Detection, especially in the last stages, may seem difficult. The "truth" of the family becomes very relative. However, typical patterns in PAS allow for detection by a professional familiar with this form of family conflict:
1. Contradictions: This is relevant especially when the child's own statements are contradictory, or they contradict factual history or the perceptions of unbiased individuals;
2. Child has inappropriate and unnecessary information (e.g., "My dad had an affair while my mom was in the hospital having me," or, "My mom wanted me aborted");
3. Child engages in character assault: This can include the use of globally negative descriptions for which the child has trouble coming up with specifics sufficient to justify them;
4. Collusion and one-sided alliance with the AP: This is often given away by the use of blended pronouns (e.g. "When my dad left us ...," or, "We don't have enough money to live on");
5. Child parrots themes of the AP, even using the same words--the child's identity becomes enmeshed with that of the AP;
6. Child reports on the TP, even to professionals, the way a spy would;
7. Child displays a sense of urgency and fragility: Everything seems to have life-and-death importance (e.g., "If you make me have dinner with him, I'll run away or kill myself");
8. Child's affiliations with the TP's associates and family change;
9. Splitting: The child cannot come up with any positives about the TP nor with any negatives about the AP;
10. Marked absence of complex thinking about relationships: Splitting is one example, and simplistic characterizations of the parents (e.g., "My mom is the homebody and my dad is the entertainer") are another;
11. Child demonstrates a feeling of restriction in permission to love or be loved.
UNDERSTANDING AND COLLABORATIVELY TREATING PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME - KENNETH H. WALDRON, Ph.D. DAVID E. JOANIS, J.D. Madison. Wisconsin. From the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY LAWS, VOLUME 10, P.121-133 (1996)
1. Contradictions: This is relevant especially when the child's own statements are contradictory, or they contradict factual history or the perceptions of unbiased individuals;
2. Child has inappropriate and unnecessary information (e.g., "My dad had an affair while my mom was in the hospital having me," or, "My mom wanted me aborted");
3. Child engages in character assault: This can include the use of globally negative descriptions for which the child has trouble coming up with specifics sufficient to justify them;
4. Collusion and one-sided alliance with the AP: This is often given away by the use of blended pronouns (e.g. "When my dad left us ...," or, "We don't have enough money to live on");
5. Child parrots themes of the AP, even using the same words--the child's identity becomes enmeshed with that of the AP;
6. Child reports on the TP, even to professionals, the way a spy would;
7. Child displays a sense of urgency and fragility: Everything seems to have life-and-death importance (e.g., "If you make me have dinner with him, I'll run away or kill myself");
8. Child's affiliations with the TP's associates and family change;
9. Splitting: The child cannot come up with any positives about the TP nor with any negatives about the AP;
10. Marked absence of complex thinking about relationships: Splitting is one example, and simplistic characterizations of the parents (e.g., "My mom is the homebody and my dad is the entertainer") are another;
11. Child demonstrates a feeling of restriction in permission to love or be loved.
UNDERSTANDING AND COLLABORATIVELY TREATING PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME - KENNETH H. WALDRON, Ph.D. DAVID E. JOANIS, J.D. Madison. Wisconsin. From the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY LAWS, VOLUME 10, P.121-133 (1996)
