frequently. Since 90% of custodial parents are mothers (Divorce