Parents Acting Badly: How Institutions and Societies Promote the Alienation of Children from Their Loving Families

Jennifer J. Harman, Zeynep Biringen | English, 2015

In Parents Acting Badly, Drs. Jennifer Jill Harman and Zeynep Biringen provide a thorough analysis of how and why parental alienation can insidiously gain momentum over the years, and how parenting stereotypes, gender inequality, and social institutions (such as family courts) all sanction and even promote the problem. Parents Acting Badly represents a paradigm shift in thinking about parental alienation — from a private issue to a public concern. The authors suggest new approaches to addressing this controversial problem that encompasses individual change, as well as social and institutional reforms. The understanding and prevention of parental alienation can help families, societies, and institutions protect the best interests of the child.