Is the Emperor Naked? Questioning the Alienation Hypothesis

ABSTRACT

This commentary agrees with the conclusions of Garber and Simon (this issue): and other proponents of parental alienation oversimplify family dynamics in divorce and offer only weak evidence in support of their hypothesis. The author’s recent studies (with Rowen) indicate that, normatively, one parent’s denigration of the other (1) is tied to children feeling less close to the parent who denigrates more (denigration boomerangs rather than alienates); (2) denigration almost always is reciprocal; and (3) divorced parents, especially those involved in litigation, underestimate their own denigration and overestimate their partner’s denigration relative to children’s reports. Inspecting individual cases identified 1 case in 1,642 where a child reported feeling closer to the parent who denigrated more. The burden of proof in science falls on proponents of any hypothesis. This burden has not been met in regard to the alienation hypothesis.

This article is referred to by:

Looking Beyond the Sorting Hat: Deconstructing the “Five Factor Model” of Alienation

This article responds to:

Moving Toward Consensus: Joining Bernet and Baker, Emery, and Griffin to Better Understand the Dynamics of Parent-Child Contact Problems (PCCP)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).