Copyright (c) 2011 Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice
Law and Inequality
ARTICLE: Parental Alienation Analysis, Domestic Violence, and Gender Bias in Minnesota Courts
Winter, 2011
29 Law & Ineq. 5
Author
Rita Berg+
Excerpt
Richard Gardner, a child psychiatrist, coined the term "parental alienation syndrome" (PAS) in the 1980s. 1 PAS directs that where one parent coaches the child to alienate the other parent, custody, in severe cases, should be transferred to the alienated parent. 2 The court's use of PAS is not innocuous. In child custody cases, a child's upbringing and, in some instances, physical safety rest on the court's decision. 3
Despite wide criticism of PAS among Gardner's peers in the psychology field, 4 this theory has permeated the legal system, appearing primarily in custody judgments. 5 However, legal and psychology experts have identified numerous hazards of using this theory. 6 These dangers have come to fruition in Minnesota's legal system: PAS has been used effectively by fathers to gain favorable custody judgments, while mothers have consistently been cast as alienating parents and deprived of custody of their children. 7
Further complicating the issue is the domestic abuse context. Even Gardner noted that this theory should not be applied in domestic violence situations. 8 Abuse would be a sufficient reason for the child to reject the abusive parent. 9 Courts have not always abided by this caveat. 10 However, strictly adhering to Gardner's domestic violence exception also poses problems because it is too narrow. 11 His exemption does not cover mothers in domestic violence situations who have difficulty proving the abuse in court, yet wish to protect their children from the abusive parent. 12
This Article traces ...
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