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→Reaction to Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome
The courts didn't like it because implementing Gardner's recommendations would require them to place the child in the home of the "hated" parent, which was plainly the last thing the alienated child wanted. Here, for example, is what the judge said in [https://canlii.ca/t/1r9wc A.A. v S.N.A.], a 2007 decision of the Supreme Court:
<blockquote>[77] If custody is transferred to [the father], the immediate effect of that change will be extremely traumatic to [the child]. She may or may not adjust in a reasonable length of time. She will have to be forcibly removed from the custody of her mother, either by the authorities arriving at her school and physically apprehending her or by forcibly apprehending her from her mother. Her mother will not cooperate. In my view, [the child] will, with much justification, conclude that she is being forcibly dealt with in a manner that completely ignores her integrity and her wishes. ..."</blockquote>
The mental health community has been split on Parental Alienation Syndrome for a number of reasons, including that: