Parental alienation syndrome (PAS) occurs when one parent, often in response to divorce or separation, successfully manipulates a child to turn against the other (targeted) parent. In its most extreme form, children report that they despise or are frightened of the targeted parent, and refuse to have any relationship with him or her. Researchers are just beginning to study the ramifications of PAS on the child victims. In this groundbreaking book, Baker describes the long-term impact of PAS, which may include depression, divorce, substance abuse, trust issues, and alienation from one's own children. Based on a series of confidential research interviews with individuals who believe that they were child victims of PAS, the book provides an adult's perspective and voice to the experience of being manipulated as a child by one parent to turn against the other parent. By explaining the process and the meaning of the alienation for them, the interview subjects take the reader inside the world of PAS and demonstrate its life-long impact. In the first part of the book, Baker identifies and describes three patterns of parental alienation syndrome, debunking the myth that it is only perpetrated by mothers against fathers in response to post-divorce custody disputes. Drawing on attachment theory, the author describes the strategies that parents use to effectuate PAS.

Baker also highlights parallels between the tactics of cult leaders and the means by which alienating parents drive a wedge between the child and the other parent (such as demands for excessive devotion, emotional manipulation, and persuasion to heighten dependency). Next, Baker guides the reader through the process of the realization that one has been a victim of PAS, as experienced by the adult children of PAS interviewed for the book. This information could help readers (adult children, targeted parents, and clinicians) understand how to recognize PAS and the many pathways to recovery. Brief vignettes about what the targeted parents did and should have done, from the perspective of the adult children, should help parents currently alienated from a child maintain hope despite the intense rejection directed towards them. The final three chapters of the book present clinical implications and suggestions for mental health professionals working with three related populations: (1) adults who were alienated from a parent as a child due to PAS, (2) children currently alienated from a parent due to PAS, and (3) parents who are currently targeted for alienation. Many of the suggestions offered could also be of use to individuals outside the context of formal therapeutic work. Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome is a crucial examination of this often misunderstood syndrome. With practical advice for the therapist and consumer, and illuminating case studies of adult children of PAS, Bakers book is a timely and thought-provoking treatise on parental alienation syndrome.