75
Judicial Perceptions of Parental
Alienation and its Legal Remedies
CARISSA SMITH*
Parental alienation relates to the intersection between psychology and
family law. Because parental alienation is a phenomenon that is relevant to
custody disputes, judges can nd themselves responsible for determining
if parental alienation is occurring, and if so, how best to handle it.1 Judges
can look to prior case law in determining how best to manage these kinds
of cases consistent with the “best interest of the child” standard.2 However,
a judge’s personal perception of parental alienation could inuence what
they believe is in the best interest of the child.
This essay provides background information on parental alienation and
how it affects the family court system. Additionally, this essay includes
the results of a survey conducted in Colorado in 2022, the goal of which
was to determine how judges perceive the issue of parental alienation and
apply legal remedies in the context of custody disputes. The survey results
show some of the challenges judges encounter in addressing these issues.
I. What Is Parental Alienation?
Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent 19th-century clergyman, stated,
“There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.”3
1. See Amanda Robert, Taking Sides: Courts Are Grappling with How to Handle Claims
of Parental Alienation, A.B.A. J. (Apr. 1, 2023), https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/
taking-sides-courts-are-grappling-with-how-to-handle-claims-of-parental-alienation.
2. See, e.g., Colo. REv. stat. § 14-10-124 (Colorado’s “best interests of the child” statute).
3. hEnRy waRd bEEChER, Love, in pRovERbs FRom plymoUth pUlpit 207, 210 (William
Drysdale ed., 1887), https://archive.org/details/proverbsfromplym00beec/page/n5/mode/1up.
* Carissa Smith is an attorney licensed in Colorado and Florida. She graduated from the
accelerated J.D. program at Vermont Law School in 2022 and conducted this study as a law
student. Carissa was awarded second place for the American Bar Association Section of Family
Law’s 2022 Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest. The following essay has been revised
and updated for the purpose of this publication.
76 Family Law Quarterly, Volume 57, Number 1 2024
This timeless sentiment likely rings true with many parents. This theme
is reminiscent of a biblical story in which King Solomon used similar
logic to determine the true mother of a child over whom two women were
ghting.4 The King offered to use his sword to split the child in two so that
each woman could have half of the child.5 The true mother was revealed
when she refused to see her child slaughtered and instead offered him to
the other woman in order to save the child’s life.6 It is difcult to imagine a
parent harming their child for the sake of hurting the other parent. “Parental
alienation” goes against the notion of both Beecher and King Solomon. It
is a form of emotional and psychological abuse that one parent inicts on
their child to hurt the other parent.7
The term Parental Alienation Syndrome was coined in 1985 by Dr.
Richard Gardner,8 a child psychiatrist who conducted evaluations in child
custody disputes for over 25 years during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.9 He
dened Parental Alienation Syndrome as:
a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in the context
of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child’s
campaign of denigration against a good, loving parent—a campaign
that has no justication. It results from the combination of a
programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrinations and the child’s
own contributions to the vilication of the target parent. When true
parental abuse and/or neglect is present, the child’s animosity may be
justied and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the
child’s hostility is not applicable.10
Other professionals have researched and conducted studies expanding
on what Parental Alienation Syndrome is or is not, how it occurs, and
its consequences. Dr. Amy Baker has dened parental alienation as “the
overall problem of children being encouraged by one parent—the favored
4. 1 Kings 3:16–28.
5. Id.
6. Id.
7. Wilfrid von Boch-Galhau, Parental Alienation (Syndrome)—A Serious Form of
Psychological Child Abuse, 14 mEntal hEalth Fam. mEd. 725, 725–39 (2018); Ken Lewis,
Parental Alienation Can Be Emotional Child Abuse, tREnds in statE Cts. 46, 47 (Nat’l Ctr. for
State Cts. 2020).
8. Rebecca E. Hatch, Proof of Parental Alienation in Action for Modication of Custody of
Child, 127 am. JUR. pRooF oF FaCts 3d 237 § 1 (2023).
9. Richard A. Gardner, The Parental Alienation Syndrome: Past, Present, and Future,
RiChaRd a. gaRdnER md (2002), http://richardagardner.com/ar22.
10. Id.
