Coalition Calls Attention to the Fake Courtroom Diagnosis of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Refuting Alec Baldwin's Book.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (Coalition) has seen a growing trend in victims of domestic and sexual violence losing custody of their children to batterers due to a misperception called Parental Alienation Syndrome. This has gain heightened interest in the media due to the release of Alec Baldwin's book entitled, A Promise to Ourselves.

Parental Alienation Syndrome is not recognized by any professional association and has been rejected by the Presidential Task Force of the American Psychological Association and by the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges.

"Parental Alienation Syndrome" is a claim that has been used to suggest that some parents try to undermine their children's relationship with the other parent, typically the noncustodial parent, by making false statements about that other parent, most often in the form of abuse allegations. In fact, actor Alec Baldwin made that claim about his own child custody case in a recent interview with Diane Sawyer.

The Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, along with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) <http://www.nnedvfund.org/, the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) <http://www.dvleap.org/, Stop Family Violence (SVP) <http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence <http://www.ncadv.org/, call on the media and the courts to rectify the misunderstanding and misuse of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in custody cases.

As part of a project entitled Mothers Organizing for Children's Justice, the Coalition recently conducted an anonymous survey and focus groups with survivors in Tennessee. In the Coalition's survey, 34% percent of the mothers who responded had been labeled as an "alienator" or with Parental Alienation Syndrome by a court related professional. Thirty percent of these women were advised by attorneys or other professionals involved in their case to not bring up issues of domestic violence, child physical abuse, or child sexual abuse, as it could negatively affect them and their children in the custody decision.

"The fact that women in Tennessee are being advised to not bring up domestic violence or child abuse strongly suggests that Parental Alienation Syndrome is being used to silence women and children into submission and continued abuse," says Kathy Walsh, Executive Director of the Coalition.

ABOUT THE COALITION

Formed in 1983, the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence (Coalition) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization composed of diverse community leaders and program members who share a common vision of ending violence in the lives of Tennesseans. For more information, visit: www.tcadsv.org.