I recently stumbled across an old law review article pertaining to recognizing Parental Alienation Syndrome (http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/pas/walsh99.htm). While the article is 10 years old, and out of Florida, the issues remain present in many contested custody issues.
The article points out that the typical parental alienation includes four criteria, 1) one parent begins working to block the child’s access to the other parent; 2) Often there are allegations of abuse; 3) the child’s relationship with the other parent suddenly begins to deteriorate; and 4) the child is caused to feel fear, often fear of the alienating parent’s reaction if the child shows affection towards the other parent.
If you are involved in a high conflict custody case, and would like to speak with an attorney about Parental Alienation Syndrome or other issues in your case, please contact our attorneys at (480) 829-9081 or dgardner@mcguiregardner.com.