The Alec Baldwin controversy has again brought media attention to the debate over Parental Alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome.
In 2005, PBS aired Breaking the Silence, a film attacking fathers and Parental Alienation Syndrome. We organized a successful campaign against the film which led PBS to promise to make a balanced, fair documentary on the subject–a commitment PBS kept.
During the controversy over the film, the film’s feminist supporters insisted that Parental Alienation Syndrome had been discredited and attacked by the American Psychological Association. In the documentary Joan Meier, a professor of clinical law at George Washington University and one of the film’s chief spokespersons, states that PAS “has been thoroughly debunked by the American Psychological Association.” Connecticut Public Television, one of the film’s producers, put out a press release promoting the film which stated that PAS had been “discredited by the American Psychological Association.”
Rhea K. Farberman, Executive Director of Public and Member Communications of the American Psychological Association, retorted that these feminist these claims are “incorrect” and “inaccurate,” and that the APA “does not have an official position on parental alienation syndrome–pro or con.”
Despite the enormous political pressure put on the APA by misguided women’s advocates who oppose PAS, the APA has put out mixed messages about Parental Alienation Syndrome. During the controversy I asked shared parenting advocate Les Veskrna, MD to write an article for my site sorting out the truth about the APA and PAS. Veskrna asserts, “the APA has, in fact, heretofore made a significant endorsement of the validity of PAS.” Below is his piece.
PAS and the APA
By Les Veskrna, MD
The Public Affairs Office of the American Psychological Association has put out the following press release to answer questions generated by PBS’s recent documentary Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories regarding APA’s official position on Parental Alienation Syndrome:
“The American Psychological Association (APA) believes that all mental health practitioners as well as law enforcement officials and the courts must take any reports of domestic violence in divorce and child custody cases seriously. An APA 1996 Presidential Task Force on Domestic Violence and the Family noted the lack of data to support so-called ‘parental alienation syndrome,’ and raised concern about the term’s use. However, we have no official position on the purported syndrome.â€ÂÂ
Highlighting the word “lack†and using the words “so-called†and “purported†in this press release seems to suggest the APA presumes PAS to be fallacious while, at the same time, uncommitted regarding its validity.
This official statement comes a few days after the APA’s Executive Director of Public and Member Communications, criticized Breaking the Silence for misrepresenting the APA’s position on PAS.
In spite of these puzzling pronouncements, it is apparent that the APA has, in fact, heretofore made a significant endorsement of the validity of PAS, which may be confirmed by simply searching the content of their website at www.apa.org. (more…)
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