Contributions of the Systemic Theory about Parental Alienation

Authors

  • Maria Isabel Saldanha dos Martins Coelho Psicóloga. Mestre em Psicologia pela Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR).
  • Normanda Araujo de Morais Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/ctc.2014.72.05

Abstract

Parental Alienation (AP) consists i n a group of conscious or unconscious maneuvers done by one of the parents with the purpose of pushing the other parent away from the child’s life. The current article describes the contributions from the Systemic Theory that can help comprehend a few phenomena from AP and contributes to a contextualized and complex understanding of the family processes that lead to this type of confi guration. The concepts analyzed in this article are: organization and structure from the family system; functional and nonfunctional systems; barriers and rules; repeated transitional patt erns of dysfunctional family systems; the alliances with the legal guardian; and transgeracionality. The article contributes to a broader and contextualized view of the AP through the consideration of the family system as a whole and the dysfunctional relations that the subsystems establish with each other which are at the root of the behaviors that start and maintain the AP.

Keywords: Parental Alienation, Systemic Theory, family.

Author Biographies

Maria Isabel Saldanha dos Martins Coelho, Psicóloga. Mestre em Psicologia pela Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR).

Psicóloga. Mestre em Psicologia pela Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR).

Normanda Araujo de Morais, Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR)

Possui graduação em Psicologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (2002), Mestrado em Psicologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS (2005) e Doutorado nessa mesma instituição (2009). Atualmente é Professora Adjunta do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia da Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR), onde coordena o Laboratório de Estudos dos Sistemas Complexos: casais, família e comunidade (Lesplexos).

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Published

2014-07-07

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2014): Jul-Dec

Section

Clinical Psychology and Family

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