The Forgotten Parent: The Targeted Parent Perspective of Parental Alienation

Abstract

This study investigated the targeted parent experience of parental alienation and alienating behaviors. One hundred and twenty-six targeted parents provided narratives in response to an open-ended question at the end of an online survey. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework was used to identify themes in the data. Six themes were identified illustrating targeted parents’ experience of parental alienation and alienating behaviors. Targeted parents described physical and emotional distance separating them from their child, emotional and financial costs associated with their engagement with “systems” such as legal systems and child protection systems. They described poor mental health and concern for their child’s psychological well-being. Targeted parents considered alienating behaviors to be a form of family violence. Additionally, targeted parents used active coping behaviors. It was concluded that further research is needed to better understand parental alienation. Mental health and legal professionals must collaborate to optimize support for targeted parents.

Characteristics and experiences of targeted parents of parental alienation from their own perspective: A systematic literature review

“…First, some authors found more mothers participated in their research than was expected (Baker & Darnall, ; Balmer et al, ; Poustie et al, ), which would suggest that perhaps in previous studies the voluntary participation rate of fathers was higher. Second, past recruitment processes may have influenced the gender recruited.…”

“…As shown in Table , six of the studies included more males than females in the sample. One article (Finzi‐Dottan et al, ) included only females as a result of purposive sampling, and two other studies (Balmer et al, ; Poustie et al, ) had more females than males participating in the research. The studies were conducted mostly in the United States (six articles), two in Australia and one in Israel.…”

“…For all the studies, the sample included targeted parents and the date of publication ranged from 1997 to 2018. The methods used in the studies to collect the data were through surveys (Baker, ; Baker & Darnall, , ; Balmer et al, ; Harman et al, ; Poustie et al, ), in depth interviews (Finzi‐Dottan et al, ; Vassiliou & Cartwright, ) and the administration of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI‐2) and psychological assessment (Gordon et al, ).…”

“…A systematic literature review was conducted to identify and synthesise all relevant information available in the academic literature reporting targeted parents’ characteristics and experiences from their own perspective. From nine articles meeting the inclusion criteria, only four of these specifically focused on the targeted parents’ characteristics and experiences (Balmer et al, ; Finzi‐Dottan et al, ; Poustie et al, ; Vassiliou & Cartwright, ). Moreover, only three of these studies were qualitative in design, two of them had small participant numbers (Finzi‐Dottan et al, ; Vassiliou & Cartwright, ) and were predominantly females (11 females vs. 5 males).…”

“…The child (referred to as the targeted child) is encouraged to refuse or resist a relationship with the other parent (targeted parent) and align themselves with the alienating parent (Garber, ). Some authors have suggested that parental alienation is a form of child abuse or family violence (Baker & Ben‐Ami, ; Meier, ; Poustie, Matthewson, & Balmer, ; Reay, ). It is important to note that a child rejecting a parent on reasonable grounds, such as in response to abuse or neglect is estrangement (Garber, ), not parental alienation (Gardner, ; Reay, ).…”