PARENTAL ALIENATION
This is now an increasingly recognised problem in the US, but the UK family courts are still some way behind.
Parental alienation is where a parent knowingly (or sometimes even unknowingly) negatively aligns their child’s wishes and feelings with their own with regard to the other parent. In simpler terms, it is where one parent turns a child against the other parent.
In some countries parental alienation is illegal. This demonstrates just how seriously the problem is being taken in other jurisdictions. There can be little doubt that parental alienation can represent a form of psychological abuse of a child.
Part of the problem in the UK may be a lack of specific training and experience for those social workers and Cafcass officers involved in the court process.
Parental alienation can be difficult to spot, and even harder to address, especially on limited resources. Whilst psychological experts can be of real assistance, they are often expensive. This is not an issue that can be fixed overnight, but the first step has to be an awareness of the problem of parental alienation.
At Penmans, our lawyers are skilled and experienced in spotting parental alienation and addressing this in court proceedings where necessary – and equally they are ready and able to counter a false allegation of parental alienation.
If you wish to have a 30 minute free interview with one of our team regarding children matters, then please call 01926 858222 for Simon Whiting simon.whiting@penmanssolicitors.co.uk or 02476 226575 for Karen Reardan karen.reardan@penmanssolicitors.co.uk