Parental alienation consists of psychological interference provoked in the child or adolescent by one of their parents against another family member who is also responsible for their custody and supervision.
The intent of the person causing parental alienation is create disagreements and negative feelings in the child towards a particular parent, like the father or the mother, for example.
In Brazil, parental alienation is considered a crime, as provided for in Law No. 12,318, of August 26, 2010 (known as the “Parental Alienation Law”).
Among the actions that typify parental alienation, as established in article 2 of the law, are:
I - carry out a campaign to disqualify the parent's conduct in the exercise of paternity or maternity;
II - hinder the exercise of parental authority;
III - make it difficult for the child or adolescent to have contact with the parent;
IV - hinder the exercise of the regulated right to family life;
V - deliberately withhold from the parent relevant personal information about the child or adolescent, including school, medical and address changes;
VI - file a false report against the parent, against his or her family members or against grandparents, to prevent or hinder their coexistence with the child or adolescent;
VII - move the home to a distant location, without justification, in order to make it difficult for the child or adolescent to live with the other parent, with their relatives or with grandparents.
Also according to the law, the disqualification of one of the parents through parental alienation must be punished in proportion to the seriousness of the case, which can range from a warning formal to the alienator until the payment of fines and suspension of parental authority.
Parental Alienation Syndrome
THE Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), a concept created by the American child psychiatrist Richard Gardner, in 1985, is usually considered as one of the consequences provoked in the child who is exposed to acts of alienation by a from parents.
According to Gardner's studies, this syndrome is configured when the child develops a feeling of deep rejection by one of the parents, without any kind of plausible justification.
Learn more about the meaning of Alienation.