Starting the Dialogue on A Social and Public Health Policy Framework for Alienation in Families (Parental Alienation)

This article applies a multi-dimensional framework to the dominant psycho-legal disciplines of parental alienation to inform social and public health policies. These policies aim to reduce the harm parental alienating behaviours cause to children and family members. They will address how these behaviours construct marginalised groups within society and families. A multi-dimensional critical analysis of parental alienation supports the interaction and interdependence of multiple disciplines. Historically, the parental alienation field focuses on singular categories such as clinical science and family law. This historical approach limits policy considerations to address the discursive nature of alienating power relations, human rights for targeted/rejected parents and children, social justice in equity and access to social resources and socio-economic exploitation. Public policies addressing alienation in families invite society and its members to consider the problem of alienation in families as a public issue with interconnecting and interacting factors.