Domestic Abuse and Alienation

This chapter explores issues arising particularly in private law proceedings which typically take place in a context of hostility and feelings of anger between parents. These levels of heightened negative emotion provide fertile ground for mutual recriminations and allegations of domestic abuse and/or alienation of the child from a parent. Perspectives on these matters change with the social and political climate. Advocacy and lobby groups align themselves in relation to the issues which can be reflected in the media, often with dramatic headlines. In these parental contests, children tend to suffer, may attempt to manage tension and anxiety by polarised thinking, may be engaged as allies, and/or feel great pressure to support one parent’s perspective. These are the most intractable cases that experts are likely to encounter. They may become the target of parental hostility and anger themselves.