Domestic Abuse, Parental Alienation and the Family Courts: a collaborative action research project

Parental Alienation (PA) is an emerging area of scholarship and a highly contested concept. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of PA. It is understood by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) as “when a child’s resistance or hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent” (Cafcass, 2021). There is growing evidence from a range of jurisdictions internationally that claims of PA have become prolific in cases involving domestic abuse (DA), and growing concerns that such claims are being made by perpetrators of DA against their victims with the aim of negating DA. There are extremely few empirical studies on PA in England and Wales and there are no studies that have looked specifically at the experiences of victims of DA who have been accused of PA in the family courts, the way in which courts respond to victims of DA in these proceedings, the trajectory and outcomes of their cases, and the impact of accusations of PA on victims and children. This research aims to explore how PA is used in, and impacts on, child arrangements cases where DA is an issue, how family courts respond to accusations of PA, and how barriers to safeguarding victims of DA and children can be overcome. This study adopts a collaborative action research framework with the charity, Rights of Women, who are running a funded project to provide advice and arrange representation for victims of DA who have been accused of PA. The research will involve interviews with 25 participants in the Rights of Women project and analysis of secondary, anonymised case data. The findings will develop recommendations for enhancing family court responses to DA to achieve safer outcomes for victims and children.

People

	Name	Telephone	Email	Office
	Dr Adrienne Barnett Reader in Law (Principal investigator) T: +44 (0)1895 265198 E: adrienne.barnett@brunel.ac.uk	+44 (0)1895 265198	adrienne.barnett@brunel.ac.uk	Elliott Jaques 059