Estranged Children

The difference between an estranged child and an alienated child is that an estranged child has grown apart from the parent for reasons that are reasonable and realistic. In contrast, an alienated child is the victim of one parent’s efforts, either conscious or unintentional, to destroy the child’s relationship with the other parent. Estranged children’s feelings are justified by their experience of the separation or by their experience of that parent. These children are usually estranged as a result of:

Witnessing violence committed by that parent against the other parent
Being the victim of abuse themselves
The parents’ persistently immature and narcissistic behavior
The parents’ unduly rigid and restrictive parenting style
The parent’s own psychological or psychiatric issues

The reality is that the child’s experiences make the child’s rejection of a parent a reasonable, adaptive, and protective response to the parent’s behavior. The feelings of alienated children, however, are neither reasonable nor the result of the rejected parent’s conduct.

If your relationship with your child or children has been negatively affected by the other parent as a result of realistic estrangement, you are probably looking for a way to remedy the situation. At Stange Law Firm, PC, our lawyers can help you address cases that involve realistic estrangement. We have enhanced our knowledge and credentials in order to best represent you, and we are ready to put our skills to work in all matters involving domestic relations.

You can also read an article we have written about hearsay statements in sexual abuse cases titled: Hearsay Statements in Child Abuse Cases.

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