Den här sidan startades 17 juni 2026 och kommer säkert att vara "under construction" i minst några månader.

Om Dr. Richard Alan Gardner (1931-2003)

(About Richard Alan Gardner, M.D.)

Motståndare till PA-begreppet har smutskastat Richard Gardner ända sedan han formulerade Parental Alienation Syndrome genom ett par artiklar år 1985 och år 1987.  Smutskastning och förvrängning av vad Gardner sagt och stod för pågår fortfarande och inte minst i Sverige - trots att de flesta missförståenden och felaktigheterna reddes ut redan under 1990-talet.

Föräldraalienation är genom amerikanska och engelska rättsprocesser kända sedan början av 1800-talet. Albert Einstein är den man känner till som först (ca 1914-16), i sammanhanget vårdnadstvister etc, använde ordet "alienation". Se mer om detta på ompas historiesida.

Bland annat diskuterades under 1990-talet huruvida PA(S) var en klinisk personlighetsstörning. De senaste 25 åren av systematisk forskning har klarlagt att PA(S) inte är en diagnos utan istället ett kluster av ett tiotal personlighetsstör-ningar som alla finns i psykiatrimanualen DSM-5. Därför finns sedan länge begreppet PA i DSM-5 utan att orden "parental alienation" nämns: PA handlar om en sjuklig familjedynamik och sådana har alltså inte egna diagnoskoder.

Richard Gardner var läkare, barnpsykiater och psykoanalytiker. Han anslöts till medicinska fakulteten vid Columbia Medical School 1963. 1983 utnämndes han där som professor med inriktningen barnpsykiatri. Han var den första vid avdelningen för barnpsykiatri som utnämnts till professor.

Under tiden efter Gardners första publikationer (1985-87) om PAS kom han att både fördjupa och revidera sin syn på fenomenet. Därför är en del av kritiken som riktats mot hans första arbeten inte representativ. Exempelvis rörde den dominerande mer-parten av hans tidiga observationer där mammor stod för alienerande beteende - i början på 1990-talet skrev han att 90 % av de alienerande föräldrarna var mammor (ungefär samma budskap som Ira Turkat också kom med i sin publikation från 1993). Säkert var observationerna korrekta men både Turkat och Gardner kom successivt att notera att allt fler pappor också stod för ett alienerande beteende (senare har man förstått att vad det handlar om är vem av föräldrarna som har störst möjlighet att vara med barnen och därmed manipulera dem). Sådana här tidiga observationer som fel-tolkades korrigerades alltså genom fler observationer inklusive systematisk forskning.

Det bör betonas att Gardner hade sitt fokus på barnens symptom och beteenden. Detta är endast en del av den sjukliga familjedynamiken. Ser man till alla forskare m fl som studerade fenomenet så hade de delvis fokus på olika aspekter och lyfte därför fram en mer fullständig bild av den sjukliga familjedynamiken (J. Wallerstein & J. Kelly, 1976, 1980; L. Kopetski, 1991; H. Wakefield & R. Underwager, 1990; S. Clawar & B. Rivlin, 1991; I. Turkat 1993, 1994).

I Gardners bok "The Parental Alienation Syndrome" (1992) diskuterar han i introdu-ktionen (sid xv-xviii) särskilt orden brainwashing respektive programming - dels hur ordens innebörd och användning skiljer sig åt och särskilt att orden inte kan användas på svårt alienerade (dvs PAS-) barn. Anledningen är att vid svår alienation kommer barnen att själva bidra till och förstärka alienationsprocessen (min rödmarkering):
"At this point I will discuss the pathogenesis of this disorder, with particular emphasis on three contributing factors: parental “brainwashing,” situational factors, and the child’s own contri-butions." (Gardner 1985).

Här i ligger alltså en av de båda huvudförklaringarna till att Gardner införde ordet syndrom. Den andra förklaringen handlar om det specifika med en grundorsak (aliena-torn) som förklaring till ett flertal återkommande symptom/beteenden hos barnen (ungefär som med genetikens pleiotropi). Det är troligt att Gardner mer noga tog upp orden brainwashing och programming som respons på boken "Children held hostage: Dealing with programmed and brainwashed children (Clavar & Rivlin, 1991). I den senare boken diskuteras begreppen brainwashing respektive programming i kapitel 1 (sid 1-14) men även Gardner använde begreppen i PAS-publikationen från 1985.

Många av de misrepresentationer och felaktigheter som framförts om Gardners PAS-begrepp bemöts nedan. De flesta av dessa kommer från Gardner själv och återfinns i hans egna referenser i listan nedan (Gardner 1998 och 1999 t ex), men också av Demosthenos Lorandos och William Bernet m fl (referenslistan kommer att kompletteras på dessa punkter).

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Felaktiga påståenden och/eller missförstånd om Richard Gardner och Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)

Missförstånd: "Gardner har en negativ vinkling mot kvinnor".

"This cannot be reasonably substantiated by anything I have ever written, lectured on, or testified to in a court of law. With regard to the alleged gender bias associated with the parental alienation syndrome, the facts are that I will generally recommend that PAS-inducing mothers in both the mild and moderate categories retain primary custody. When PAS is severe, or rapidly approaching the severe level, and the mother is the primary promulgator, then I recommend a change of custody. But this represents only a small percentage of cases. And these are exactly the recommendations I make in my book The Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)."

Missförstånd: "Gardner är en förespråkare för mäns rättigheter"

"I have never been a member of any Mens Rights Groups. In fact, I have never been a member of any advocacy group whatsoever. Many men in mens rights groups are very pleased with me because I played an important role in bringing to public attention the false sex-abuse accusation in the context of child-custody disputes and testified in support of innocent men in this category. However, in the same groups are many men who are critical of me because they claim I do not generally recommend custodial change for mothers who have induced mild and moderate levels of PAS in their children. As mentioned, I generally reserve such a recommendation for the relatively small percentage of mothers who have produced very formidable levels of moderate PAS and/or severe levels of PAS."

Missförstånd: "Gardner vittnar mest till fördel för män"

"There is absolutely no basis for this myth. I have testified on behalf of women who have been victimized by PAS-inducing husbands, and I have testified on behalf of men whose wives are PAS inducers. In fact, in the last few years, the number of PAS-inducing men against whom I have testified has increased formidably, to the point where I see the ratio now to be about 50/50.
Anm. Citatet kommer från Gardner (1999)."

Felaktigt påstående: "Gardners arbete har bidragit till hysterin kring sexövergrepp i det här landet" (USA alltså)

Gardners faktasvar på detta:

"In a way, this is a compliment, because it credits me with the power to create a natio-nal hysteria that did not exist before my publications. Describing a phenomenon does not mean that I created it. My book Sex Abuse Hysteria: Salem Witch Trials Revisited was published in 1991, at least six or seven years after the hysteria began. (The reader may recall that the McMartin accusations surfaced in 1983 and the Kelly Michaels accusations in 1988.) Obviously, the sex-abuse hysteria phenomenon was well under way before the publication of my book."
Kommentar till de som inte känner till McMartinfallet (gällde en förskola i Kalifornien 1983-1990) respek-tive Kelly Michaelsfallet: Googla och läs själva - McMartinfallet var den mest extrema masshysteri man kan tänka sig. Särskilt bakgrunden till barnens "vittnesmål" är skrämmande (för att inte tala om alla vuxna som trodde på de otäcka myterna). Judy Johnson, som initierat paniken diagnostice-rades med paranoid schizofreni, hon avled emellertid redan år 1986. Två filmer producerades base-rade på detta hemska fall - den första av dessa filmer, från 1995, "Indictment: The McMartin Trial", finns i sin helhet på YouTube.

Kelly Michaelsfallet (1985-1993) rörde ett dagis i New Jersey - en massa bisarra påståenden mm - och med barn inblandade som vittnen... Mer generellt kan de här och fler liknande fall under ungefär samma tid sägas ha förorsakat en obefogad sexualhysteri (som rörde barn) och moralpanik i USA under 1980- och 1990-talet.

Felaktigt påstående: "Dr. Gardners intresse för vårdnadstvister (om barn) har antagligen sin grund i att han själv varit involverad i en sådan dispyt."
"I have never been involved in a child-custody dispute involving my children."

Felaktigt påstående: "Gardner hade inte publicerat några peer-reviewartiklar"
Korrekt är att Gardner publierat cirka 150 artiklar av vilka 85 genomgått en peer-reviewgranskning.

Syndrombeteckningen samt diagnosen.

"Gardner var styrelsemedlem i the Executive Board of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMS Foundation)".
Korrekt är att Gardner aldrig var medlem i nämnda styrelse. Så här skrev Gardner om detta:

"I am certainly sympathetic to the Foundations position with regard to the belated accusa-tions of sex abuse by women who have been led by others to believe they were abused in childhood when there is absolutely no evidence for it. Such sympathy does not preclude my recognition of the fact that bona fide sex abuse is a widespread phenomenon and that there are even women who may have limited recollection of their abuses. I am in agreement with the Foundations position that psychotherapy has been oversold to the public, and it is a far less scientific method of treatment than generally believed. However, I believe that the Foundations position on psychotherapy is too stringent and goes to the point that no form of psychotherapy is considered efficacious."

Referenser (kronologisk ordning)

Beträffande Gardners böcker i listan nedan utgör den ett urval (av hans mer än 40 publicerade böcker) som kan anses särskilt intressanta ur ett PA-perspektiv.

Böcker, och bokkapitel
(Books and book chapters)

Richard Gardner as book author

Richard A. Gardner, Therapeutic Communication with Children: The Mutual Storytelling Technique. Science House, 1971:1-970.
Richard A. Gardner, The boys and girls book about divorce. Bantam Books, 1971:1-157.

Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapy with Children of Divorce. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1976:1-534.
Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapy with Children of Divorce. Jason Aronson Publishers, 1977:1-. (new edition 1991?)
Richard A. Gardner, Understanding Children. Jason Aronson Inc. Publishers, 1977:1-264.

Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapeutic Approaches to the Resistant Child. Jason Aronson, Inc., 1977:1-352. (Även 1990 & 1993??)
Richard A. Gardner, Mutual Storytelling Technique:.... Fideli Publishing, 1977

Richard A. Gardner, Dr. Gardner's Fairy Tales for Today's Children. Creative Therapeutics, 1978:1-96.    ISBN978-0-933812-02-4.
Richard A. Gardner, Understanding Children: A parents guide to child rearing. Creative Therapeutics, 1979:1-258.
Richard A. Gardner, Family Evaluation in Child Custody Litigation. Creative Therapeutics, 1982:1-360.

Richard A. Gardner, The boys and girls book about stepfamilies. Bantam Books, 1983.

ISBN-10  0-553-23630-X     ISBN-13 ‏ ‎978-0553236309.

Richard A. Gardner, Separation Anxiety Disorder: Psychodynamics and Psychotherapy.  Cresskill, New Jersey: Creative Therapeutics, 1985:1-180.

Richard A. Gardner, Child Custody Litigation: A Guide for Parents and Mental Health Professionals. Cresskill , New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1986:1-385.

Richard A. Gardner, The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Paper presented for The Ninth Annual Herschfeld Lecture, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Paterson, New Jersey, June 11, 1986.
Richard A. Gardner, The Psychotherapeutic Techniques of Richard A. Gardner. Creative Therapeutics, 1986:1-893.

Richard A. Gardner, The parental alienation syndrome and the differentiation between fab-ricated and genuine child sex abuse, Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1987:1-314.
ISBN 0-933812-17-5.

Richard A. Gardner, Clinical evaluation of alleged child sex abuse in custody disputes. In

P.A. Keller & S.R. Heyman (Eds). Innovations in Clinical Practice, Vol. 7. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange, Inc., 1988:61-76.

Richard A. Gardner, The parents book about divorce. Creative Therapeutics, 1982, 1991?:1-416.

Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapy with children of divorce. Jason Aronson, Inc., 1991:1-592.
Richard A. Gardner, Sex Abuse Hysteria: Salem Witch Trials Revisited. Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1991:1-150.

ISBN 978-0-933812-22-2. 

Richard A. Gardner, The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1992:1-348.

Richard A. Gardner, True and false accusations of child sex abuse. Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1992:1-748.
Richard A. Gardner, The Psychotherapeutic Techniques of Richard A. Gardner (revised). Creative Therapeutics, 1992:1-937.
Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapy with Children of Divorce. Jason Aronson Publishers, 1993:1-339.

Richard A. Gardner, Protocols for the Sex-Abuse Evaluation. Creative Therapeutics, 1995.    ISBN 978-0-933812-38-3.

Richard A. Gardner, Psychotherapy with Sex-Abuse Victims: True, False, and Hysterical. Creative Therapeutics, 1996:1-544.      ISBN 10: ‎0933812418        ISBN 13: 978-0-933812-41-3.
Richard A. Gardner, Dream Analysis in Psychotherapy. Creative Therapeutics, 1996:1-303.
ISBN  978-0933812369.

Richard A. Gardner, The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Guide for Mental Health and Legal Professionals. Cresskill, NJ, Creative Therapeutics, 1998:1-440.

ISBN 978-0-933812-42-0.

Richard A. Gardner, The Girls and Boys Book About Good and Bad Behavior. Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, 1999:1-221.

Richard A. Gardner, Sex-Abuse Trauma?: Or Trauma from Other Sources? Cresskill, New Jersey, Creative Therapeutics, Inc., 2001:1-433.       ISBN 978-0-933812-47-5.

Richard A. Gardner, Therapeutic Interventions for Children with Parental Alienation Syndrome. Creative Therapeutics, Inc., 2001:1-445.   ISBN 978-0933812468.
Richard A. Gardner, Sex Abuse Trauma?: Or Trauma from Other Sources? Creative Therapeutics, 2002:1-341.   ISBN  9780933812475.

Richard A. Gardner, The Psychotherapeutic Use of the Talking, Feeling, & Doing Game and Other Projective Techniques Book. Childswork/Childsplay, 2004:1-297.

ISBN ‎978-1588150639.

THE INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: Conceptual, Clinical and Legal Considerations (Richard A. Gardner M.D., S. Richard Sauber Ph.D. & Demosthenes Lorandos Ph.D., J.D. Eds.), Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., 2006:1-458.

Pages v-vi in the beginning of this book is "Dedicated to Richard A. Gardner, M.D." by Dr. Richard A. Warshak. This text includes: "... For most of his professional career, Dr. Gardner enjoyed the reputation and stature appropriate to a man of his achievements and innovations. Then he wrote about Parental Alienation Syndrome and about sex abuse allegations. He was one of the first to say publicly that sometimes children do lie and that we should not automatically accept all allegations of abuse as true. As a result of this work, Dr. Gardner was attacked, smeared, and vilified. In their attempt to alienate audiences from Dr. Gardner’s work, his critics used the same tactics as do parents who demonize a parent or grandparent in an effort to poison children’s affection and respect.
None of this stopped Dr. Gardner. He set an inspiring example of a talented and courageous man willing to walk new and difficult paths and defend unpopular stands with conviction, strength, and integrity. I am reminded of the words of Theodore Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; . . . who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
No one ever accused Richard Gardner of being timid. He was in the arena his entire professional life, to the very end passionately, eagerly, and tirelessly sharing his knowledge and insights. I spoke to him two nights before his death. His terrible pain did not keep him from expressing great enthusiasm and excitement about his latest project...."

Book authors besides Richard Gardner

Stanley S. Clawar & Brynne V. Rivlin, Children Held Hostage: Dealing with Programmed and Brainwashed Children, Presenting a Case, and Crafting Solutions. American Bar Association, 1991:1-197.

Linda Gottlieb, "Definition of the parental alienation syndrome": Chapter 1 in The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Family Therapy and Collaborative Systems Approach to Amelioration, Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd., 2012:3-16.

Parental Alienation: Science and Law, Demosthenes Lorandos & William Bernet (Eds.), Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., 2020:18-19, 34-35, 378-379.

Artiklar

Richard A. Gardner, Recent trends in divorce and custody litigation. Academy Forum, Vol. 29(2), 1985:3-7.

Richard A. Gardner,  Judges interviewing children in custody/visitation litigation. New Jersey Family Lawyer, Vol. VII(2), Aug/Sept 1987:1-26.Richard A. Gardner, Custody disputes fueling "parental alienation syndrome". Family Practice News, Vol. 20(24), December 15-31 1990:7-8.

Richard A. Gardner, Legal and psychotherapeutic approaches to the three types of parental alienation syndrome families: when psychiatry and the law join forces. Court Review, Vol. 28(l), 1991:14-21.

Richard A. Gardner, Revising the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act: Our best hope for dealing with sex-abuse hysteria in the United States. Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, 5(1), 1993:25-27.

Richard A. Gardner, The Detrimental Effects on Women of the Gender Egalitarianism of Child-Custody Dispute Resolution Guidelines. Academy Forum (The American Academy of Psychoanalysis), Vol. 38(1-2), Spring/Summer 1994:10-13.

Richard A.Gardner, Recommendations for Dealing with Parents who Induce a Parental Alienation Syndrome in Their Children, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Vol. 28(3/4), 1998:1-23.
Richard A. Gardner, Letter to the Editor. Child Maltreatment, Vol. 3(4), 1998:309-312.
Anm. Detta är ett svar på Kathleen Fallers osakliga kritik av PA(S)-begreppet.

Richard A. Gardner, Differentiating between parental alienation syndrome and bona fide abuse-neglect. The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 27(2), 1999:97-107.
Richard A. Gardner, Misperceptions versus facts about Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. Canadian Children's Rights Council [Conseil canadien des droits des enfants], 19 June, 1999.

Richard A. Gardner, Family therapy of the moderate type of parental alienation syndrome. The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 27(3), 1999:195-212.

Richard A. Gardner, Should courts order PAS children to visit/reside with the alienated parent? A Follow-Up Study. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Vol. 19(3), 2001:60-106.

Richard A. Gardner, The empowerment of children in the development of parental alienation syndrome. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 20(2), 2002:5-29.

Richard A. Gardner, Denial of the Parental Alienation Syndrome Also Harms Women. The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 30(3), 2002:191-202.

Richard A. Gardner, Does DSM-IV Have Equivalents for the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) Diagnosis? The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 31(1), 2003:1-21.

Richard A. Gardner, The judiciary's role in the etiology, symptom development, and treatment of the parental alienation syndrome (PAS). American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Vol. 21(1), 2003:39-64.

Richard A. Gardner, The Relationship Between the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and the False Memory Syndrome (FMS). The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 32(2), 2004:79-99.

Richard A. Gardner , Commentary on Kelly and Johnston's "The Alienated Child: A Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome". Family Court Review, Vol. 42(4), 2004:611-621.

Article authors besides Richard Gardner

P.A. Keller & S.R. Heyman (Eds). Innovations in Clinical Practice, Vol. 7. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange, Inc., 1988:61-76.

Joan B. Kelly and Janet R. Johnston, The Alienated Child: A Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome. Family Court Review, Vol. 39(3), 2001:249-266.
Anm. Artikeln har fått ordentlig kritik av R. Warshak (2001), L. Gottlieb (2012) & R. Gardner (2002, 2004).

Richard A. Warshak, Misdiagnosis of Parental Alienation Syndrome. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 20(2), 2002:31-52.

Ron Meister, Review of Therapeutic Interventions for Children with Parental Alienation Syndrome. (Book Review). The American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 31(4), 2003:321-324.

Kommentar:Denna recensions rubrik är titeln på Richard Gardners bok från 2001 (Cresskill, NJ, Creative Therapeutics, Inc, 433 sidor).

Janet R. Johnston & Joan B. Kelly, Rejoinder to Gardner's "Commentary on Kelly and Johnston's 'TheAlienated Child: A Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome'". Family Court Review, Vol. 42(4), 2004:622-628.
Richard A. Warshak, Dedication to Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. American Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 32(2), 2004:77-78.

Richard A. Warshak, Ten parental alienation fallacies that compromise decisions in court and in therapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol. 46(4), 2015:235-249.

William Bernet & Shenmeng Xu, Scholary rumors: Citation analysis of vast misinformation regarding parental alienation theory. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Vol. 41(5), 2023:231-245.