Parental alienation: treading a treacherous path

A Bristol judge has decided to publish his decision in an exceptional case of parental alienation.

The Designated Family Judge for the Western Circuit HHJ Wildblood QC wanted the public to be aware how badly wrong things can go for a family when one parent chooses to alienate the children from the other parent. 

What is parental alienation?

There is no definition set out in law however parental alienation is recognised by Cafcass as being "when a child’s resistance or hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent". 

The court recognises that this is one of a variety of reasons why a child may be resistant to spending time with a parent and all other factors such as domestic abuse are also considered when trying to understand the reasons behind such behaviour.

Recent case

In this case (A (Children: parental alienation) the children's father had originally applied for contact in 2011.  Over the years there were 36 hearings extensive professional input and public law proceedings.  The continued hope was that it would all lead to successfully re-establishing contact between the father and...