Battered spouses take aim at a controversial custody strategy.

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Newsweek: Sept. 25, 2006 issue
By Sarah Childress

Genia is one of many parents nationwide who have lost custody due to a controversial concept known as parental alienation. Under the theory, children fear or reject one parent because they have been corrupted or coached to lie by the other. Parental alienation is now the leading defense for parent's accused of abuse in custody cases, according to domestic-violence advocates. And it's working.