Parent Trap

Are false abuse charges a common tactic in child custody battles?

Cathy Young from the December 2006 issue

(Page 7 of 7)

/p> p> Whether or not a psychological span class="c2">“syndrome” exists, parental alienation clearly does. Indeed, the film Breaking the Silence itself suggests that Fatima Alilire-Loeliger’s father intentionally set her against her mother at one point. And if Amy Neustein’s supporters are correct, her estranged daughter presents an egregious and sad case of parental alienation. o:p> /o:p> /span> /p> p> span class="c2">Cases of mothers’ losing custody to abusive fathers who are skilled at manipulating the system undoubtedly do exist. But the remedies proposed, such as prohibiting judges from penalizing a parent who makes unfounded accusations, would swing the pendulum too far the other way. o:p> /o:p> /span> /p>

Both sides in this controversy—the feminists and the fathers’ advocates—see wrongdoing, arrogance, and abuse of power by the courts and the social welfare agencies. In any child custody case, fallible human beings are vested with the power to pry into people’s private lives and make decisions that will affect them in an intensely personal and sometimes devastating way. Although there seems to be no good alternative to government power in these cases, public scrutiny can be a check on the judges and social workers. But if this scrutiny is based on women good/men bad gender politics, it will hurt parents and children alike.