Alec Baldwin’s “Apology” and the Spread of Mythology
The Battered Women’s Justice Project has focused attention at our advocacy conferences on the influence of the late Richard Gardner, who invented a syndrome he called “parental alienation.” Now that Alec Baldwin (who was accused by former wife Kim Basinger of physical and emotional abuse) has used the term to excuse his emotional abuse of his daughter, journalists like Gail Rosenblum are furthering the spread of this junk science in her recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Relationships: Separate, and not equal.” Her spin on Baldwin’s qualified apology reinforces the belief that men’s abuse towards their partners and children is not their responsibility but instead the fault of their victims. Regardless of the pain and frustration Baldwin felt, he alone bears responsibility for his horrible words, and ironically, if he believes the child has no control over her situation, his outburst against her is even more unreasonable and cruel.
Blaming “parental alienation” shifts the focus away from Baldwin’s choice – a hurtful tirade – and onto the imagined behavior of his child’s mother, suggesting she caused the child to reject him. This focus is indeed widespread and unfortunate. Rosenblum failed to mention that Richard Gardner, the originator of these buzz words, self-published his work, and the American Psychological Association has found it lacking in scientific evidence. In addition, even Gardner himself said “parental alienation” was not at issue when actual abuse was present. Just maybe an eleven year old child has her own reasons to reject her father.
The truth is that men who batter their partners hurt their children as well. The damage can be long-lasting. Men who have abused their partners can heal some of the damage they have inflicted on their children by working to establish a respectful co-parenting relationship, but there is little incentive to do that when men can gain access to their children by accusing mothers of alienation.
The widespread belief that women falsely accuse men of abuse to get an advantage in custody disputes persists in Family Court despite research that’s shown this to be rare. Linking to this persistent false belief, concepts like “parental alienation” evoke a powerful anti-mother frame that’s become embedded in the landscape in which custody is litigated.
BWJP Advocacy Department, May 2007 |
