Some individuals may feel disheartened when another parent obtains primary custody of their kids. Child custody proceedings can often be difficult, and Utah parents may find themselves having to make do with the terms of the agreements. However, the situation could be made worse if a parent attempts to alienate the other parent.
While a parent with primary or sole custody will certainly spend more time with the kids and may have more say in certain decisions, the other parent often still has a role in the children’s lives. When parental alienation occurs, the custodial parent may take abusive measures to keep the children from the other parent and even convince the kids that they do not want the other parent around. This manipulation can have harmful effects and present itself in various ways.
The other parent may attempt to make him or herself seem more important to the children than the noncustodial parent. He or she may even constantly say that the alienated parent cannot do anything right. Children can often display signs that parental alienation has occurred, such as no longer wanting a parent to attend activities or school-related functions. In fact, the children may have been manipulated in such a way that they think these ideas are their own, but the custodial parent may have planted the seeds to reach this outcome.
Parental alienation can have lasting harmful effects on families. Children facing constant manipulation may even later develop personality disorders. If Utah parents feel that this type of action is taking place, they may want to find out information on how they could change their child custody terms or take other action to prevent further harm to their children.
Source: goodmenproject.com, “9 Warning Signs of Parental Alienation and What To Do About Them“, May 7, 2018