Social Psychiatry, Vol. 50 No. 1, 2022.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2022.49
Should we Alienate Ourselves from “Parental Alienation”?
Anita Lauri Korajlija
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia; Autonomous Women’s House, Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In recent years, there have been discussions within the scientific and professional communities in the fields of psychology,
psychiatry and law about the application of the concept of parental alienation. The Croatian scientific and professional
literature is dominated by texts in which “parental alienation” is seen as a science-based construct. What is missing are
texts that question the scientific soundness of “parental alienation” and examine the possible consequences of using the
concept that has still neither been sufficiently defined nor operationalized in the best interest of our patients. This paper
presents a number of difficulties related to this concept in the context of evidence-based practice and describes potentially
adverse consequences of using “parental alienation” in working with women victims of violence and the application of
“parental alienation” as yet another strategy of coercion and control over victims.
Keywords
Parental Alienation; Evidence-based Practice; Family Violence
Hrčak ID:
284590
URI
Publication date:
16.10.2022.
Visits: 969 *