Post date: Jul 29, 2011 4:59:16 PM
Michele A. Adams, Framing Contests in Child Custody Disputes: Parental Alienation Syndrome, Child Abuse, Gender, and Fathers' Rights, 40 FAM. L.Q. 315 (2006).
This article examines the debate about Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) from a social scientific perspective. Drawing on social constructionist approaches and notions of frames, the author investigates the existence of a framing context over the situation in which a child, in the midst of a custody dispute, rejects the noncustodial parent. She begins by discussing social constructionism and framing perspectives that drive her conceptual analysis and then moves on to examine the social context within which the PAS frame emerged. The author presents the historical development of parental alienation syndrome and its emergence as a counter frame to allegations of child abuse in disputed custody matters. She concludes with an examination of PBS's Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories.
Publication Date: October 18, 2006