Élisabeth Godbout

The Life Paths and Lived Experiences of Adults Who Have Experienced Parental Alienation: A Retrospective Study

This qualitative study concerns the life paths and lived experiences of 6 adults who have been alienated from a parent in the past. The results suggest several hypotheses concerning the factors that might place children at risk of being alienated from a parent. The presence of postseparation conflict and, in some cases, domestic violence, as well as the triangulation of the child appear to be elements that favor the emergence of parental alienation. Moreover, this study supports a multifactorial explanation of parental alienation. In the scope of lived experience, respondents associated alienation with difficulties at school, internal and external behavior problems, and a search for identity after reaching adulthood. Finally, overcoming the state of alienation involves issues surrounding the establishment of boundaries with the alienating parent and the rebuilding of a relationship with the alienated parent.

Relations between postdivorce custody arrangements, family contexts, and children’s adjustment

ABSTRACT The goal of the present study was to shed light on the relation between postseparation custody arrangements and family contexts in which school-age children (8–12 years old) live so as to better understand the processes underlying their adjustment. The sample was composed of 112 dyads (parents and children) from families in joint custody (n = 37) or maternal custody (n = 75). The dyads were met with twice at a 1-year interval. Compared with those in joint custody, the respondents with sole custody had a negative opinion of the transitions between homes and had the impression that the children were more involved in interparental conflicts. This analysis showed that the difficult nature of transitions between homes was a crucial mediating variable in the relation between conflicts and the children’s adjustment, but that other variables, such as the relational problems with the mother, played a role, particularly in joint custody situations.