Differentiating Abuse from Alienation

One of the major criticisms of "Parental Alienation Syndrome" is because it is a subjective, nondiagnostic syndrome it fails to determine why a child is alienated from a parent. As a result it is frequently misapplied to abused children, who are then placed in the custody of their abuser and may be court ordered into therapy to strength the bond with their abuser and weaken it with their protective parent.
Numerous clinicians who work in the field of child maltreatment, including members of the LC's Advisory Board, have found allegations of PAS often take on lives of their own deflecting any serious investigation into abuse allegations. Even Richard Warshak, Ph.D., one of the chief proponents of PAS, admits that it is frequently misdiagnosed in abused children.[1] This is a serious flaw inherient in the theory making the theory particularly dangerous to the emotional and physical health of the many children in America who have the misfortune to find themselves both abused and the subject of a custody dispute.
The following articles address this issue, and provide information on how to differentiate abuse from alienation.

Bancroft, L. R., & Silverman, J. G. (2002). Assessing risk to children from batterers. In P. Jaffe, L. Baker, & A. Cunningham (Eds.) Protecting Children from Domestic Violence: Strategies for Community Intervention. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
http://www.lundybancroft.com/pages/articles_sub/JAFFE.htm

Drozd, L., & Olesen, N. (2004). Is it Abuse, Alienation, and/or Estrangement?: A Decision Tree. Journal of Child Custody, 1(3), 65 - 106.
Allegations of family violence, child abuse, and alienation often occur in the same contested child custody case. Custody evaluators often are poorly trained in forensic assessment of allegations of domestic violence and allegations of alienation. The authors of this article suggest language that is designed to differentiate between cases in which the term alienation is appropriate, as in non-abuse cases, and when it is best to use other language such as estrangement, sabotaging, and counter productive protective parenting in cases where there is abuse. This article describes a decision tree that is designed to assist evaluators in identifying the causes of multiple allegations of maltreatment and abuse.
Ehrenberg, Marion F., & Michael F. Elterman. (1995). Evaluating allegations of sexual abuse in the context of divorce, child custody, and access disputes. In Tara Ney (Ed.), True and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse: Assessment and Case Management. NY: Brunner/Mazel, pp. 209-30.
This chapter focuses on the evaluation of CSA allegations that occur in custody/access disputes.  Historical and legal issues relevant to this problem are summarized, and research about the extent, nature, and validity of sexual abuse allegations in divorce is reviewed.  Research finds suggest that improbable allegations are equally or more likely to occur during custody disputes than in cases where custody is not an issue.  The authors present a range of divorce-related family dynamics as possible contexts for sexual abuse allegations: (1) abuse leading to divorce, (2) abuse revealed during divorce, (3) abuse precipitated by divorce, and (4) custody/access disputes. The authors then summarize the knowledge and skills needed to complete an evaluation, and review relevant professional and ethical issues.
A clinical-research approach to evaluation is recommended and described. The clinician is encouraged to carefully evaluate the specific circumstances of the sexual abuse allegation, including when, how, and by whom the allegation was made.  Strategies are presented for differentiating sexual abuse from divorce trauma, and characteristics of accusing and accused parents and aspects of their relationships with their children in probable and improbable cases are reviewed.  The evaluation of sexual abuse allegations arising during divorce is a complex and challenging process with a great deal at stake for the children and families involved.  The authors conclude the chapter with 10 specific recommendations relevant to practitioners involved in these evaluations.
Garber, B. (1996, March). Alternatives to parental alienation: Acknowledging the broader scope of children's emotional difficulties during parental separation and divorce. New Hampshire Bar Journal, 51-54.
Garber, B. D. (2004). Parental Alienation in Light of Attachment Theory: Consideration of the Broader Implications for Child Development, Clinical Practice, and Forensic Process. Journal of Child Custody, 1(4), 49-76.
Abstract: Few ideas have captured the attention and charged the emotions of the public, of mental health and legal professionals as thoroughly as the concept of parental alienation and Gardner 's (1987) Parental Alienation Syndrome. For all of this controversy, the alienation concept stands outside developmental theory and without firm empirical support. The present paper explores alienation and its conceptual counterpart, alignment, as the necessary and natural tools of child-caregiver attachment (Ainsworth & Wittig, 1969; Bowlby, 1969) and of family system cohesion. This conceptual foundation offers developmentalists, clinicians, and family law professionals alike a common language and valuable instruments with which to understand those relatively infrequent but highly charged circumstances in which these tools are used as weapons, particularly in the context of contested custody litigation. The need to establish baseline measures, child-centered interventions, and legal remedies anchored in the attachment model is discussed.
CONTINUED AT: http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/diff.htm