THE LEGAL INSTITUTION OF PARENTAL ALIENATION AND HOW IT IS REGULATED IN ROMANIA

Parental alienation is a complex and controversial phenomenon, often encountered in the context of parental separation or divorce, and involves the process whereby a child is emotionally and psychologically alienated from one parent as a result of negative influence from the other parent. It involves a series of behaviors and actions whereby the alienating parent manipulates the child's perceptions, inducing feelings of hostility, fear or contempt towards the target parent. Parental alienation can have devastating consequences for both the child and the alienated parent, in the sense that it has negative effects on the child's emotional and relational development, affecting the child's ability to maintain healthy long-term relationships and at the same time causing significant distress for the alienated parent, who feels excluded from the child's life. In the legal and social context in Romania, parental alienation has been a challenge for family courts and professionals working in the field of child protection, as until now there was no specific legislation directly regulating this phenomenon, despite all the general principles of family law and child protection legislation that provided mechanisms to prevent and address such situations. This article aims to provide an introduction to parental alienation and to emphasize the importance of understanding and properly managing the phenomenon from both a legal and psychological perspective in order to protect the interests and well-being of children.