A recent episode of Law and Order SVU has a nice depiction of Parental Alienation. It depicts a grandmother falsely accusing a mother of molesting the child as part of a custody maneuver. (It would have been better, of course, if they had depicted a false charge being leveled against a father, since they’re the most frequent targets, but I’ll take it).
When the police psychologist says the charges are false and are the result of “Parental Alienation Syndrome,” another cop says, “I thought PAS was when a couple splits up and the mom brainwashes the kids into thinking the Dad’s a bastard.” The police psychologist explains that, in this case, it’s “emotional abuse inflicted [on the girl] by her ‘loving’ grandmother’.”
Watch the short video clip here.
Thanks to Greg Andresen of Dads on the Air in Australia and Keryn McLachlan for the video.