Home      Login

Abstract: 

Barry Goldstein and Veronica York argue that “alienation” frameworks used in custody litigation—ranging from Parental Alienation Syndrome to “gatekeeping”—lack scientific support and operate as gender-biased tools that frequently assist abusive fathers. Drawing on practice experience and research syntheses (including ACE and the Saunders Study), this article shows how ordinary protective parenting is routinely mischaracterized as alienation while fathers’ coercive control, litigation abuse, intimidation, and interference with children’s medical and mental health care are minimized or ignored. The authors propose reforms to remove bias: evaluate both parents’ conduct, investigate abuse and trauma as primary explanations for child resistance, require evidence rather than assumptions, and adopt trauma-informed, DV-informed decision-making that prioritizes children’s safety and attachment to the non-abusive parent.

Keywords: Gender Bias; Parental Alienation; Contested Custody

Affiliations:  1: Goldstein & York; 2: Goldstein & York.