There are many myths surrounding parental alienation, Dr. Sylwia Różycka-Jaroś from the Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization of the University of Warsaw told PAP. – Presented as a form of emotional violence against the other parent, it may result from an attempt to protect the child – she added.
April 25 is celebrated Parental Alienation Awareness Day. It is defined as conscious or unconscious actions of one parent that lead to the child's isolation and reluctance towards the other parent – the alienated one. This term most often appears in the context of conflicts accompanying divorces and separations of parents.
Legal advisor Dr. Sylwia Różycka-Jaroś, who specializes in child protection from the point of view of family and criminal law, emphasized in an interview with PAP that there are many myths surrounding parental alienation.
There are many myths surrounding parental alienation
– Although it is presented as a form of emotional violence against the other parent or child, in reality it may also result from: trying to protect the child from contact with a violent parentby whom it has been harmed and feared – she noted.
– It sometimes happens that the primary parent protects the child's well-being by not exposing the child to contact with an abusive parent. Guardianship courts – if there is no final judgment in a criminal case – rarely accept that there is a basis for limiting or prohibiting meetings between a parent and a child, even if in fact he has harmed the child and contact with him may be stressful for the child or a threat to his well-being, she said.
She admitted that there are also situations where contacts with the child are hindered. The scale of the problem is difficult to estimate, but in her opinion such situations do not prevaileven if the parents are very conflicted.
– In recent decades, awareness of the role that both parents play in the upbringing process has increased. As a result, many primary parents even strive for the child to have contact with the other parent as often as possible, the lawyer said.
The expert paid attention to what she was observing “self-alienation”. – It sometimes happens that a parent, not seeing the need for frequent contact with the child, decides on his or her own to have this contact occasionally. Then the child who counts on meetings together is disappointed – she emphasized.
In such a situation, you can try to enforce contact with the child in court – just like in a situation where contact with the child is prevented by the other parent. This requires submitting an appropriate application to the court – to threaten to order payment of a specific amount for failure to fulfill the obligations arising from the judgment regarding contact with the child. If this does not discipline the parent, the parent suffers financial consequences.
– However, I must admit that this does not work for all parents. There are those who have serious financial obligations and yet still do not allow their children to have contact with them or they do not implement these contacts. It should also be noted that failure to fulfill obligations resulting from the judgment regarding contact with the child is increasingly treated by guardianship courts as a breach of the proper exercise of parental authority, she said.
She explained that in relation to a person who unjustifiably prevents the other parent from having contact with his or her own child, the court may issue a ruling interfering with his or her parental authority, even deciding to limit it.
A new idea of the Ministry of Justice
Różycka-Jaroś assessed the idea of punishing for limiting or preventing contacts on the basis of the Penal Code, which the Ministry of Justice was working on, negatively.
– This is too far-reaching interference. The role of the penal code is not to discipline parents. Instead of regulations of this type, it is better to strengthen the civil procedure and use it to enforce contacts. We should also educate parents and make them aware of the proper exercise of parental authority, she said.
An increasingly frequently used form is the so-called shared custody, in which parents share care for comparable (though not necessarily equal) periods of time. According to data from the Ministry of Justice, in 2023, a joint custody decision was issued in 76.1 percent. cases. For comparison, in 2016 – 52.2 percent. (in 44.3% of cases, sole custody was granted to the mother).
Sharing parental responsibilities – also after divorce – is the result of social changes, including greater involvement in raising fathers and an increase in the professional activity of mothers.
Currently, shared custody is not defined in the Family and Guardianship Codeand the guidelines for its application result from the literature, not the content of the regulations. The draft regulations to introduce it were published by the Ministry of Justice in March this year. According to the lawyer, regardless of the form of exercising parental authority – whether in the form of alternating custody or entrusting daily care to one of the parents and establishing contacts with the other – the most important thing is the best interests of the child.
According to the idea of the Ministry of Justice, establishing shared custody would disqualify open conflict between parents.
According to MS data, out of nearly 60 thousand divorce petitions that reach the courts annually, approximately 60 percent applies to marriages in which children are raised.
Katarzyna Czarnecka (PAP)
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