Illinois Divorce Lawyer Blog
It’s always interesting to read the famous Illinois Supreme Court case of In re Marriage of Bates, 212 Ill. 2d 489. As a younger lawyer I was an attorney on this case, and later was subpoenaed by the trial counsel to testify in the case as an expert knowledgeable in the field of Parental Alienation studies. This case is a landmark case in the area of Parental Alienation, as Illinois recognized Parental Alienation as a factor in a child custody decision.
—-Comments from the Court—-
“E, as proponent of the PAS testimony, proffered three expert witnesses and 136 articles from peer-reviewed publications as exhibits.
Dr. R. Christopher Barden, an attorney and a psychologist licensed in Minnesota and Texas, testified that he is familiar with PAS and that he believed everyone in the social sciences field is familiar with the term. He characterized PAS as a useful and clear description of a set of symptoms or clusters, commonly seen in child custody proceedings, when one parent is actively involved in turning a child against the other parent.
Dr. Barden testified that PAS is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community. He based his opinion on his clinical experience and on his extensive perusal of peer-review publications referencing the syndrome. Peer-review publications are journals and other compendiums where research articles are reviewed for accuracy and methodology by a panel of experts in the relevant field. Dr. Barden identified several peer-reviewed articles submitted by Dr. Richard Gardner and other authors describing and authenticating PAS. Copies of these articles were admitted in evidence. In Dr. Barden’s opinion, the concept of PAS is not novel, having been first referenced in 1994 by the American Psychological Association. Although PAS is not described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM — IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association in 1994, Dr. Barden did not believe that fact indicated rejection of the syndrome, noting that another revision of the DSM is expected by 2010.
Dr. Richard Gardner, a board-certified psychiatrist and a clinical professor of child psychiatry, also testified. He referenced several books on PAS and an index of 59 articles on PAS written by his peers. He has written 13 published articles on PAS. He described PAS as a disorder arising primarily, if not exclusively, in the context of child custody disputes. It results from the combination of one parent’s programming or brainwashing a child into a campaign of denigration against the other parent, and the undue indoctrination of the child by the programing parent with his or her own inflated “contributions.” This combination, in his opinion, results in PAS. Dr. Gardner testified that PAS is generally accepted in the relevant psychiatric and psychological communities.
Dr. Robert B. Shapiro, a clinical psychologist licensed in Illinois and a member of the Board of Evaluators, used by the Du Page County circuit court to evaluate families in custody disputes, also testified that PAS was generally accepted by the relevant psychological community, observing that “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t accept it.” Dr. Shapiro himself has diagnosed PAS many times and has testified often in court on the subject.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found “that the principle of Parental Alienation Syndrome is sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field.””