The Medea Complex and the Parental Alienation Syndrome

[redqueen]

28. And let's have a look at the person who invented this syndrome.

Last edited Wed Nov 21, 2012, 11:32 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/RAG.html

Richard A. Gardner, M.D., is the creator of the creator and main proponent for Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) theory. Prior to his suicide, Gardner was an unpaid part-time clinical professor of child psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University . He made his money mainly as a forensic expert.

PAS was developed by Dr Richard Gardner in 1985 based on his personal observations and work as an expert witness, often on behalf of fathers accused of molesting their children. Gardner asserted that PAS is very common and he saw manifestations of this syndrome in over 90% of the custody conflicts he evaluated--even when abuse allegations are not raised (Gardner, 1987, p. 67).1 Gardner (September 6, 1993) claimed that PAS is "a disorder of children, arising almost exclusively in child-custody disputes, in which one parent (usually the mother) programs the child to hate the other parent (usually the father)."2

Gardner 's theory of PAS has had a profound effect on how the court systems in our country handle allegations of child sexual abuse, especially during divorce. Gardner has authored more than 250 books and articles with advice directed towards mental health professionals, the legal community, divorcing adults and their children. Gardner 's private publishing company, Creative Therapeutics, published his many books, cassettes, and videotapes.3 Information available on Gardner 's website indicates that he has been certified to testify as an expert in approximately 400 cases, both criminal and civil, in more than 25 states.4 Gardner 's work continues to serve as a basis for decisions affecting the welfare of children in courtrooms across the nation. He is considered a leading authority in family courts and has even been described as the "guru" of child custody evaluations.4

Because Gardner 's PAS theory is based on his clinical observations--not scientific data--it must be understood in the context of his extreme views concerning women, pedophilia and child sexual abuse.

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Please do visit the page and read the selection of quotes which follow, so you can get some idea of how messed up this man was.

Just a personal anecdote, my own dad liked to beat my mom and me. He was also convinced that I and my siblings didn't like him because my mom was turning us against him. Anecdotal I know, but I've heard many children of abusers report the same thing: dear old dad may have been beating mom and the kids, or either one or the other, but was somehow convinced that it was the mom talking bad about him that caused his own family to hate him.

Funny coincidence, this PAS being used by so many fathers accused of abuse, don't you think?