Dr. Richard Gardner:
"Sex Abuse Hysteria:
Salem Witch Trials Revisited''
''What I am against is the excessively moralistic and punitive reaction that many members of our society have toward pedophiles ... (going) far beyond what I consider to be the gravity of the crime.''
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
In his 1992 book, ''True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse,'' Gardner writes that pedophilia -- adults 
having sexual relations with children -- ''is a widespread and accepted practice among literally billions of people.''
Richard Gardner says,
''all of us have some pedophilia within us.''
Insight Magazine, April 1999
"Has Psychiatry Gone Psycho?"
By Kelly Patricia O'Meara
According to the developer of the theory, Richard A. Gardner, a clinical professor of child psychiatry, PAS is "a disorder of children, arising almost exclusively in child-custody disputes, in which one parent (usually the mother) programs the child to hate the other parent (usually the father)."
. . . . If a child demonstrates negative feelings toward the father, Gardner's PAS puts the blame on the mother and explains that the confusion is best remedied by increasing the child's time with the father.
When a child has been sexually abused and feels guilt about it, Gardner suggests, the child may be helped to appreciate that "sexual encounters between an adult and a child are not universally considered to be reprehensible acts.
The child might be told about other societies in which such behavior was and is considered normal."
If sexual urges continue after the abuse ends, Gardner suggests such children be encouraged to masturbate.
Gardner suggests that the molesting-father's behavior should be understood. The father "has to be helped to appreciate that, even today, [pedophilia] is a widespread and accepted practice among literally billions of people" and "he [the father] has had a certain amount of bad luck with regard to the place and time he was born with regard to social attitudes toward pedophilia."
Gardner, Richard A.,
Child Custody Litigation (1986) p.93
"At the present time, the sexually abused child is generally considered to be the victim," though the child may initiate sexual encounters by 'seducing' the adult."
Gardner, Richard A.,
True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse (1992)
"It is of interest that of all the ancient peoples it may very well be that the Jews were the only ones who were punitive toward pedophiles."
Ibid. pp.46-47
Many child advocates are "charlatans, and/or psychopaths, and/or incompetents."
Ibid. p.526
"It is _extremely_ important for therapists to appreciate that the child who has been genuinely abused may _not_ need psychotherapeutic intervention."
Ibid. p.535 
"If the mother has reacted to the abuse in a hysterical fashion, or used it as an excuse for a campaign of denigration of the father, then the therapist does well to try and 'sober her up'... Her hysterics... will contribute to the child's feeling that a heinous crime has been committed and will thereby lessen the likelihood of any kind of rapproachment with the father.
One has to do everything possible to help her put the 'crime' in proper perspective. 
She has to be helped to appreciate that in most societies in the history of the world, such behavior was ubiquitous, and this is still the case."
Ibid. p.584-585
"Of relevance here is the belief by many of these therapists that a sexual encounter between an adult and a child -- no matter how short, no matter how tender, loving, 
and non-painful -- automatically and predictably _must_ be psychologically traumatic to the child... The determinant as to whether the experience will be traumatic is the social attitude toward these encounters."
Ibid. pp.670-71
"I believe it is reasonable to say that at this time there are millions of people in the United States who are either directly accusing or supporting false sex-abuse accusations and/or are reacting in an extremely exaggerated fashion to situations in which _bona fide_ sex abuse has occurred."
Ibid. p.688
Richard Gardner in
''Sex Abuse Hysteria''
Judges ''may have repressed pedophilic impulses over which there is suppression, repression, and guilt. Inquiry into the details of the case provides voyeuristic and vicarious gratifications."
¬Ý
Unscientific Garbage¬Ý
University of Washington Professor
John Conte has described Gardner's "Sex Abuse Legitimacy Scale" as
"probably the most unscientific piece of garbage I've seen in the field in all my time. To base social policy on something as flimsy as this is exceedingly dangerous."
According to "Violence In The Family," a 1996 report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence And the Family:
The task force found that court decisions awarding an allegedly abusive father custody of his children "... may improperly rely on inaccurate and unsupported theories such as The Parental Alienation Syndrome."
Margaret Hagen, a Boston University professor of psychology and author of Whores of the Court, says
"parental alienation is just another bogus psychological theory infecting the nation's legal system."
Carol S. Bruch, Professor of Law and Chair,
Doctoral Programme in Human Developement,
University of California, Davis
Parental Alienation Syndrome:
Junk Science in Child Custody Determinations
"Possibly as a consequence of these errors and his 'tail-of-the-elephant' view, 
Gardner vastly overstates the frequency of cases in which children and custodial parents manufacture false allegations or collude to destroy the parent-child relationship.
Taken together, these assertions have the practical effect of impugning all abuse allegations, allegations that Gardner asserts are usually false in the divorce context.
Here, too, Gardner cites no evidence in support of his personal view, and the relevant literature reports the contrary, that such allegations are usually well-founded."
According to John E. B. Myers in his article,
"What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome
And Why Is It So Often Used Against Mothers?"
"Dr. Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome has not, to my knowledge, been subjected to empirical study, research, or testing. Nor to my knowledge has the syndrome been published in peer reviewed medical or scientific journals."
The American Prosecutors Research Institute in Virginia
"that Gardner's research, including PAS, has not been peer-reviewed or officially recognized by the AMA and the APA. Gardner has been able to get around the peer review process by publishing his own works. Creative Therapeutics, which published "Parental Alienation Syndrome", is Gardner's own publishing company."
¬Ý
Moneymaker
"When a fellow says it hain't the money but the principle o' the thing, it's th' money."
Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900
from New Times LA Edition
Thursday March 4, 1999
The Scarlet Letter
Since coming up with his theory, Gardner has begun self-publishing his work in a series of books, training family court evaluators and judges around the country, and testifying as an expert witness in custody cases for $500 an hour, almost exclusively for fathers.
The color of Parental Alienation Syndrome is green.
PAS is a huge moneymaker for the unethical psychologists and evaluators who diagnose it. Word travels fast among lawyers. If you are the local PASguy, every jackass attorney will know it. You will be invited into every abuse case within 100 miles. Do not wreck your reputation - never disappoint - keep those PAS reports coming and the money will follow.
cha-ching
Remember - all that a psychologist need do, is make recommendations that ensure his continued involvement.
A $5,000 case can easily become a $10,000 case - or more!
Diagnose a case of PAS just once a month and presto! - that's annually an extra $60,000 - or more!
The Oscar for the best moneymaker theory in child custody evaluations goes to ...
Parental Alienation
Syndrome
Attack The Mother
¬Ý
According to John E. B. Myers in his article,
"What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome And Why Is It So Often Used Against Mothers?"
"If you are a woman and you allege child sexual abuse, expect to be attacked with Richard Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome. Gardner's writing is popular among attorney's who represent men accused of abuse, and among some mental health professionals."
Trish Wilson
How "Parental Alienation Syndrome" is Used Against Mothers And Children Who Allege Child Sexual Abuse
PAS is very popular amongst members of the father's rights movement as well as men who have been charged with both child abuse and domestic violence.
Fathers' rights groups equate "lack of substantiation" with "lying."
If she alleged abuse, she could be slapped with "Parental Alienation Syndrome" and lose custody of her children -- which ultimately was the final outcome. If she ignored the abuse, she was told by a crisis intervention counselor that she could be prosecuted for failure to protect.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
Judith Reisman, president of the Institute for Media Education and author of Kinsey, Crimes and Consequences, has another view. "Anyone who thinks and says that incest can be avoided if the mother has better sex with the father may clinically be defined as a psychopath and needs help." She adds that "buying a vibrator is not going to make a happy home. Obviously he has his own demons to deal with."
Robin Yeamans, California attorney
"Once a mother is called an alienator, police are informed, social workers are informed, and everything she says from then on counts for nothing."
Yeamans, who knows dozens of women who have lost their children in alienation cases, adds, "This is the new scarlet letter."
PAS Made Him Do It
¬Ýfrom New Times LA Edition
Thursday March 4, 1999
The Scarlet Letter
In a 1988 custody case in Maryland, Gardner testified that physicist Marc Friedlander should receive temporary custody of his two sons because his wife, Zitta, also a physicist, was aparental alienator who had interfered with her husband's visitation rights. While the custody battle was unfolding, Friedlander shot his wife 13 times as she walked to her car after work. During Friedlander's murder trial, Gardner testified that Zitta Friedlander's alienating behavior had made her husband psychotic. The jury didn't buy Gardner's temporary insanity argument, though, and Friedlander was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Dr. Richard Gardner in New Jersey
by Carol S. Bruch
Professor of Law and Chair,
Doctoral Programme in Human Developement,
University of California, Davis
"Although Dr. Gardner sometimes states that his analysis does not apply to cases of actual abuse, the focus of his attention is directed at discerning whether the beloved parent and child are lying, not whether the target parent is untruthful or has behaved in a way that might explain the child's aversion."
Bruch (p. 528-529)
"Two examples are his efforts to distinguish true from false allegations and his blanket advice to judges that they should refrain from taking abuse allegations seriously, even when supported by a therapist who has seen the child."
Bruch (p. 529, footnote 6)
"First, Gardner confounds a child's developmentally related reaction to divorce and high parental conflict (including violence) with psychosis."
Bruch (page 530)
"Worse yet, if therapists agree that danger exists, Gardner asserts that they are almost always man-hating women who have entered into a folie-ˆÝ-trois with the complaining child and concerned parent."
Bruch (p. 532)
"In sum, children's reluctance or refusal to visit noncustodial parents can probably be better explained without resorting to Gardner's theory. Studies that followed families over several years, for example, report that visits may cease or be resisted when a variety of reasons cause custodial parents and children to be angry or uncomfortable with the other parent."
Bruch (p. 534)
"First, Gardner is broadly (but mistakenly) believed to be a full professor at a prestigious university."
Bruch (p. 534-535)
"Because this aura of expertise accompanies his work, few suspect that it is mostly self-published."
Bruch (page 535)
". . . receives referrals from the websites of fathers' organizations, and provides packaged continuing education courses for professionals."
Bruch (p. 535-536)
"Finally, he often inaccurately represents or suggests that PAS is consistent with or endorsed by the accepted work of others."
Bruch (p. 536)
"...whenever child sexual abuse allegations or disrupted visitation patterns arise in the United States, one must now be prepared to confront a claim asserting that PAS is at work, not abuse or other difficulties."
Bruch (page 537)
"Following considerable scientific criticism, Gardner withdrew the test he had constructed to determine whether sexual abuse had taken place."
Bruch (p. 539)
Richard Gardner's Favorite
JUDGES
Richard Gardner penned a response to Carol S. Bruch's study of him and his ridiculous, debunked PAS theory. Gardner claimed that there are 66 PAS judges in the United States. This is hard to verify because Gardner does not name the moron 66. 
Geographic PAS Warning
If you are a protective parent or abused child living in any of the following American states, Canadian provinces or five other countries, you may have to contend with a twisted legal system infected with the debunked PAS theory. Over the past two decades, Parental Alienation Syndrome has had legal success to varying degrees in the following regions:
Known PAS States in the USA - 23
¬ÝAlabama
¬ÝFlorida
¬ÝNevada
¬ÝTexas
¬ÝAlaska
¬ÝIllinois
¬ÝNew Hampshire
¬ÝVirginia
¬ÝArkansas
¬ÝIndiana
¬ÝNew Jersey
¬ÝWashington
¬ÝCalifornia
¬ÝIowa
¬ÝNew York
¬ÝWisconsin
¬ÝColorado
¬ÝLouisiana
¬ÝOhio
¬ÝWyoming
¬ÝConnecticut
¬ÝMichigan
¬ÝPennsylvania
¬Ý
Known PAS Provinces
in Canada - 7
Known PAS Countries Elsewhere - 5
¬Ý
¬Ý
¬ÝAlberta
¬ÝAustralia
¬ÝBritish Columbia
¬ÝGermany
¬ÝNew Brunswick
¬ÝGreat Britain
¬ÝNew Foundland
¬ÝIsrael
¬ÝNova Scotia
¬ÝSwitzerland
¬ÝOntario
¬Ý
¬ÝQuebec
¬Ý
Lawyers everywhere know of the debunked PAS theory and many attempt to use it in defense of accused clients. Some lawyers shamelessly operate under a "whatever it takes" motto. And of course all it takes is one whacked judge for your region to make the list.
If you are one of the judges who has accepted PAS into your courtroom, then you have allowed a theory concocted by a man so mentally unbalanced that he would later commit suicide by thrusting a butcher's knife into his heart and who once also wrote,
''What I am against is the excessively moralistic and punitive reaction that many members of our society have toward pedophiles ... (going) far beyond what I consider to be the gravity of the crime.''
Sweet Letters & Sour Motives
Imagine that someone steals your car?
And then the thief writes you a very nice letter offering to give you a lift in your stolen car? 
The thief just wants to be friends. That would be incredible, right?
When you decline and say you just want your goddamn car back, the thief criticizes you for not being very nice and calls you rude.
Indeed, the thief shows others copies of his letters to prove how nice he has been to you. And perhaps your impolite responses.
This is like a PAS game.
Abusers play this game very well.
Instead of a car, the Abuser steals a child's innocence and scars him for life. And then expects the accusing parent to be a nice, civil and cooperative co-parent.
Any accusing parent stung by PAS theory can tell you all about "the abuser's letters". 
So many Abusers do this, that it is hard to imagine that they have not been advised to do so. The purpose of the letters are to make the accusing parent appear uncooperative - and in Dr. Richard Gardner's PAS world, the uncooperative parent is to be punished.
The Abuser is not really writing to the accusing parent, but rather, for the benefit of a PAS Judge or evaluator. 
The Abuser has almost no expectation that the accusing parent will receive the letters well. The Abuser knows that the accusing parent regards him as sick and wrong.
The Abuser hopes to create a mistake in the accusing parent's response, or non-response, or to simply show the letters one day to a PAS Judge or evaluator. The Abuser hopes with the letters to box in the accusing parent. 
If the accusing parent accidentally extends to the Abuser a courtesy that is too generous, then it undermines the allegations of abuse. If the accusing parent isn't cooperative at all, then according to Gardner, that parent cannot be a reliable co-parent and custody therefore should go to the Abuser.
It's so very easy to prove that the accusing parent, angry about the abuse of their child, isn't particularly fond of the parent they believe to have committed that abuse. While right thinking people (and right thinking judges) can easily understand that and believe it to be only natural, PAS Judges and evaluators welcome the abuser's letters. In their PAS eyes, it is proof of recalcitrance.
Welcome to the PAS letters game.Can I give you a lift?
Did Richard Gardner Also Cause 16 year old Nathan Grieco's Suicide?
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