Even When You Win You Lose: Targeted Parents' Perceptions of Their Attorneys

Abstract

A survey was conducted of adults who self-reported being targets of parental alienation. Two research questions were addressed: (1) what proportion reported experiencing their attorneys as caring, competent, diligent, communicative, and providing advice regarding interactions with other professionals on the case, and (2) to what degree was the most recent primary attorney perceived to be helpful and competent by these same standards? 150 individuals were randomly selected from a database of people who had personally contacted the author regarding parental alienation (with the assumption that some e-mails would no longer be valid and that some of the individuals would not be targeted parents, which was true for 34). Of 116 possible responses, 76 surveys were returned, resulting in a response rate of 66%. Responses to the survey revealed almost uniformly negative views of attorneys, with several areas being particularly troubling. These results offer several concrete ways in which attorneys and their targeted parent clients can work together better.

Notes

These parents will be referred to as targeted parents but no independent verification was undertaken.

Although originally people known to be in Canada were excluded, several of the participants were later found out to be in Canada and their surveys were ultimately included in the analyses with the assumption that their experiences would be relevant.

Based on additional comments on the survey and/or personal communication.