A significant contribution to debates on the effects of family breakdown - including the question "Do families need fathers?" - "Parental Alienation" calls for: the judiciary to appreciate better parental alienation syndrome (PAS); wider understanding of how parents can manipulate the system causing tragic consequences; children to be protected from the consequences of being alienated from a parent; both parents to be treated fairly by the system. Some parents are a danger to children in brainwashing them against an absent parent. What is required is a revolution in thinking and behaviour - parents can be helped to play a positive role in bringing up children, despite the break up of the adult relationship, into a happier future. Drawing on international research, Lowenstein discusses the problems for parents and children when parental alienation occurs. His book identifies the signs of PAS. Concerned with the important task of seeking to remedy PAS, Lowenstein's basic principle is that both parents have the right and the responsibility to guide their children appropriately. He also addresses the role of the judiciary.
Both the experts and the courts need to help parents resolve their differences to safeguard the welfare of their children. "Parental Alienation" addresses the important issues of mediation and of treatment. Parents with implacable hostility towards one another frequently make false accusations against another parent. The book deals with how to identify and treat accusations of abuse, and discusses the therapeutic methods required in PAS, and psychological assessment and treatment of pathologically induced alienation. Challenging, even provocative, this important book cannot be ignored.