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The Cult of Parenthood: A Qualitative
Study of Parental Alienation
Amy J. L. Baker, Ph.D.
Abstract
Forty adults who were alienated from a parent as a child participated in a
qualitative research study about their experience. A content analysis was
conducted on the transcripts and a comparison was undertaken to identify
similarities between alienating parents and cult leaders. Results revealed that
adults whose parents alienated them from their other parent described the
alienating parent much the way former cult members describe cult leaders. The
alienating parents were described as narcissistic and requiring excessive
devotion and loyalty, especially at the expense of the targeted parent. The
alienating parents also were found to utilize many of the same emotional
manipulation and persuasion techniques cult leaders use to heighten dependency
on them. And, finally, the alienating parents seemed to benefit from the
alienation much the way cult leaders benefit from the cult: they have excessive
control, power, and adulation. Likewise, the participants reported many of the
same negative outcomes that former cult members experience such as low
self-esteem, guilt, depression, and lack of trust in themselves and others.
These findings can provide a useful framework for conceptualizing the experience
of parental alienation and should also be useful for therapists who provide
counseling and treatment to adults who experienced alienation as a child.
Full text available through
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