Alienation Distraction Tactics in Child Custody Cases

Alienation Distraction Tactics in Child Custody Cases Barry Goldstein There is a pattern in most domestic violence custody cases that would help courts understand child custody disputes better and avoid mistakes that place children in jeopardy. In most cases, during the relationship the father wanted or demanded the mother provide most of the child care. […]

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Custody Courts Assume Protective Mothers Are Just Being Vindictive

A recent news item showed a mother attacking a mountain lion who snatched her child. The mother mentioned was not alienating her child from the mountain lion. The mother’s only concern, like most mothers in contested custody cases is to protect her children. Court professionals without the necessary domestic violence knowledge tend to focus on […]

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Judges Unaware of Custody Court Crisis

Barry Goldstein Courts cannot save children if they are unaware that standard court practices routinely place children in jeopardy. Researchers, experts in domestic violence and child sexual abuse and people who can count fatalities know custody courts are getting a high percentage of abuse cases tragically wrong. Unfortunately, judges, lawyers and evaluators live in an […]

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Family Court “High Conflict” Divorce Approaches Are Sexist and Gender Biased

Barry Goldstein Family courts routinely use the “high conflict” approach that is based on the stereotypes of the vindictive woman and the nagging wife. This approach encourages courts to assume that protective mothers report the fathers’ abuse out of anger at their partner rather than to protect their children. This biased approach puts protective mothers […]

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Don’t Confuse Domestic Violence with “He-Said-She-Said”

Barry Goldstein Judges, lawyers and evaluators often minimize or dismiss domestic violence (DV) by referring to the dispute as “he-said-she-said.” This flawed approach simply means that the professional does not have the necessary training to seek and recognize evidence that would explain the true nature of the case. Most of these disputes are easily resolved—if […]

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Family Court is Broken and Must be Fixed

Barry Goldstein Many protective mothers believe that corruption is the reason family courts are so tilted in favor of abusive fathers and create such harmful decisions. This belief is widespread because so many of the courts’ actions and practices seem so unreasonable and catastrophic that it is hard to imagine any other explanation. There have […]

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12 Reasons Family Courts Continue to Destroy Children’s Lives

Barry Goldstein Why Don’t Family Courts Fix Dangerous Practices? The research is now clear that Family Courts get most domestic violence custody cases wrong and often dangerously wrong. The proof of this alarming circumstance is readily available. This article explains many factors that cause courts to tilt in favor of abusive fathers and away from […]

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Do Women Have a Right to Leave Their Abusers? When Family Courts Protect “Men’s Rights”

Barry Goldstein Jennifer Schlecht is one of the most recent women to be denied what should be a fundamental right. Jennifer’s husband like many abusers believed she did not have this right. When the courts and law enforcement do not guard this right, as a practical matter, the right disappears. Jennifer Schlecht told her husband […]

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Domestic Violence Is a Gendered Crime

Barry Goldstein For many years, battered women and domestic violence advocates have said Domestic Violence (DV) is a gendered crime, but they were not listened to because they usually had no advanced degree; they were mostly women; and there was no research to confirm their experience. Professionals wanted to focus on issues like mental health […]

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Why Family Courts Cannot Protect Children: ACE vs. PAS

By Barry Goldstein, NOMAS Task Group on Child Custody. The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Studies are medical research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that can be used to reduce cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, crime, substance abuse, suicide and many other horrible health and social problems.  Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is […]

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