Today, 25 April, is Parental Rejection Day. What is that?
The American psychiatrist R. Gardner used the following definition:
"Parental Alienation Syndrome" is an abnormality in children that occurs almost exclusively in conflicts over parental authority. Its primary characteristic is the smear campaign that the child conducts against a parent, a campaign for which there is no valid reason. It is the result of the combination of indoctrination by a programming (brainwashing) parent and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the target parent. If there is actual abuse and/or neglect by a parent, the child's hostility may be justified, making categorisation under parental rejection syndrome inapplicable."
Parental rejection is not only terrible for the parents it happens to, but above all it is harmful for the child's development.
The 2015 TNO NIPO study among the members of the Association of Family Lawyers and Divorce Mediators (vFAS) showed that the number of contentious divorces has increased significantly. This is based on the assumption that a contested divorce is a divorce in which the ex-spouses do not have the settlement of the divorce as their objective, but aim to hurt each other as much as possible. In some of these disputed divorces, parental rejection can also occur.
This is one of the reasons why it is so important to prevent divorces. The latest report by Marc Dullaert, then the Children's Ombudsman, also advocates a child-friendly family lawyer who, in addition to legal advice and guidance, also constructively coaches clients in conflicts and de-escalates matters. A viewpoint that we can only endorse.
Are you looking for a mediator or lawyer who attaches importance to a good divorce settlement, also for the children? Then contact one of our specialists.