Parental alienation syndrome (abbreviated as SAP) is a controversial psychiatric concept, and regularly mentioned in incest trials.
- Incest trials often see the emergence of “parental alienation syndrome” in the pleadings.
- The “parental alienation syndrome” is a controversial psychiatric concept.
Following the release of the shocking book The big family (Camille Kouchner), testimonials on cases of incest are multiplying on social networks under the new hashtag #Metooincest, which appeared on Saturday January 16. When there is no prescription, incest trials often see the emergence “parental alienation syndrome” in the pleadings.
A “child-against-the-parent smear campaign”
Parental Alienation Syndrome (abbreviated as PAS) is a controversial medical concept introduced by psychiatrist Richard A. Gardner in the early 1980s. “It’s a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child custody disputes,” describes Richard A. Gardner in his publication entitled “Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS): Sixteen Years Later”. Its main manifestation is “the child’s smear campaign against the parent, a campaign that has no justification. The disorder results from the combination of the indoctrinations of the alienating parent and the child’s contribution to the defamation of the alienated parent”, continues the psychiatrist.
Used by many lawyers to defend their client accused of paedophilia, the admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome has been rejected by the Court of Appeal for England and Wales in the UK, while the Ministry of Justice of Canada has made recommendations against its use. Not listed in the DSM5, the term Parental Alienation Syndrome has nonetheless been used in several family court disputes in the United States, where it is not always upheld due to the lack of scientific evidence supporting its existence. . In France, a notice on the website of the Ministry of Justice warning against its use was published at the request of Senator Laurence Rossignol.
“This theory serves as a shield for incestuous fathers”
“Yet this pseudo-scientific argument is still widely used in our courts,” deplores the director Patric Jean, author of the book The law of the fathers (Editions du Rocher)very critical of the psychiatrist Richard A. Gardner. “This theory, which looks vaguely scientific, serves as a shield for incestuous fathers, even to indict mothers and health personnel who report sexual abuse. In the end, the mother being considered crazy, we entrust the custody of the abused child to the guilty parent”.
The parental alienation syndrome was invented in the 19th century by French doctors, who spoke at the time “heterogenital accusation”. Our society is then just beginning to penalize sexual crimes against minors. “These doctors maintained that it was especially not necessary to listen to children who complained of sexual assault, because they invented it under pressure from their mother, in order to get rid of a troublesome husband, or to take revenge on ‘a neighbour, a mayor, a priest…’, contextualizes Patric Jean.
In the mid-1980s, “the heterogenital accusation” is taken up by the Americans under the term “parental alienation syndrome”. “They went from legitimizing pedocriminality to denial”, continues Patrick Jean. According to a report commissioned by the Ministry of Justice in France, children lie about their sexual assaults in less than 1% of cases.
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