September 30 • 8PM ET

This presentation will examine the full range of arguments against the concept of parental alienation as a form of family violence and child abuse, and provide parents and family professionals with evidence-based responses to refute these claims. The presentation will reveal popular myths relating to family violence and parental alienation, and present key findings from family violence and parental alienation research in support of the positions that family violence is not a gender-based phenomenon, and that parental alienation is both a form of family violence and a form of complex trauma affecting both target parents and children. The presentation will outline a series of recommendations related to needed changes in both professional practice and systemic and institutional reforms in the field of parental alienation. It will conclude with a discussion on points of convergence between proponents and opponents of the assertion that parental alienation is a form of domestic violence and child abuse, which can serve as a foundation for ongoing dialogue toward needed reforms.

Edward Kruk, MSW, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, where he has been on faculty for 30 years, specializing in child and family policy. His research has focused on fatherhood involvement, therapeutic family mediation, shared parenting and the best interests of children, and parental alienation as a form of family violence and child abuse. He also has over 40 years of clinical and community work experience as a professional social worker. He received his BA and MSW degrees from the University of Toronto, and his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. His professional experience also includes private practice in family mediation, a faculty appointment with the University of Calgary, family practice with Catholic Family Services in Calgary, medical social work practice with the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, school social work practice with the Metro Separate School Board in Toronto, and child protection with the Metro and Catholic Children’s Aid Societies in Toronto. He is author of “Divorce and Disengagement” (Fernwood, 1993), “Mediation and Conflict Resolution in Social Work and the Human Services” (Nelson-Hall, 1997), “Children’s Needs and Parental Responsibilities” (Fernwood, 2011), “The Equal Parent Presumption” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013), and “The Routledge International Handbook of Shared Parenting and the Best Interest of the Child” (Routledge, 2021). He has published widely in academic and professional journals, and is the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards. He has made almost 200 conference presentations across the globe over the span of his academic career, and is the inaugural President of the International Council on Shared Parenting and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service on behalf of children and families.