An insight to Parental Alienation

Wednesday 1 December 2021

Unfortunately, it is not unusual in high conflict separations for one parent to attempt to influence their children into turning against the other parent. This situation is known as ‘Parental Alienation’ and has now been recognised by the Courts.

There are several reasons why a child can reject a parent, including an appropriate justified rejection, for example where the child has been harmed by the parent. As described by Cafcass, Parental Alienation is when a child’s resistance or hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent.

Cases concerning Parental Alienation are often complicated. There must be a fine balance between the wishes of both the children and the adults whilst always ensuring the children’s best interests are kept at the forefront of any decision making. Often in cases where Parental Alienation is identified, in the first instance, the courts will encourage the parents to change their behaviour. Activities such as therapy or relevant parenting courses are recommended as a way of achieving this.

If change proves unsuccessful, contact between the alienating parent and child may be restricted or stopped for a period of time. In more extreme cases, the alienating parent can be permanently banned from seeing the children. In the recent case of S (Parental Alienation: Cult: Transfer of Primary Care) [2020], the Judge noted that -‘were the child to remain in the mother’s care, the process of estrangement would continue and the child’s relationship with the father would be terminated.’ The mother had been involved with a cult whose beliefs meant that the father was estranged from his daughter.

As with most cases of this nature, the court had to carefully balance the harm of alienation with the harm of removing a child from her primary carer. The father won the case at the court of appeal after the mother failed to fully distance herself from the cult, and the child was transferred to his care.

Alec Baldwin’s lengthy custody battle for joint custody of his daughter, Ireland Baldwin, was a high-profile case of parental alienation which came to a head in 2007. Baldwin has spoken about his struggles and personal experience with parental alienation and described how it affected his relationship with his estranged daughter at the time. He has considered the difficulties faced by parents experiencing parental alienation in his book “A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce” which was published in 2008.

It is important that any aspect of Parental Alienation is identified early in proceedings. If you have concerns about Parental Alienation, please contact us on email or call our Family Law team today on 0113 227 9285, who will be able to take you through the court process.