Children Held Hostage - Stanley S. Clawar, PhD

[BPDFamily]

Children Held Hostage: Dealing With Programmed and Brainwashed Children Author: Stanley S. Clawar, PhD, and Brynne Valerie Rivlin Publisher: American Bar Association (June 25, 2003) Paperback: 208 pages ISBN-10: 0897076281 ISBN-13: 978-0897076289

Book Description
It’s a terrible fact: custody disputes often devolve into guerilla warfare, in which the child is subverted by one parent and turned as a weapon against the other. Children Held Hostage equips the reader with an understanding and practical direction needed to protect the child and the targeted parent from the results of parental alienation.

This book provides an objective method for establishing that a child has been brainwashed by one parent against another. It is based on a ten-year study of 700 cases in the authors' counseling and evaluative work with children of divorced couples.

The chapters include -- The eight stages of programming and brainwashing: what happens during each stage, the various players and their targets -- Identifying brainwashing techniques: 12 brainwashing syndromes – how they work and strategies for dealing with them -- Uncovering motives and strategies: identifying the driving force – the manipulator’s purpose, rationale, and tactics -- Interviewing children: what to listen for, the questions to ask, and a chart of childrens’ typical statements and what they indicate about the presence of brainwashing -- Determining the type, extent, and degree of social-psychological impact on the child, incuding diagnostic demonstrations and clues -- Intervention: countering the destructive effects on the child – the techniques and methods, whit their risks and limitations


About the Author
Stanley S. Clawar, PhD is an Associate Professor at Rosemont College, an Adjunctive Staff Member of Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry (Fort Washington, PA), and Director of Walden Counseling and Therapy Center in Bryn Mawr, PA. He is a Certified Clinical Sociologist, Sex Therapist, Sex Educator, Family Mediator, and Hypnotherapist.
Dr. Clawar is the author of dozens of articles that have appeared in numerous journals. His most recent book is You and Your Clients , published by the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association.
Dr. Clawar is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities Award for College Teachers. He has served as Scholar-in-Residence for the United Jewish Appeal. He has appeared on radio and television shows. He has served as an educational and clinical consultant to hospitals and state agencies and has served as consultant to various industries. Dr. Clawar has served as an evaluator, witness, therapist, mediator, friend of the court, and consultant on approximately 1,000 cases involving domestic relations issues.

Brynne Valerie Rivlin is a licensed clinical social worker practicing individual, child, and family therapy at Walden Counseling and Therapy Center in Bryn Mawr, PA. She has worked within the areas of separation, divorce, single parenting, reconciliation, and remarriage. Additionally, she has consulted on and performed over 1,000 custody evaluations and has provided testimony both in and out of state. She has been a Senior Family Conciliator for the Superior Court of Los Angeles. Ms. Rivlin has presented research for bar associations and professional organizations at seminars and workshops across the country on a variety of topics. She has appeared on television talk shows, discussing topics concerning the family, and has also authored popular and professional articles and tapes. Ms. Rivlin often provides book reviews for the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.

[rps67]

I read this book soon after reading ":)ivorce Poison" and it is far different, although it covers the same topic. In contrast to the friendly, casual style of ":)ivorce Poison," this book reads more like a textbook.

"Children Held Hostage" goes into much more detail about programming, the motivation behind it, and treatment than ":)ivorce Poison." I think this is a good book for someone who wants to understand more about alienation and IMO it should required reading for therapists who treat kids that may be dealing with alienation.

This is an expensive book for its size -- my first reaction upon receiving it from Amazon was "That's it?" The small type is off-putting unless the reader is motivated; this is not a book that you can highlight and hand to your lawyer to read (unless your lawyer has a lot of free time on his or her hands).

As a writer, I would prefer that this book be re-worked to be more easily understood by the lay-person. I found it quite dry and somewhat boring at times, but I find the same with most articles I read.

Even though I listed more criticisms than praise, I would highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about parental alienation. 

[pessim-optimist]

An excellent book!

Definitely in the scientific study category, so I would agree with the previous poster that it can be tedious and dry. However it is a really good collection of scientific data and it is a vast resource of material.

If you are a victim of parental alienation, it will present a lot of information regarding what may be happening, and what's to be expected. It can also provide lots of very useful information to the lawyers and therapists involved (if they are invested and interested enough to read it). Although fascinating and FULL of data, it will not help you devise wise strategies on how to deal with this as a parent though - for practical tips the book Divorce poison is better.