Parental Alienation Syndrome Research Foundation
816 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Ninth floor
Washington, DC 20006-2705
(202) 466-7778 fax (202) 466-7779
new e-mail: info@pasresearch.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 2000

FOUNDATION’S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• Promote scientific and legal research on Parental Alienation Syndrome.
• Disseminate information on this growing psycho-social phenomenon.
• Educate and inform parents and families, judges, attorneys, custody evaluators, therapists, law enforcement agencies, victims’ services and child protection services on the PAS.
• Research the short and long-term effects of PAS on children and their families.
• Develop intervention protocols to reintegrate and heal children, parents and their families suffering from the effects of PAS.
• Provide resources (data, referrals etc.) for professionals and for individuals and families affected by PAS.
• Be the clearing-house for comprehensive information and research on the PAS, including case law and case studies.
• Make this information available to members and the general public.

  WHAT IS PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME (PAS)?

  PAS is “a disturbance in which children are preoccupied with deprecation and criticism of a parent, denigration that is unjustified and/or exaggerated.” Children of PAS show negative reactions and perceptions to a parent that can be grossly exaggerated and entirely lack ambivalence. Put simply, they profess rejection and hatred of a parent. PAS may be found in the context of a highly conflicted divorce and in cases involving allegations of physical or sexual abuse. Parental Alienation Syndrome commonly occurs in national and international child abductions.

  HOW TO RECOGNIZE PAS?

  PAS is a form of psychological kidnapping which, in its severe form, has a devastatingly destructive effect on a parent-child relationship. The psychological process of alienation resembles that observed in hostage-takings, where the captive identifies with the aggressor to the point of rejecting all outside influence, sometimes called the “Stockholm Syndrome”, well known in the Patty Hearst case and most recently observable in its early stages in the case of Elian Gonzalez. Cult control methods can produce a similar pathology, and in its severe form, PAS is a clearly identifiable pathology. While the process of alienation is complex, the symptoms are remarkably easy to distinguish. One factor is common to all – the destructive effects on both child and parent.

  WHO IS MOST DAMAGED BY PAS?

  Children are the most damaged, with the “lost” or “hated” parent coming in a close second. The loss of a caring parent is an extreme loss with lifelong effects on a child. For a parent, the loss of a child’s love and affection leaves a void that can never be filled as that mother or father suffers a perpetual state of “living mourning.” Many have commented that severe PAS is worse than death. The Honorable Judge Gomery of Canada stated, “Hatred is not an emotion that comes naturally to a child. It has to be taught. A parent who would teach a child to hate the other parent represents a grave and persistent danger to the mental and emotional health of that child.” In extreme cases where children are taught to believe that they have been abused, the psychological damage can be as severe as if the acts had actually occurred. Besides the children, the entire family and often extended family and friends suffer as they are systematically cut off from contact with children or grandchildren they deeply love and care for.

  For more information, to receive an information package or to become a member, please contact the PAS Research Foundation at the above address.

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  This file has been reformatted by F.A.C.T.: Parenting Association. For more information about on PAS, visit our website's section on Parental Alienation at http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/info_pas.htm.