From an article on the BBC website today:
"When parents separate, where the children live, how much time they spend with Mum or Dad, can be hard to agree.
Sometimes a child starts refusing to see their other parent.
This
autumn, social workers who look after a child's interests in the family
courts are being given new guidelines to help with these cases.
For the first time this will consider the possibility a child has been deliberately turned against one parent, by the other
Parental alienation, as it's called, will be just one of the options a social worker might consider.
It's
a controversial concept which the courts have been trying to grapple
with for years in cases where the parents are locked into entrenched
legal action over contact.
There is no consensus and not a great deal of research, so how might it be considered by courts here?
The
intensity or frequency of behaviour might be one of the ways this is
set apart from the disagreements that are often part of separation.
"Think
of a child experiencing a separation, the mother or father bad
mouthing, or withholding warmth and affection unless they agree with an
argument," says Sarah Parsons of the Children and Families Court
Advisory Service.
"If it's repeated it can have an invasive,
intrusive effect on wellbeing. A child can think the only way to stay
safe is to side with one parent and reject the other."
".
See more
HERE
