More on PAS (Parental Alienation Syndrome)

Considering the response that came through here when I published oops: PAS, Ohio & Indiana, I thought I ought to note Ohio Family Law Blog's Can Parental Alienation Be Far Behind? The Warning Signs Every Family Lawyer Should Know:

Our guest contributor this week is Judianne Cochran a nationally recognized expert/consultant in the following disciplines: sex offender profiling; interstate and international parental abduction; interstate custody and parental alienation. She has testified in numerous Courts throughout Ohio and the country. Judi presently resides in Columbus, Ohio.

One must understand some of the characteristics of the alienator to be able to correctly read the pattern as it develops.

***

1. The alienating parent is obsessed with destroying the child’s relationship with the target parent. Children, especially younger children, will begin parroting the alienating parent and start to express anger or fear about the target parent. The child often cannot tell you the reasons for their feelings beyond what they are told by the alienating parent.
2. A pattern of interference with parenting time begins very quickly after a custody order is in place. Telephone contact is either cut off or sharply curtailed. Visitation is often denied, often by claims that the child is ill or was ill during the night, or citing vague excuses.
3. Their anger sometimes becomes irrational and no one, especially the court, can convince them they are wrong and anyone who tries becomes the enemy. At this stage, often the alienator will begin firing and retaining new attorneys in an effort to find someone who will “side” with them and file “smoke and mirror” motions in an effort to get the court to intercede and block the target parent from seeing the child. If met with any success in modifying the order, the alienating parent then has a powerful tool to use in their effort to convince the child there is danger in a relationship with the target parent.
4. The court does not intimidate or deter them, and they will openly defy any orders. What may appear as a series of minor incidents actually foretell a fully developed case of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS).
5. In some cases, when thwarted in getting their way with the court, a parent may actually abduct and conceal the child. In their minds, they are doing “whatever is necessary” to “protect” the child, and they wholeheartedly believe the action is justified. It should be noted that in almost every instance of criminal custodial interference, once caught and arrested, the abducting parent claims they were simply protecting the child. Even a cursory look at the history of a case will often show the developing pattern of behavior and the fact that absolutely no evidence of abuse, domestic violence or inappropriate behavior has ever occurred.

Here is a tip I think that might be of use in Indiana as well as Ohio:

It should be noted that while we are able to see the appellate decisions and reported cases, it should be kept in mind that most of these decisions at the trial level are not reported so careful attention should be paid to the current “climate of the court” in any jurisdiction. A well documented history, or log, of the patterns presented in supporting memorandum to a motion to modify is becoming more successful in Ohio courts today.