Parental alienation as a form of psychological maltreatment: Review of theory and research

Titolo Rivista MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA
Autori/Curatori Amy J. L. Baker
Anno di pubblicazione 2014 Fascicolo 2014/1
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 19 P. 37-55 Dimensione file 92 KB
DOI 10.3280/MAL2014-001003
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Parental alienation behaviors are defined as parental acts and attitudes that create pressure in the child to reject his or her other parent. Two strands of research are reviewed that support consideration of parental alienation (PA) as a form of psychological maltreatment (PM). The first is a set of studies on the negative effects of children’s involvement in their parents’ marital and divorce conflict and the second is a set of studies specifically examining associations between reports of parental use of 19 specific PA behaviors and parental engagement in PM. These first generation studies lay the groundwork for future research examining mediators of these relationships as well as highlight the importance of training for mental health professionals in recognizing and addressing children’s exposure to parental alienation.

Per comportamenti di alienazione genitoriale si intendono atti e atteggiamenti di un genitore che creano nel bambino una pressione a rifiutare l’altro genitore. Vengono analizzati due filoni di ricerca che supportano l’ipotesi che l’alienazione genitoriale (PA) sia una forma di maltrattamento psicologico (PM). Il primo comprende una serie di studi sugli effetti negativi del coinvolgimento dei bambini nel conflitto coniugale in seguito a divorzio e il secondo una serie di studi che esaminano specificatamente le associazioni tra il ricordo di 19 comportamenti di alienazione genitoriale e il coinvolgimento dei genitori nel maltrattamento psicologico. Questi studi di prima generazione gettano le basi per esaminare, in ulteriori ricerche, i mediatori di tali relazioni, nonché per evidenziare l’importanza della formazione per i professionisti della salute mentale nel riconoscere e affrontare l’esposizione dei bambini all’alienazione genitoriale.

Keywords:Alienazione genitoriale, maltrattamento psicologico, conflitto genitoriale, divorzio

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Amy J. L. Baker, Parental alienation as a form of psychological maltreatment: Review of theory and research in "MALTRATTAMENTO E ABUSO ALL’INFANZIA" 1/2014, pp 37-55, DOI: 10.3280/MAL2014-001003