This article reports findings from the author’s cutting-edge empirical study shining a light on f... more This article reports findings from the author’s cutting-edge empirical study shining a light on family courts’ system-wide failure to recognize and adequately grapple with the reality and prevalence of men’s abuse in the family. While the #MeToo movement has lifted the veil that protected male sexual abusers of women in employment, the empirical research reported in this article reveals the remarkable degree of silence and even denial that persists when it comes to men’s abuse of women and children in the family. Both family law scholarship and family court practices continue to minimize and deny men’s abuse, in large part to further shared parenting and maximum fathering, family law’s modern “holy grail.” The author’s national study of family courts (“Study”) has produced the first-ever set of objective data on family court outcomes in cases involving abuse claims. The findings demonstrate courts’ systemic pattern of denying adult - and especially child – abuse, raising two critical questions: Why are family courts so resistant to allegations that a father is abusive, and how do courts implement this denial? The article explores both human beings’ natural psychological resistance to facing human atrocities and family courts’ goal-oriented denial, stemming from the prioritization of fathering, which makes women’s allegations of men’s abuse anathema. Using the Study’s findings, the article also elaborates the key mechanism which courts use to effectuate denial of abuse: the theory of parental alienation, which lacks scientific support and is highly contested. The article closes by proposing profound shifts in family law theory and practice to reduce courts’ impulse toward denial. With regard to theory, it challenges leading scholars to integrate these realities of abuse in their custody-related scholarship. With regard to practice, it makes two proposals. First, abuse allegations should be assessed separately, with parental alienation only considered if abuse is ruled out. Second, state law must legislate for indeterminacy, to ensure that where the truth of an abuse allegation is undetermined, courts do not treat it as false, but proceed with appropriate caution to maximize the potential for relationship repair as well as child safety.
A troubling aspect of justice system response to intimate partner violence is custody courts'... more A troubling aspect of justice system response to intimate partner violence is custody courts' failure to protect children when mothers allege the father is abusive. Family courts' errors in assessing adult and child abuse, and punitive responses to abuse allegations, have been widely documented. A significant contributor to these errors is the pseudo-scientific theory of parental alienation (PA). Originally termed parental alienation syndrome (PAS), the theory suggests that when mothers allege that a child is not safe with the father, they are doing so illegitimately, to alienate the child from the father. PA labeling often results in dismissal of women's and children's reports of abuse, and sometimes trumps even expert child abuse evaluations. PAS was explicitly based on negative stereotypes of mothers and has been widely discredited. However, the term parental alienation is still widely used in ways that are virtually identical to PAS. However, because PA is nominally gender neutral (and not called a scientific syndrome), it continues to have substantial credibility in court. The first goal of the study was to ascertain whether empirical evidence indicated that parental alienation is also gender-biased in practice and outcome. Drawing from courts' own reports of facts, findings, and outcomes, such research could inform advocates and the courts regarding the validity or invalidity of relying on PA to strip mothers of their children and potentially subject children to ongoing abuse. Second, inspired by some tentative findings, the study sought to explore outcomes in custody/abuse litigation by gender and by differing types of abuse. The study relied solely on electronically available published opinions in child custody cases; to date, the researchers have identified 240 cases involving alienation and alienation plus abuse. The researchers sought to expand the database to include non-alienation abuse cases as a comparison, and to address additional questions about custody/abuse adjudications.
The contempt power traditionally has been termed an "inherent" power of the court. Id. at 198 n.2... more The contempt power traditionally has been termed an "inherent" power of the court. Id. at 198 n.2 (citing 4 WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 286-87 (1783) ("laws without a competent authority to secure their administration from disobedience and contempt would be vain and nugatory. A power, therefore... to supress such contempts by an immediate attachment of the offender results from the first principles of judicial establishments, and must be an inseparable attendant upon every superior tribunal.")). In addition, numerous court rules and some state and federal statutes authorize contempt sanctions of a certain length and type for specific infractions.
Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, Jan 2, 2020
Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation... more Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation claims to discredit a mother alleging the father has been abusive or is unsafe for the children. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of ten years U.S. of cases involving abuse and alienation claims. The findings confirm that mothers' claims of abuse, especially child physical or sexual abuse, increase their risk of losing custody, and that fathers' crossclaims of alienation virtually double that risk. Alienation's impact is gender-specific; fathers alleging mothers are abusive are not similarly undermined when mothers cross-claim alienation. In nonabuse cases, however, the data suggest that alienation has a more gender-neutral impact. These nuanced findings may help abuse and alienation professionals find some common ground.
The feminist paradigm of domestic violence-which views it as a form of male domination of women-h... more The feminist paradigm of domestic violence-which views it as a form of male domination of women-has been widely accepted among career domestic violence professionals (Mahoney, 1991; Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Pence, E.). However, it has never been fully accepted by others who do not specialize in the field, including family court personnel, some researchers, and other critics. The countervailing paradigm-sometimes dubbed the "family violence" paradigm-treats domestic violence as a mutual and circumstantial problem, often suggesting that women are as violent as-or more violent than-men. (Straus, MenWeb Online Journal; Dragiewicz, 2008). Despite warring exchanges in both journals and courtrooms (Dutton, 2006; Straus, 2009; Rosen, Dragiewicz & Gibbs, 2009)), neither side has ever succeeded in changing the other's opinion. Michael Johnson's theory offers a solution to the pitched battleby arguing that both camps are right (Johnson, 1995). A thoughtful sociologist with feminist credibility and identification, (Johnson, www.personal.psu.edu/mpg/MPG/Welcome.html), including a history of working with domestic violence shelters/programs, Johnson's differentiation theory has rapidly and remarkably gained traction among both feminist and non-feminist scholars and
describing five cases from different states in which mothers' and children's reports of abuse wer... more describing five cases from different states in which mothers' and children's reports of abuse were rejected and penalized by courts, including removal of children from mother in three cases). 5. See NEUSTEIN & LESHER, supra note 4; Kathleen Coulborn Faller & Ellen DeVoe, Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Divorce, 4 J. CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 1, 2 (1995) (finding that courts were half as likely to validate child sexual abuse as clinicians, and approximately 20% of parents were sanctioned for raising it)); Nancy M. Steubner, Custody Outcomes for Protective Parents in Cases with Child Sexual
This article analyzes rhetorical strategies that are often used to legitimize classifying childre... more This article analyzes rhetorical strategies that are often used to legitimize classifying children's parent rejection as "alienation," conceived as a mental disorder or diagnosis. Use of evaluative labels or diagnoses instead of descriptions of behavioral functioning is problematic in child custody evaluations. We address Distorted Claims of consensus, Alienation Labeling, Renaming, Proof by Assertion, Misrepresenting Endorsement by Authorities, Reduction Ad Absurdum, and Ad Personam Attacks. Rhetoric distracts from the evidence and observable behaviors required to accurately classify mistreated/alienated children and protective/alienating parents. It creates an ideology that obfuscates the absence of and need for scientific validity studies; reliable prevalence data; non-conclusory assessment of parent-child relationship quality; empirical evidence testing the coaching hypothesis; and valid, objective evaluations of treatment programs. The article concludes with suggestions to improve dialogue between scholars in order to advance research and custody evaluations.
and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study pu... more and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for t... more The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for teaching law students about domestic violence work. The heart of the course is its emphasis on developing awareness of and compassion for the personally and emotionally challenging dimensions of domestic violence work. I achieve this (i) through an intensive and personal dialogue with students through written journals and responses; (ii) by inviting students to consider creative expression for their final project, and (iii) by teaching students about vicarious trauma and encouraging their understanding of it in themselves and other system players. Students seem to experience this course as an oasis of holistic professional and personal growth within the often dispiriting experience of law school.
The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for t... more The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for teaching law students about domestic violence work. The heart of the course is its emphasis on developing awareness of and compassion for the personally and emotionally challenging dimensions of domestic violence work. I achieve this (i) through an intensive and personal dialogue with students through written journals and responses; (ii) by inviting students to consider creative expression for their final project, and (iii) by teaching students about vicarious trauma and encouraging their understanding of it in themselves and other system players. Students seem to experience this course as an oasis of holistic professional and personal growth within the often dispiriting experience of law school.
UNDERSTANDING JUDICIAL RESISTANCE 659 [i]t is difficult to determine the contours of maternal res... more UNDERSTANDING JUDICIAL RESISTANCE 659 [i]t is difficult to determine the contours of maternal responsibility in a culture that blames mothers for all problems relating to children, gives mothers so little material and social support, and absolves fathers of all responsibility. Unless we place problems of motherhood and battering within a framework of gender socialization and subordination, we cannot fully and fairly assess the contours of responsibility. 3 Schneiders feminist critique, with which I agree, 4 is important to bear in mind as the national conversation about children in families experiencing domestic violence heats up. In the last several years, the federal government, 5 national judicial bodies, 6 state legislatures, 7 the American Bar Association, 8 and individual judges, along with child welfare and domestic violence experts have finally 9 turned their 3. See id. at 178. 4. But see infra note 26. 5. .or example, in 1990 Congress passed a Resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that for purposes of determining child custody, credible evidence of physical abuse of ones spouse should create a statutory presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in the custody of the abusive spouse. H.R. Con. Res. 172, 101st Cong. (1990). During the past decade, the Department of Health and Human Services has sponsored a number of initiatives. See LAUDAN ARON & KRISTA OLSON, URBAN INST.
Journal of family trauma, child custody & child development, May 2, 2022
Jennifer Harman and Demosthenes lorandos purport to have identified numerous methodological flaws... more Jennifer Harman and Demosthenes lorandos purport to have identified numerous methodological flaws in our 2019 study of family court outcomes in cases involving abuse and alienation allegations ("Fco study"; meier et al., 2019). At least half of the supposed flaws they itemized relate to one claim-that they were unable to access our methods and data. they treat the claimed lack of public access as evidence that our study is unreliable, while speculating about other potential flaws. yet we note-and they acknowledge-that most of the methodological information they sought was in fact available before publication of their article. this article responds to and refutes Harman and lorandos' exaggerated and unfounded condemnation of our study. in addition to pointing out that the claimed lack of information would not be a methodological flaw even if true, we explain that their other criticisms are speculative, incorrect, or insignificant. We appreciate this opportunity to clarify that the important findings of the Fco study are valid and should be taken seriously by the courts and those interested in the fairness and safety of custody decisions when there are allegations of abuse and alienation. In a final grant report posted online in 2019 (Meier et al., 2019), and in a peer-reviewed publication in 2020 (Meier), we reported our first set of findings from the Family Court Outcomes Study ("FCO Study"), which was funded by the National Institute of Justice ("NIJ"). Using information from published decisions, this study analyzed the effects of claims of abuse and claims of parental alienation, and their interaction, on court outcomes in custody disputes between parents. We also quantified the frequency with which mothers' and fathers' abuse claims were credited by the court. Our study methods were designed to avoid bias and the study design was approved by the National Institute of Justice after outside peer reviews.
4 In individual psychology, especially in family courts, "truth-seeking" is pursued through inter... more 4 In individual psychology, especially in family courts, "truth-seeking" is pursued through interviews and assessments of parties rather than research. While courts often rely on such evaluations, this process is even less "scientific" or objective than the research process used in social psychology of social science.
This article reports findings from the author’s cutting-edge empirical study shining a light on f... more This article reports findings from the author’s cutting-edge empirical study shining a light on family courts’ system-wide failure to recognize and adequately grapple with the reality and prevalence of men’s abuse in the family. While the #MeToo movement has lifted the veil that protected male sexual abusers of women in employment, the empirical research reported in this article reveals the remarkable degree of silence and even denial that persists when it comes to men’s abuse of women and children in the family. Both family law scholarship and family court practices continue to minimize and deny men’s abuse, in large part to further shared parenting and maximum fathering, family law’s modern “holy grail.” The author’s national study of family courts (“Study”) has produced the first-ever set of objective data on family court outcomes in cases involving abuse claims. The findings demonstrate courts’ systemic pattern of denying adult - and especially child – abuse, raising two critical questions: Why are family courts so resistant to allegations that a father is abusive, and how do courts implement this denial? The article explores both human beings’ natural psychological resistance to facing human atrocities and family courts’ goal-oriented denial, stemming from the prioritization of fathering, which makes women’s allegations of men’s abuse anathema. Using the Study’s findings, the article also elaborates the key mechanism which courts use to effectuate denial of abuse: the theory of parental alienation, which lacks scientific support and is highly contested. The article closes by proposing profound shifts in family law theory and practice to reduce courts’ impulse toward denial. With regard to theory, it challenges leading scholars to integrate these realities of abuse in their custody-related scholarship. With regard to practice, it makes two proposals. First, abuse allegations should be assessed separately, with parental alienation only considered if abuse is ruled out. Second, state law must legislate for indeterminacy, to ensure that where the truth of an abuse allegation is undetermined, courts do not treat it as false, but proceed with appropriate caution to maximize the potential for relationship repair as well as child safety.
A troubling aspect of justice system response to intimate partner violence is custody courts'... more A troubling aspect of justice system response to intimate partner violence is custody courts' failure to protect children when mothers allege the father is abusive. Family courts' errors in assessing adult and child abuse, and punitive responses to abuse allegations, have been widely documented. A significant contributor to these errors is the pseudo-scientific theory of parental alienation (PA). Originally termed parental alienation syndrome (PAS), the theory suggests that when mothers allege that a child is not safe with the father, they are doing so illegitimately, to alienate the child from the father. PA labeling often results in dismissal of women's and children's reports of abuse, and sometimes trumps even expert child abuse evaluations. PAS was explicitly based on negative stereotypes of mothers and has been widely discredited. However, the term parental alienation is still widely used in ways that are virtually identical to PAS. However, because PA is nominally gender neutral (and not called a scientific syndrome), it continues to have substantial credibility in court. The first goal of the study was to ascertain whether empirical evidence indicated that parental alienation is also gender-biased in practice and outcome. Drawing from courts' own reports of facts, findings, and outcomes, such research could inform advocates and the courts regarding the validity or invalidity of relying on PA to strip mothers of their children and potentially subject children to ongoing abuse. Second, inspired by some tentative findings, the study sought to explore outcomes in custody/abuse litigation by gender and by differing types of abuse. The study relied solely on electronically available published opinions in child custody cases; to date, the researchers have identified 240 cases involving alienation and alienation plus abuse. The researchers sought to expand the database to include non-alienation abuse cases as a comparison, and to address additional questions about custody/abuse adjudications.
The contempt power traditionally has been termed an "inherent" power of the court. Id. at 198 n.2... more The contempt power traditionally has been termed an "inherent" power of the court. Id. at 198 n.2 (citing 4 WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 286-87 (1783) ("laws without a competent authority to secure their administration from disobedience and contempt would be vain and nugatory. A power, therefore... to supress such contempts by an immediate attachment of the offender results from the first principles of judicial establishments, and must be an inseparable attendant upon every superior tribunal.")). In addition, numerous court rules and some state and federal statutes authorize contempt sanctions of a certain length and type for specific infractions.
Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, Jan 2, 2020
Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation... more Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation claims to discredit a mother alleging the father has been abusive or is unsafe for the children. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of ten years U.S. of cases involving abuse and alienation claims. The findings confirm that mothers' claims of abuse, especially child physical or sexual abuse, increase their risk of losing custody, and that fathers' crossclaims of alienation virtually double that risk. Alienation's impact is gender-specific; fathers alleging mothers are abusive are not similarly undermined when mothers cross-claim alienation. In nonabuse cases, however, the data suggest that alienation has a more gender-neutral impact. These nuanced findings may help abuse and alienation professionals find some common ground.
The feminist paradigm of domestic violence-which views it as a form of male domination of women-h... more The feminist paradigm of domestic violence-which views it as a form of male domination of women-has been widely accepted among career domestic violence professionals (Mahoney, 1991; Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Pence, E.). However, it has never been fully accepted by others who do not specialize in the field, including family court personnel, some researchers, and other critics. The countervailing paradigm-sometimes dubbed the "family violence" paradigm-treats domestic violence as a mutual and circumstantial problem, often suggesting that women are as violent as-or more violent than-men. (Straus, MenWeb Online Journal; Dragiewicz, 2008). Despite warring exchanges in both journals and courtrooms (Dutton, 2006; Straus, 2009; Rosen, Dragiewicz & Gibbs, 2009)), neither side has ever succeeded in changing the other's opinion. Michael Johnson's theory offers a solution to the pitched battleby arguing that both camps are right (Johnson, 1995). A thoughtful sociologist with feminist credibility and identification, (Johnson, www.personal.psu.edu/mpg/MPG/Welcome.html), including a history of working with domestic violence shelters/programs, Johnson's differentiation theory has rapidly and remarkably gained traction among both feminist and non-feminist scholars and
describing five cases from different states in which mothers' and children's reports of abuse wer... more describing five cases from different states in which mothers' and children's reports of abuse were rejected and penalized by courts, including removal of children from mother in three cases). 5. See NEUSTEIN & LESHER, supra note 4; Kathleen Coulborn Faller & Ellen DeVoe, Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Divorce, 4 J. CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 1, 2 (1995) (finding that courts were half as likely to validate child sexual abuse as clinicians, and approximately 20% of parents were sanctioned for raising it)); Nancy M. Steubner, Custody Outcomes for Protective Parents in Cases with Child Sexual
This article analyzes rhetorical strategies that are often used to legitimize classifying childre... more This article analyzes rhetorical strategies that are often used to legitimize classifying children's parent rejection as "alienation," conceived as a mental disorder or diagnosis. Use of evaluative labels or diagnoses instead of descriptions of behavioral functioning is problematic in child custody evaluations. We address Distorted Claims of consensus, Alienation Labeling, Renaming, Proof by Assertion, Misrepresenting Endorsement by Authorities, Reduction Ad Absurdum, and Ad Personam Attacks. Rhetoric distracts from the evidence and observable behaviors required to accurately classify mistreated/alienated children and protective/alienating parents. It creates an ideology that obfuscates the absence of and need for scientific validity studies; reliable prevalence data; non-conclusory assessment of parent-child relationship quality; empirical evidence testing the coaching hypothesis; and valid, objective evaluations of treatment programs. The article concludes with suggestions to improve dialogue between scholars in order to advance research and custody evaluations.
and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study pu... more and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for t... more The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for teaching law students about domestic violence work. The heart of the course is its emphasis on developing awareness of and compassion for the personally and emotionally challenging dimensions of domestic violence work. I achieve this (i) through an intensive and personal dialogue with students through written journals and responses; (ii) by inviting students to consider creative expression for their final project, and (iii) by teaching students about vicarious trauma and encouraging their understanding of it in themselves and other system players. Students seem to experience this course as an oasis of holistic professional and personal growth within the often dispiriting experience of law school.
The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for t... more The Domestic Violence Project (DVP) began as an experiment but has become my favorite model for teaching law students about domestic violence work. The heart of the course is its emphasis on developing awareness of and compassion for the personally and emotionally challenging dimensions of domestic violence work. I achieve this (i) through an intensive and personal dialogue with students through written journals and responses; (ii) by inviting students to consider creative expression for their final project, and (iii) by teaching students about vicarious trauma and encouraging their understanding of it in themselves and other system players. Students seem to experience this course as an oasis of holistic professional and personal growth within the often dispiriting experience of law school.
UNDERSTANDING JUDICIAL RESISTANCE 659 [i]t is difficult to determine the contours of maternal res... more UNDERSTANDING JUDICIAL RESISTANCE 659 [i]t is difficult to determine the contours of maternal responsibility in a culture that blames mothers for all problems relating to children, gives mothers so little material and social support, and absolves fathers of all responsibility. Unless we place problems of motherhood and battering within a framework of gender socialization and subordination, we cannot fully and fairly assess the contours of responsibility. 3 Schneiders feminist critique, with which I agree, 4 is important to bear in mind as the national conversation about children in families experiencing domestic violence heats up. In the last several years, the federal government, 5 national judicial bodies, 6 state legislatures, 7 the American Bar Association, 8 and individual judges, along with child welfare and domestic violence experts have finally 9 turned their 3. See id. at 178. 4. But see infra note 26. 5. .or example, in 1990 Congress passed a Resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that for purposes of determining child custody, credible evidence of physical abuse of ones spouse should create a statutory presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in the custody of the abusive spouse. H.R. Con. Res. 172, 101st Cong. (1990). During the past decade, the Department of Health and Human Services has sponsored a number of initiatives. See LAUDAN ARON & KRISTA OLSON, URBAN INST.
Journal of family trauma, child custody & child development, May 2, 2022
Jennifer Harman and Demosthenes lorandos purport to have identified numerous methodological flaws... more Jennifer Harman and Demosthenes lorandos purport to have identified numerous methodological flaws in our 2019 study of family court outcomes in cases involving abuse and alienation allegations ("Fco study"; meier et al., 2019). At least half of the supposed flaws they itemized relate to one claim-that they were unable to access our methods and data. they treat the claimed lack of public access as evidence that our study is unreliable, while speculating about other potential flaws. yet we note-and they acknowledge-that most of the methodological information they sought was in fact available before publication of their article. this article responds to and refutes Harman and lorandos' exaggerated and unfounded condemnation of our study. in addition to pointing out that the claimed lack of information would not be a methodological flaw even if true, we explain that their other criticisms are speculative, incorrect, or insignificant. We appreciate this opportunity to clarify that the important findings of the Fco study are valid and should be taken seriously by the courts and those interested in the fairness and safety of custody decisions when there are allegations of abuse and alienation. In a final grant report posted online in 2019 (Meier et al., 2019), and in a peer-reviewed publication in 2020 (Meier), we reported our first set of findings from the Family Court Outcomes Study ("FCO Study"), which was funded by the National Institute of Justice ("NIJ"). Using information from published decisions, this study analyzed the effects of claims of abuse and claims of parental alienation, and their interaction, on court outcomes in custody disputes between parents. We also quantified the frequency with which mothers' and fathers' abuse claims were credited by the court. Our study methods were designed to avoid bias and the study design was approved by the National Institute of Justice after outside peer reviews.
4 In individual psychology, especially in family courts, "truth-seeking" is pursued through inter... more 4 In individual psychology, especially in family courts, "truth-seeking" is pursued through interviews and assessments of parties rather than research. While courts often rely on such evaluations, this process is even less "scientific" or objective than the research process used in social psychology of social science.
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