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Review
. 2022 Jun 17;10(6):1134.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10061134.

Medical-Legal and Psychosocial Considerations on Parental Alienation as a Form of Child Abuse: A Brief Review

Oana-Maria Isailă  1   2 , Sorin Hostiuc  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Medical-Legal and Psychosocial Considerations on Parental Alienation as a Form of Child Abuse: A Brief Review

Oana-Maria Isailă et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Parental alienation, an entity situated at the limit of psychiatry, sociology, and justice, still represents a controversial concept despite the legal dispositions that take it into account. The scope of this paper is to consider the relationship between parent and child, and child abuse from a psychosocial perspective, as well as to depict parental alienation, considered a form of child abuse, without omitting contradictory arguments which are also based on prudence in the minor's interest, turning the attention to parental estrangement. Although parental alienation is not a psychiatric diagnosis per se and neither is parental estrangement, recognizing the difference between them is vital to adequately manage the situation at the time of establishing custody.

Keywords: child abuse; custody; parental alienation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The relationship between parental alienation, psychological child abuse, and child neglect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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