The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Dangerous Aura of Reliability

Abstract

Upon returning home from visitation with her father, a little girl named Mandi told her mother, in explicit detail, how her father had sexually molested her.After various social service agency workers and psychologists interviewed the child, the case went to court.The judge determined that since the four-yearold's story was not always consistent, her mother must have 'programmed" her to say such things about her father.Consequently, the court not only gave custody of the child to the accused father, but also denied the child all contact with her mother.The court's leap of reasoning was based on a theory known as the Parental Alienation Syndrome.' 1.This summary of facts is taken from Karen B. v. Clyde M., 574 N.Y.S.2d 267 (Fam.Ct. 1991), affid sub nom.Karen "PP" v. Clyde "QQ", 602 N.Y.S.2d 709 (App.Div.1993).See infra part II.B for a complete statement of the case.For a detailed discussion of the Parental Alienation Syndrome, see infra part II.A. 2. See RICHARD A. GARDNER, M.D., THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME (1992).3. Most often, the parent Dr. Gardner refers to is the mother seeking to alienate "her" child from "her" spouse.See infra notes 27, 37, 39-52 and accompanying text.Therefore, solely for the purpose of explaining Dr. Gardner's theory, this Author may refer to the alienating parent as the mother.4. See infra notes 27, 37, 39-52 and accompanying text. 5. GARDNER, supra note 2, at 270-73; see also Rorie Sherman, Gardner's Law, NAT'L L

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