Parental alienation — one parent turning a child against the other — is universally recognized as harmful, yet rarely punished.

Courts and evaluators acknowledge alienation in reports, but too often stop short of consequences. Studies show 20–25% of high-conflict divorces involve alienating behaviors (Harman et al., 2019), but findings of alienation seldom alter custody outcomes.

BCI believes that:

• Alienation should trigger immediate review of custody orders.
• Proven alienating parents should lose custodial time and bear therapy costs.
• Courts must recognize that alienation causes long-term trauma comparable to physical or emotional abuse.

Why this matters for children
A child taught to hate one parent internalizes that hostility. Alienation destroys trust, increases depression, and damages a child’s lifelong capacity for stable relationships. When there is no accountability, alienation flourishes.