Edward Kruk, president of the International Council of Shared Parenting, will discuss a four-pillar approach to reduce the potential harms of parental alienation during an informative meeting organised by Happy Parenting – Malta (For Happier Children).
During the first half of his presentation, Kruk will examine the unique features of parental alienation: what sets it apart as a form of family violence and what makes it a form of both child abuse and family violence.
During the second half, he will examine strategies for combating and eliminating parental alienation. He will here discuss the four-pillar or four-staged approach to addressing the problem, which consists of child protection intervention, prevention, treatment, and legal intervention.
Kruk says that this multifaceted approach is needed to deal with this complex social problem created largely by adversarial legal systems of family separation. Solutions need to be both individual and systemic, at both micro and macro-level interventions, he continues.
During the meeting, he will discuss:
1. the recognition of parental alienation as a specific form of family violence, warranting a criminal justice response;
2. recognition of parental alienation as a specific form of child abuse, warranting a child protection response;
3. prevention of parental alienation, and establishing shared parental responsibility as the foundation of family law; and
4. treatment of parental alienation, including best practices in regard to legal and mental health intervention with targeted parents and parent-child reunification programmes.
The event will take place at the auditorium of the Attard parish centre on May 28 between 6 and 9pm. Bookings can be made by e-mail on admin@happyparentingmalta.com or via sms on 7760 3330.
Read more about parental alienation here. For more Child articles, follow this link.