6/22/2020
Parental Alienation and Misinformation Proliferation
William Bernet, M.D. [email protected]
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Webinar on Parent–Child Contact Problems June 2020
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Financial Disclosures
• Royalties from Parental Alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11 • Royalties from Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals • Royalties from Parental Alienation – Science and Law
Handouts for This Presentation
• PDF of PowerPoint slides. • Bernet, W. (2020). Parental Alienation and Misinformation Proliferation. Family Court Review 58:293–307. • Bernet, W. (2020). Response to Milchman, Geffner, and Meier. Family Court Review 58:362–367.
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Overview of This Presentation
• There has been a remarkable amount of misinformation re- garding PAS/PA in professional literature and presentations.
• Unclear if the errors are purposeful false statements or very sloppy writing.
• We need to find ways to communicate our opinions in a responsible manner.
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Definition: “Parental Alienation”
• A child—usually one whose parents are engaged in a high- conflict separation or divorce—allies strongly with one parent (the preferred parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the target parent) without legitimate justification.
Lorandos, D., & Bernet, W., Parental Alienation – Science and Law, 2020, pp. 5-6.
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Causing PA is Child Maltreatment
Alienating Blame Alienated Parent Blame Parent
Child
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BLATANTLY FALSE PERSONAL ATTACKS
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
• “[Parental alienation theory], launched by American child psychiatrist Richard Gardner (an adherent of pedophilia) ….”
Book published by Norsteds Juridik, Stockholm, Sweden, 2013
* * * * *
• Richard Gardner “was implicated as being a proponent of pedophilia.”
Journal of Child Custody, 2019
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
IN FACT, RICHARD GARDNER ACTUALLY SAID …
“I consider pedophilia to be a psychiatric disorder, an abominable exploitation of children. I have never sup- ported a pedophile in his (or her) quest for primary child custody.”
“I believe that pedophilia is a bad thing for society. I do believe, however, that pedophilia, like all other forms of atypical sexuality, is part of the human repertoire and that all humans are born with the potential to develop any of the form of atypical sexuality.”
Gardner, R., Misperceptions versus facts about Richard A. Gardner, M.D., 1999, pp. 4, 5.
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
Fathers’ rights groups, “who don’t like to be interfered with when they are sexually abusing their children,” petitioned the DSM-5 Task Force to include PAS in DSM-5.
Clinical Psychiatry News, 2010.
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
IN FACT …
• There was ZERO evidence that abusive fathers were part of the campaign to include parental alienation in DSM-5.
• In the next issue of Clinical Psychiatry News, the author of that allegation apologized and agreed that parental alienation is a problem that hurts children and families.
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
A CLASSIC AD HOMINEM ATTACK …
“One must examine the possible financial motivations that may influence the positions of those engaged in debate. … To get a good sense of PAS’s support, one has only to follow the money trail.
“A formal diagnosis of PAS, with the obligatory dueling experts testifying at a custody hearing, can become a prime source of fee generation ….”
Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2012
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PERSONAL ATTACKS
FALSE STATEMENTS DURING TESTIMONY IN MONTANA, 2016
Regarding Judge Davies, “There was a motion to impeach him and he was basically forced to resign and that was the last case he ever heard.” UNTRUE!
Regarding Dr. William Bernet, “He was trying to get parental alienation syndrome as a diagnosis in DSM-5, and the American Psychiatric Association … completely repudiated him and his proposals. UNTRUE!
In another case, “Father was indicted. The FBI investigated …. Dr. Bernet was completely discredited because he was saying this guy is not a problem, and the FBI was investigating him for pro- moting this.” UNTRUE!
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
“[Parental alienation syndrome] further assumes that a child’s strong alignment with one parent while rejecting a relationship with the other parent is without legitimate justification, including situations in which there is child abuse (Bernet, von Boch-Galhau, Baker, & Morrison, 2010).”
Book published by American Psychological Association, 2018.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
MISQUOTE NUMBER ONE BERNET ET AL. ACTUALLY SAID …
“We use the phrase contact refusal for the behavior of the child or adolescent who adamantly avoids spending time with one of the parents. Contact refusal is simply a symp- tom that could have a number of possible causes, one of which is parental alienation.”
Bernet W., Boch-Galhau, W. v., Baker, A. J. L., & Morrison, S., Parental alienation, DSM-V, and ICD-11, 2010, p. 80
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
“[Parental alienation syndrome] further assumes that a child’s strong alignment with one parent while rejecting a relationship with the other parent is without legitimate justification, including situations in which there is child abuse (Bernet, von Boch-Galhau, Baker, & Morrison, 2010).”
Book published by American Psychological Association, 2018.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
MISQUOTE NUMBER TWO BERNET ET AL. ACTUALLY SAID …
“The diagnosis of parental alienation relational problem should not be used if the child’s refusal to have contact with the rejected parent is justifiable, for example, if the child was neglected or abused by that parent.”
Bernet W., Boch-Galhau, W. v., Baker, A. J. L., & Morrison, S., Parental alienation, DSM-V, and ICD-11, 2010, p. 187
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
Journal of Child Custody, 2019
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
SAINI ET AL. ACTUALLY SAID …
“There is remarkable agreement about the behavioral strategies parents can use to potentially manipulate their children’s feelings, attitudes, and beliefs in ways that may interfere with their relation- ship with the other parent. The cluster of symptoms or behaviors indicating the presence of alienation in the child can also be reliably identified.”
Saini, M., Johnston, J. R., Fidler, B. J., & Bala, N., Empirical Studies of Alienation, 2016, p. 423.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
Parental Alienation (PA) Reference: Bernet, W., Baker, A. J. L. (2013), Parental alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11: Response to critics.
PA is a generic term that refers to situations in which a child is cathected to one parent and alienated from the other. It does not specifically ascribe to the etiology or dynamic of the child’s close relationship with one parent and distant relationship with the other parent.
APSAC Advisor, 2020
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
THIS APPEARS TO BE SLOPPY WRITING AND EDITING …
The information about the Bernet and Baker reference does not reflect what was actually said in the Bernet and Baker article.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
“Some alienation theorists still appear to propound a single-factor explanation of children’s rejection of a parent because they do not give weight to causes other than alienation in their approach to practice (Lorandos, Bernet, & Sauber, 2013).”
Family Court Review, 2020
The citation is to Lorandos, D., Bernet, W., & Sauber, S. R., Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, 2013.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
IN FACT, LORANDOS, BERNET, AND SAUBER SAID THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CONTACT REFUSAL INCLUDES:
• Normal preferences • Loyalty conflicts • Children’s acts to avoid conflict • Worried or depressed children • Stubborn children • Maltreated children • Accidental or purposeful indoctrination • Shared delusional disorder
Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, pp. 51-60.
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QUOTATIONS THAT MISQUOTE
ALSO, LORANDOS, BERNET, AND SAUBER SAID THAT CONTACT REFUSAL MAY RESULT FROM A COMBINATION OF CAUSES:
• Separation anxiety and accidental indoctrination together • Estrangement and alienation together • Purposeful indoctrination, normal preferences, and cognitive dissonance together
Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, pp. 60-62.
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AN ARMY OF STRAW MEN
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
“Thus, if a child states that she does not want to see her father, this is explained as fruit of the mother’s manipu- lation, and the mother would be accused of being a manipulative mother. However, the hypothesis that the child is being physically or even sexually abused by her father is not contemplated and therefore not investigated.”
Child and Youth Services Review, 2015
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
IN FACT, IT IS FLATLY INCORRECT TO SAY …
… that experts who evaluate a child for PAS or PA do not consider the possibility that the rejected parent actually abused the child.
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
“In these types of cases, whenever a preferred parent speaks poorly about the rejected parent, it is viewed as an alienating behavior.”
Book published by American Psychological Association, 2018
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
IN FACT, NO PROPONENT OF PA …
… would say that “whenever a preferred parent speaks poorly about the rejected parent, it is viewed as an alienating behavior.”
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
“PA proponents have been guilty of circular reasoning since Gardner’s day … in that they have omitted the collection of data about one parent’s persuasive efforts but have nevertheless assumed that [visitation resistance or refusal] is in itself evidence that the preferred parent has carried out a campaign of denigration against the non-preferred parent.”
Journal of Child Custody, 2019
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
IN FACT, NO PROPONENT OF PA …
… assumes that contact refusal “is in itself evidence that the preferred parent has carried out a campaign of denigration against the non-preferred parent.”
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IMPORTANT
SOURCE OF
MISINFORMATION
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
PUBLISHER OF JOURNAL OF CHILD CUSTODY SAYS …
“Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no repre- sentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, complete- ness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information.”
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
“PAS encapsulates a theory that the occurrence of cer- tain ‘typical’ manifestations in a child has the common cause of a favored parent’s conscious or unconscious ‘brainwashing.’ … It is a disorder the excludes other factors that might impact the parent–child relationship, and attributes responsibility exclusively to the favored parent.”
Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2019
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
IN FACT, NO PROPONENT OF PA …
… “excludes other factors that might impact the parent–child relationship.”
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
“The custody disputes that concern us relate to those in which there are allegations of child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and other parental bad acts. Parents can and sometimes do engage in intentional alienating behaviors in contested custody cases, but by asserting that all allegations are false claims derived from ‘parental alienation behaviors,’ proponents of PAS/PAD attempt to short-circuit careful investigations of serious allegations.”
APSAC Advisor, 2020
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ARMY OF STRAW MEN
IN FACT, NO PROPONENT OF PA HAS EVER SAID THAT …
… all allegations of abuse made during custody disputes are “false claims derived from ‘parental alienation behaviors.’”
* * * * *
INSTEAD, RICHARD GARDNER SAID 34 YEARS AGO …
“I am not claiming that bona fide sex abuse does not take place in families in which there is a custody conflict; I am only stating that the possibility of fabrication is increased in this situation.”
Gardner, R., Child Custody Litigation, 1986, p. 95.
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APSAC ADVISOR
= = =
A GOOD SOURCE OF
MISINFORMATION
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
“Whereas scientifically unsound theories such as parental alienation syndrome, enmeshment, and others are frequently applied to reject parents’ and children’s reports of abuse …. ”
Resolution presented to the U.S. House of Representatives, 2017
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
• Individuals with knowledge of parental alienation educated Members of Congress regarding this topic.
• The phrases “parental alienation syndrome” and “enmesh- ment” were removed from the resolution before it was passed by the House of Representatives.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
“Further, the use of PAS/PAD is now considered inadmissible in a number of courts (Hoult, 2006), as it does not meet the established legal standard for the admissibility of expert testimony (Bond, 2008).”
Book published by American Psychological Association, 2018
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
IN FACT, RESEARCH BY LORANDOS SHOWS THE OPPOSITE …
120
100 Year 80 Each
Cases
60 PA
of
40 Number
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0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Year, 1985 ‐ 2018
Lorandos, D. Parental alienation in U.S. courts, 1985 to 2018.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
• “There is actually no empirical research validating the existence of parental alienation syndrome.”
National Online Resource Center on Violence against Women, 2013.
* * * * *
• “Many scholars of psychology and the law have examined the literature regarding PAS: they have encountered a lack of empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals ….”
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2018
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
IN FACT …
The Parental Alienation Database, on online resource located at the library of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, contains hundreds of references to qualitative and quantitative research regarding parental alienation and related topics.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
• “[Parental alienation syndrome is] unknown in medical settings, unquoted in medical books. … Parental alienation syndrome has been discredited by mental health profess- sionals.”
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2018.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
IN FACT, PA/PAS HAS BEEN ADDRESSED IN BOOKS AND JOURNALS INTENDED FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS:
• Principles/Practice of Child and Adolescent Forensic Mental Health • Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science • Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology • Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry • Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry • Family Court Review • Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry • Journal of Divorce and Remarriage • Psychology, Public Policy, and Law • American Journal of Family Therapy • The Judges’ Journal
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
• “Although PAS has not been recognized by any major mental health or legal association, it has infiltrated the family justice system.”
Book published by SAGE Publications, 2002.
* * * * *
• “PAS lacks any indicia of general acceptance by major medical institutions making it inadmissible under Frye.”
Children’s Legal Rights Journal, 2006.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
IN FACT, THE CONCEPT OF PA HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY …
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – Practice Parameters for Child Custody Evaluations • Association of Family and Conciliation Courts – Guidelines for Parenting Coordination • American Psychological Association – Guidelines for the Practice of Parenting Coordination • American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers – Child Centered Residential Guidelines • American Academy of Pediatrics – Helping Children and Families Deal with Separation and Divorce
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Journal of Child Custody, 2019
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
IN FACT, WARSHAK SAID …
“In sum, the parents and professionals were more likely than the children to report improvement in the parent–child relationships, and the adults reported higher levels of improvement. But three- quarters of the children rated the relationship with their parent as improved.”
Warshak, R. A., Reclaiming Parent–Child Relationships: Outcomes of Family Bridges with Alienated Children, 2018, page 15.
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Journal of Child Custody, 2019
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LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
BERNET SAID …
The PARQ Gap was 99% accurate in distinguishing severely alienated children from nonalienated children.
Bernet, W. ., Gregory, N., Rohner, R. P., Reay, K. M. Measuring the difference between alienation and estrangement, 2020.
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IRRESPONSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS
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IRRESPONSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS
“No evaluator should base conclusions or recommenda- tions on this approach,” referring to parental alienation theory.”
Book published by American Psychological Association, 2018
* * * * *
What are the consequences of this irrational and irresponsible recommendation for … • Children and families being evaluated? • Psychologists who conduct evaluations? • The APA itself?
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WHAT TO DO ABOUT MISINFORMATION
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WHAT TO DO ABOUT MISINFORMATION
MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT TO THE PUBLISHER
• Norstedts Juridik • In Sweden, writers are allowed to state their opinions about any topic.
• American Psychological Association • APA editors corrected the paragraph with the most serious misinformation.
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WHAT TO DO ABOUT MISINFORMATION
PUBLISH A REBUTTAL IN THE SAME JOURNAL
• Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
• Journal of Forensic Sciences
• American Journal of Family Therapy
• Children and Youth Services Review
• Family Court Review
• The Judges’ Journal
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WHAT TO DO ABOUT MISINFORMATION
WRITE A BOOK
• Parental Alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11, 2010.
• Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, 2013.
• Parental Alienation – Science and Law, 2020.
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COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESS MISINFORMATION
= = =
Published April 2020
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CAN WE ENGAGE IN LEGITIMATE DISCUSSION?
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ENGAGE IN LEGITIMATE DISCUSSION
BERNET RECOMMENDATION TO AFCC – A SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
• Convene a meeting of writers on PA and related topics, who have different perspectives.
• Coordinator of the meeting a totally independent person.
• Perhaps at the June 2021 AFCC conference in Boston.
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ENGAGE IN LEGITIMATE DISCUSSION
BERNET RECOMMENDATION TO AFCC – A SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
• Give the assignment of writing a general overview of PA, explaining clearly how the participants agree and how they disagree.
• Also, identify specific research that could sort out the differences.
• Publish the document in Family Court Review.
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ENGAGE IN LEGITIMATE DISCUSSION
IF YOU AGREE WITH THIS RECOMMENDATION, CONTACT …
• Peter Salem: [email protected]
• Matthew Sullivan: [email protected]
• And the AFCC Program Committee
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IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PARENTAL ALIENATION, JOIN …
PARENTAL ALIENATION STUDY GROUP
WWW.PASG.INFO
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