Braun, Joan. (1999, Summer). Custody Order or Disordered Custody? Institute Against Family Violence British Columbia, Canada.

Braun, Joan. (1999, Summer). Custody Order or Disordered Custody? Institute Against Family Violence British Columbia, Canada.http://www.bcifv.org/resources/newsletter/1999/summer/custody.html

Problematically, raising allegations of child abuse can actually work against the one raising them. S. 16(10) of the Divorce Act states that, in making custodial determinations, the courts are to consider the willingness of the custodial parent to facilitate contact with the other parent. This has been called the "friendly parent presumption". As a result, if a woman raises safety concerns, but is unable to prove her allegations, she risks having the court conclude that she is merely being vindictive in order to prevent her ex-partner from having contact with his child. On the other hand, if she does not raise legitimate concerns she is putting the child's safety at risk.
Brown, A. L. (2008). Criminal Rewards: The Impact of Parent Alienation Syndrome on Families. Affilia, 23, 388-396. (pdf)

Excerpt: Despite the overwhelming evidence against PAS, particularly its lack of recognition by any medical or psychological diagnostic body, the absence of consistent empirical and clinical evidence that PAS exists, or indications that the alienator's behavior is the actual cause of the child's behavior toward the target parent, it has been used by forensic psychologists, parent coordinators, and lawyers (Bruch, 2001; Dallam, 2008; First, Frances, & Pincus, 2002; Hoult, 2006). It is often recognized by judges in their depositions and used to determine visitation and custody, even when the child's fear and reluctance is a healthy and adaptive response to documented abuse.

Brown conducted hour-long interviews with three authorities on PAS attempting to answer the following questions: What is PAS? If PAS is junk science, then why does it continue to be used in the courts? What is the impact of PAS on families? What is the role of social workers and clinicians in addressing this issue?
The authorities interviewed are: Lisa Dressner, LCSW, a founding member and co-director of Affinity Counseling Group, a community-based mental health agency in New Jersey; Amy Meckeler, a social justice advocate, an educator–administrator at Kean University, and a member of the Alliance for Racial and Social Justice, which, among several projects, houses a grassroots court monitoring action–research efforts in Middlesex County, New Jersey; and Ms. Thomas (a pseudonym), a mother and activist who is involved in a PAS case.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/2.html