Parental alienation syndrome (abbreviated as PAS) is term coined by Richard A. Gardner in the early 1980s to refer to what he describes as a disorder in which a child, on an ongoing basis, belittles and insults one parent without justification, due to a combination of factors, including indoctrination by the other parent (almost exclusively as part of a child custody dispute) and the child’s own attempts to denigrate the target parent. Gardner introduced the term in a 1985 paper, describing a cluster of symptoms he had observed during the early 1980s.
Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services
ABP World Group - Parental Abduction Recovery & Kidnapping Recovery 
Being a parent of 3 abducted children who were taken to Norway, I have first hand experience of PAS. Far more exposure on this subject is needed especially for parents involved in abduction or custody cases. When a child is cut off over a long period of time from the parent they have spent most of their life with and are only in the company of the other parent, it is natural that a child’s loyalty will often shift to whom they are with and that parent therefore gains extensive control over the child, often to such a great extent that it becomes easy to manipulate the child making the child believe they are only protecting them. Then these so called “experts” come along later in the case, yet but most of these so called “experts”, namely psychologists/psychiatrists, people who are given great power in these cases in the Courts, fail to even consider this syndrome in the child, preferring to base their reports on hearsay and assumption. This syndrome is a common reaction in abducted children especially, and PAS should be the first thing that is targeted in the reactions of children. Many so called “experts” fail in their duty to recognize this syndrome even when it is obvious. One can only be called an “expert” if one is. Sadly, the reality is that most of these “experts” do not deserve such titles!