Parent alienation is an important phenomenon of which family care workers and legal professionals need to take cognisance of and understand. Parent alienation occurs when one parent undermines or prejudices the contact and relationship between the child and the other parent without well-founded reasons. The phenomenon parent alienation mainly occurs in the high-conflict divorce and is often accompanied by care- and contact disputes. The aim of this research is to investigate the father’s experience and perceptions of parent alienation due to high-conflict divorce so that it can lead to social workers providing the targeted father with more appropriate assistance. In this qualitative study the exploratory and interpretative research design was used. Six fathers were selected by means of purposive sampling. Data was collected by means of an in-depth interview with each participant individually as well as field notes made by the researcher. The qualitative data obtained was transcribed and processed by hand in themes. Eight themes were identified from the fathers’ experience and perceptions of parent alienation due to high-conflict divorce. The themes are: Theme 1: Perception of intense pain Theme 2: Unparalleled rage Theme 3: Loss of self-esteem Theme 4: Distrust in women Theme 5: Parental responsibilities and rights Theme 6: Consistent concern about their children’s physical and social well-being Theme 7: Distrust in the court system Theme 8: Supervision and contact It is clear from the research that fathers experience parent alienation in several levels of functioning as traumatic or negative. It appeared from the findings that parent alienation is a reality and the necessity for further research on this phenomenon clearly came to the fore. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Parent alienation is an important phenomenon of which family care workers and legal professionals need to take cognisance of and understand. Parent alienation occurs when one parent undermines or prejudices the contact and relationship between the child and the other parent without well-founded reasons. The phenomenon parent alienation mainly occurs in the high-conflict divorce and is often accompanied by care- and contact disputes. The aim of this research is to investigate the father’s experience and perceptions of parent alienation due to high-conflict divorce so that it can lead to social workers providing the targeted father with more appropriate assistance. In this qualitative study the exploratory and interpretative research design was used. Six fathers were selected by means of purposive sampling. Data was collected by means of an in-depth interview with each participant individually as well as field notes made by the researcher. The qualitative data obtained was transcribed and processed by hand in themes. Eight themes were identified from the fathers’ experience and perceptions of parent alienation due to high-conflict divorce. The themes are: Theme 1: Perception of intense pain Theme 2: Unparalleled rage Theme 3: Loss of self-esteem Theme 4: Distrust in women Theme 5: Parental responsibilities and rights Theme 6: Consistent concern about their children’s physical and social well-being Theme 7: Distrust in the court system Theme 8: Supervision and contact It is clear from the research that fathers experience parent alienation in several levels of functioning as traumatic or negative. It appeared from the findings that parent alienation is a reality and the necessity for further research on this phenomenon clearly came to the fore. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015