Leyfi til að elska - mar. 2023, Blaðsíða 35

Poustie et al. 11
Uncaring. A number of targeted parents expressed a sense of hopelessness
and perceive the system as uncaring.
I feel disillusioned with the family system that is supposed to help . . . I feel
there is nowhere to turn. No one seems to have concern for this problem.
Contributes to Parental Alienation. Many targeted parents alluded to the legal
system contributing to the parental alienation.
I have struggled and fought through the system (court) . . . incurring great
financial and emotional debt. Largely court orders that are in place are not
followed and there is no repercussion. I feel my hands are tied. I feel that the
family court system helps to promote alienation in many cases.
Uninformed Mental Health Care System. Targeted parents referred to the men-
tal health system as lacking in knowledge and understanding of parental
alienation.
When a court appointed counsellor doesn’t understand what is going on, what
hope do I have? No one can help me.
Financial Burden. Many of the targeted parents mentioned the financial bur-
den of engaging with the system.
I continued to work full time trying to keep my head above water with these
trips and legal fees. I have over 150,000 dollars in my custody case and there’s
no end in sight for legal fees.
Targeted parents’ narratives indicated that many of them have encountered
a large, impersonal legal system, which places a heavy emotional and finan-
cial burden on them. The multitude of grievances emphasized an overarching
theme of a system perceived as too slow and too costly. Given the apparent
hardships of involvement in the system in addition to the actual lived experi-
ence of parental alienation and alienating behaviors, it is unsurprising that
mental health was a key feature in the data.
Mental Health
Mental health concerns were central throughout the data set. Indeed, 83 of the
126 comments included references coded at the theme Mental Health, and
there were 130 references in total. Narratives referred to broad psychosocial
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GLEYMDA FORELDRIÐ: FORELDRAÚTILOKUN FRÁ SJÓNARHÓLI ÚTSETTA FORELDRISINS CLARE POUSTIE O.FL.