Mapping Gender: Shedding Empirical Light on Family Courtss Treatment of Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation

Meier, Joan S.; Dickson, Sean

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2999906

Cited by 28 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Given that the absence of valid science supporting PAS/PAD/PA has been widely acknowledged, as described above, the concept is better understood as ideology, not scientific theory (Milchman, ; Walker, Brantley, & Rigsbee, ). Since various decision‐making bodies, including trial courts (see DV LEAP, 2019; Meier, 2020) and appeals courts (Milchman, ) are sometimes swayed by such rhetoric, and may themselves share implicit biases and prejudicial assumptions that make some of the rhetoric appear plausible (Haselschwerdt, Hardesty, & Hans, ; Meier & Dickson, ; Milchman, ; Saunders et al, ), it falls to scholars to address the problem. They must acknowledge the complexity of parent rejection, educate the courts about the need for a multicausal assessment and interpretation in individual cases, and express their opposition to “decision by rhetoric.”…”

Section: Distorted Claims Of Consensusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other research has documented courts' tendency to adopt alienation labels even though supporting evidence for alienation is lacking (Milchman, ). Too ready acceptance of alienation as the reason why a child rejects a parent appears particularly likely when alienation is used to counter abuse allegations, with significant negative impact on outcomes for mothers purporting to seek to protect their children (Meier & Dickson, ; Meier et al, ). At minimum, a descriptive language is needed that is rich enough to counter decision‐making by labeling.…”

Section: Alienation Labelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PA activism is also furthered by distorting and reducing the legitimacy of opponents' arguments. For instance, Robb () accuses Meier and Dickson () of misrepresenting their evidence to support their conclusion that gender disparities in custody/parenting time decisions exist in PA cases. He asserts that they do not define “lost custody,” equate “winning” a custody/parenting time decision with “losing custody,” and include “termination of parental rights in the same category as cases where ‘a parent gained an hour' of time with their child.” He then concludes that Meier and Dickson's () argument for gender disparity rests on data that a father gained “even an iota of outcome that the mother opposed” (p. x).…”

Section: Reductio Ad Absurdummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these statements are simply false. Meier and Dickson () do not commit any of these errors. They clearly defined and distinguished between “winning” and “custody loss.” They defined “custody loss” as occurring when a court “switches” sole custody from one parent to the other (p. 322, f.n.…”

Section: Reductio Ad Absurdummentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Ideology and Rhetoric Replace Science and Reason in Some Parental Alienation Literature and Advocacy: A Critique

Milchman¹,

Geffner²,

Meier³

2020

Family Court Review

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Distorted Claims Of Consensusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Alienation Labelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reductio Ad Absurdummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reductio Ad Absurdummentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ideology and Rhetoric Replace Science and Reason in Some Parental Alienation Literature and Advocacy: A Critique

Milchman¹,

Geffner²,

Meier³

2020

Family Court Review

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When the court relies on evaluators who are oblivious to domestic violence research, judges do not recognize the ways abusers use coercive control. The consequences for children and society as a whole are devastating (Meier, 2017).…”

Section: Can An Ethics Advisory Help To Civilize Rhode Island Family mentioning

confidence: 99%

Beware the Mammoni: My Search to Understand Domestic Violence in Italian-American Culture and Rhode Island's Family Court

Grant

2017

Dignity

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since I disapproved of stereotypes, I found myself trying to comprehend Italian-American culture after I became executive director of the largest shelter in Rhode Island for battered women and their children. Many of those I met were fleeing Italian-American men. On 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl reported from Italy about the large number of single men who still live with their parents and are known as mammoni, or "mama's boys. " Their mothers dutifully cook and clean for them. The Roman Catholic Church's view of the Holy Family reinforces mammoni culture. I learned that Rome's founding legend starts with men colluding to commit violence against women. The Italian Renaissance graphically celebrates this "Rape of the Sabine Women" in sculpture and paintings. A story in Boccaccio's Decameron and Botticelli's paintings of men hunting and slaying women reinforce this cultural algorithm of sexual harassment and abuse. Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci portrays domestic violence as art. The coercive control that many battered mothers encounter at home feels identical to that at family court. I describe specific Italian-American cases, including professional abuses in the court, where guardians ad litem often orchestrate custody cases unethically. Though the Rhode Island Supreme Court's Ethics Advisory Panel has recognized this problem in theory, judges fail to confront it in fact. We can and must challenge abusive behavior entrenched in our cultures. We can and must create a culture of law that insists upon the ethical use of power in our custody courts. KeywordsRhode Island, Mafia, mammoni, stereotypes, domestic violence, Italy, Italian-American, coercive control, alienation theories, guardian ad litem, cabals of court Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. AcknowledgementsWhenever I report on research into custody cases, I am working for government reform under the protections assured by Rhode Island's law forbidding Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (known as anti-SLAPP suit laws). I gratefully acknowledge the reformers who secured this law, including my spouse, H. Philip West, Jr., who has encouraged and assisted my work for more than fifty years. I am grateful for the courage and wisdom of all those who allowed me to share their stories in order to help people understand how coercive control works in families and at family court. I am grateful to Joel Rawson, former executive editor at The Providence Journal, who believed stories like these need to be published when he approved my column, "Overcoming Abuse" (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996). Heartfelt thanks to Donna Hughes for the vision to establish Dignity as an online forum that makes peer review available to frontline advocates and survivors. She and Eleanor Gaetan, along with the peer-reviewers who provided such helpful feedback have contributed significantly to "Beware the Mammoni. " Dignity thanks the following reviewers for their time and expertise...

show abstract

Battered mothers and children in the courts: A lawyer's view

Fischel-Wolovick

2020

Appl Psychoanal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The prevention of harm to battered mothers and children during custody and divorce litigation requires a trauma‐informed judicial approach. The existence of competing definitions of domestic violence, gender‐biased theories of parental alienation, and requirements that battered mothers co‐parent have undermined legislation intended to protect victims of domestic violence and their children. An informed judicial response to domestic violence requires mental health professionals who are able to identify the multiple patterns of abuse including physical, emotional, economic, and sexual coercively controlling behaviors, as well as the risks of post‐separation violence. The family courts' lack of transparency and limited public access has further contributed to its reliance on empirically weak gender‐biased parental alienation theories. Mental health professionals who provide interdisciplinary support to these courts must have graduate clinical education in domestic violence, child maltreatment, development, and trauma. Additional systemic changes should include neutral court watch observers to promote accountability and transparency, as well as appropriate services, to these vulnerable families.

show abstract

Mapping Gender: Shedding Empirical Light on Family Courtss Treatment of Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation

Cited by 28 publications

References 1 publication

Ideology and Rhetoric Replace Science and Reason in Some Parental Alienation Literature and Advocacy: A Critique

Ideology and Rhetoric Replace Science and Reason in Some Parental Alienation Literature and Advocacy: A Critique

Beware the Mammoni: My Search to Understand Domestic Violence in Italian-American Culture and Rhode Island's Family Court

Battered mothers and children in the courts: A lawyer's view

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About