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Dark Personalities and Induced Delusional Disorder, Part I: Solving the Gordian Knot of Conflict in the Family and Domestic Violence Courts

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Abstract

Approximately 10% of separated families will experience high conflict family court litigation involving allegations of abuse by one or both parents and, in these cases, children often reject a continued relationship with one parent. In all cases of alleged abuse, a differential diagnosis of child abuse by one parent or the other should be considered, and a proper risk assessment conducted using established and accepted knowledge from the domains of attachment, family systems, psychological control, personality pathology, trauma, and possible trauma-origin persecutory delusions. Judicial and/or non-clinical determinations as to the legitimacy of abuse allegations have shown to be confounded by the presence of dark personality parents who are prone to (1) be manipulative, vengeful, deceitful, and willing to weaponize others, including their own children, to fulfill self-serving agendas; (2) develop non-bizarre encapsulated persecutory delusions when experiencing interpersonal stress; and (3) engage in false virtuous victim signaling to obtain otherwise unwarranted resources and assistance for themselves while creating a belief in others that the alleged perpetrator must be punished harshly. Additionally, children who become triangulated by a delusional dark personality parent into an enmeshed cross-generational coalition against the other parent are highly likely to adopt the pathological parent’s delusional beliefs, creating an induced delusional disorder. When child abuse is alleged by either party at any point of a family court proceeding, a proper clinical diagnostic risk assessment for possible child abuse as to each parent should be conducted to produce an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan based on the type(s) of abuse occurring within the family system.
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 1
Dark Personalities and Induced Delusional Disorder, Part I: Solving the Gordian Knot of
Conflict in the Family and Domestic Violence Courts
Melanie B. Johnson-Hope Greenham1,2 and Craig A. Childress
1Master of Public Policy Program, Departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology,
and the School of Public Administration, University of New Mexico
2Department of Psychology and Political Science, Eastern New Mexico University
Author Note
Melanie B. Johnson-Hope Greenham https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8235-1802
Craig A. Childress https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8970-0043
Competing interests: The authors declare none.
Funding Statement: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency,
commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Melanie B. Johnson-Hope
Greenham, Master of Public Policy Program, MSC05 3085, 1 University of New Mexico, 1915
Roma NE Ste. 1103, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001. Email: greenm14@unm.edu
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 2
Abstract
Approximately 10% of separated families will experience high conflict family court litigation
involving allegations of abuse by one or both parents and, in these cases, children often reject a
continued relationship with one parent. In all cases of alleged abuse, a differential diagnosis of
child abuse by one parent or the other should be considered, and a proper risk assessment
conducted using established and accepted knowledge from the domains of attachment, family
systems, psychological control, personality pathology, trauma, and possible trauma-origin
persecutory delusions. Judicial and/or non-clinical determinations as to the legitimacy of abuse
allegations have shown to be confounded by the presence of dark personality parents who are
prone to (1) be manipulative, vengeful, deceitful, and willing to weaponize others, including
their own children, to fulfill self-serving agendas; (2) develop non-bizarre encapsulated
persecutory delusions when experiencing interpersonal stress; and (3) engage in false virtuous
victim signaling to obtain otherwise unwarranted resources and assistance for themselves while
creating a belief in others that the alleged perpetrator must be punished harshly. Additionally,
children who become triangulated by a delusional dark personality parent into an enmeshed
cross-generational coalition against the other parent are highly likely to adopt the pathological
parent’s delusional beliefs, creating an induced delusional disorder. When child abuse is alleged
by either party at any point of a family court proceeding, a proper clinical diagnostic risk
assessment for possible child abuse as to each parent should be conducted to produce an accurate
diagnosis and treatment plan based on the type(s) of abuse occurring within the family system.
Keywords: attachment, family systems, family law, high conflict divorce, intimate partner
violence, psychological child abuse, virtuous victim, dangerous decisions, delusional disorder,
folie à deux, dark triad, vulnerable dark triad, dark tetrad
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 3
Dark Personalities and Induced Delusional Disorder, Part I: Solving the Gordian Knot of
Conflict in the Family and Domestic Violence Courts
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) nearly half the U.S.
population will experience at least one divorce during their lifetime. Among these families, about
10% will remain embroiled in high conflict child-related litigation, sometimes for decades,
resulting in poor outcomes for the couple’s children (Donner, 2006; Ellis, 2022; Jiménez-García
et al., 2019; Mahrer et al., 2018; Saini & Birnbaum, 2007). A prominent point of contention in
these families involves a Gordian Knot of conflict comprised of allegations that one or both
parents are somehow abusive and/or neglectful. Determining the legitimacy of these allegations
is often complicated by confounding symptomatic behaviors displayed by the child, including
potentially severing a relationship with one parent altogether (Campbell, 2017; Champion,
2022a; Champion, 2022b; Champion & Trane, 2020; Childress, 2015; Clemente & Padilla-
Racero, 2020; Clements et al., 2021; Donner, 2006; Douglas, 2018; Elizabeth, 2017; Fitch &
Easteal, 2017; Fontes, 2015; Gutowski & Goodman, 2020; Lux & Gill, 2021; Miller & Smolter,
2011; Rosenfeld, 2019; Saini & Birnbaum, 2007; Saunders & Oglesby, 2016; Silberg & Dallam,
2019; Tucker, 2021).
As the first in a series about high conflict child-related litigation in family and domestic
violence courts, this article provides an overview of relevant psychological and legal theories.
Subsequent articles discuss more focused topics and recent developments in research with the
intention of assisting a wide range of readers in understanding, identifying, and resolving the
post-separation child abuse and intimate partner violence occurring in these cases.
Attachment Theory
Children are inherently driven by the survival instinct for attachment bonding to
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 4
emotionally bond with caregivers for protection and nurturance (Bowlby, 1969; 1973; 1980;
Forslund et al., 2022; Möhler, 2022). The attachment bond begins forming in infancy and
continues its development during childhood and adolescence (Bowlby, 1969; 1979; 1980;
Forslund et al., 2022; Möhler, 2022):
No variables, it is held, have more far-reaching effects on personality development than
have a child’s experiences within his family: for, starting during the first months of his
relations with his mother figure, and extending through the years of childhood and
adolescence in his relations with both parents, he builds up working models of how
attachment figures are likely to behave towards him in any of a variety of situations; and
on those models are based all his expectations, and therefore all his plans for the rest of
his life. (Bowlby, 1973, p. 369)
A severed parental attachment bond is extremely damaging developmentally to the child
(Bowlby, 1969; 1973; 1979; 1980). Rejecting a parent at any developmental phase indicates a
severe attachment pathology with the differential diagnosis being child abuse by one parent or
the other (Childress, 2015). The attachment system is a goal-corrected motivational system, and
except for severe and chronic child abuse, children do not reject caregivers (Childress, 2015).
Instead, non-abusive problematic parenting produces one of four attachment styles based on the
nature of parenting received (Bretherton, 1992; Childress, 2015; Domenech Rodriguez et al.,
2009; Forslund et al., 2022; Möhler, 2022; van Rosmalen et al., 2015). A secure attachment style
develops as a result of healthy parenting, and three insecure attachment styles (i.e., anxious-
avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized) develop as a result of problematic parenting
(Ainsworth et al., 1978; Bretherton, 1992; Childress, 2015; Domenech Rodriguez et al., 2009;
Forslund et al., 2022; Main & Solomon, 1986; Möhler, 2022; van Rosmalen et al., 2015).
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 5
Parenting Styles
Four parenting styles (i.e., authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, neglectful) capture a
wide array of caregiving practices (Baumrind, 1967; Maccoby & Martin, 1983), distinguished by
varying degrees of caregiver warmth (responsiveness), control (demandingness), and autonomy
granting (Domenech Rodriguez et al., 2009; Forslund et al., 2022; Möhler, 2022). Healthy child
development does not require perfect parenting, just normal-range parenting (Tronick & Gold,
2020; Winnicott, 1973). Normal-range good enough parenting practices are imperfect and reflect
parents cultural, religious, and personal values while incorporating clear structure, appropriate
expectations, flexible dialogue, and negotiation with the child (Childress, 2015; Choate &
Engstrom, 2014; Forslund et al., 2022; Tronick & Gold, 2020). As a goal-corrected motivational
system, the attachment system always seeks to elicit parental protection and nurturance to ensure
survival, even in response to problematic parenting:
The paradoxical finding that the more punishment a juvenile receives the stronger
becomes its attachment to the punishing figure, very difficult to explain on any other
theory, is compatible with the view that the function of attachment behavior is protection
from predators. (Bowlby, 1969, p. 227)
Even abusive-range parenting has been shown to create increased motivation in the child
to attach to the problematic parent (Bowlby, 1969; Forslund et al., 2022):
Increased imprinting to abusing objects has been demonstrated in birds, dogs, monkeys,
and human beings. Sackett et al. found that monkeys raised by abusive mothers cling to
them more than average: The immediate consequence of maternal rejection is the
accentuation of proximity seeking on the part of the infant. After similar experiments,
Harlow and Harlow concluded [that] instead of producing experimental neurosis [they]
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 6
had achieved a technique for enhancing maternal attachment. (van der Kolk, 1989, p. 34)
Attachment Styles
When assessed in a Strange Situation protocol, children’s behavior is classified into the
following attachment styles (Ainsworth et al, 1978; Bretherton, 1992; Forslund et al., 2022;
Main & Solomon, 1986; van Rosmalen et al., 2015):
Secure attachments include children who use their caregiver as a secure base while
exploring the world, returning to the caregiver if they become frightened or need
reassurance. If their caregiver leaves, the child is initially distressed and demonstrates
joy when the caregiver returns.
Insecure, Anxious-Avoidant attachments are defined by children who show very little,
if any, distress when the caregiver leaves and who avoid the caregiver when they
return. Children with an avoidant attachment style are low demand on their caregiver
and present minimal protest behavior when distressed.
Insecure, Anxious-Ambivalent attachments feature children who are extremely
distressed when the caregiver leaves but who show inconsistent behaviors when the
caregiver returns. For example, the children may initially be happy when the
caregiver returns then become resistant or angry if the caregiver tries to hold them.
Insecure, Disorganized attachments are often displayed by children who have been
abused, neglected, or subjected to severely inconsistent parenting practices. These
children display no organized strategy to bond to the parent and will seem disoriented
or confused when their caregiver is present since the caregivers’ conflicting behaviors
have become the source of both comfort and fear for the children.
The internal working models of attachment style developed in childhood affect the rest of
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 7
an individual’s life by providing the framework for their future intimate, bonded relationships
(Bowlby, 1973; Bretherton & Munholland, 2008; van Rosmalen et al., 2015). The secure style
creates positive self-esteem, enabling formation of healthy adult relationships, while the other
three styles create negative self-esteem, resulting in formation of dysfunctional relationships of
varying types and degrees (van Rosmalen et al., 2015). “Confidence in the accessibility and
responsiveness of attachment figures, or lack of it, is built up slowly during all the years of
immaturity and …, once developed, expectations tend to persist relatively unchanged throughout
the rest of life” (Bowlby, 1973, p. 359). Conversely, the anxious-avoidant style hinders sharing
thoughts and feelings and emotional investment in relationships, while the anxious-ambivalent
style creates persistent doubts about others’ relationship commitment, and the disorganized style
incorporates elements of both anxious-avoidant and anxious-ambivalent styles, creating
interpersonal volatility (Bretherton, 1992; Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999; van Rosmalen et al., 2015).
Family Systems Theory
Divorce requires that the family transition from its prior intact family structure, which
was previously united by the parents’ marriage, to a new separated family structure, which is
now united by the child through co-parenting responsibilities and affectional bonds shared
between the child and each parent (see Figure 1; Childress, 2015).
Figure 1. Divorce transitions parents and children from an intact to a separated family structure.
Healthy Separated Family
Healthy Intact Family
Parent
Parent
Parent
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 8
Families continually adapt to various transitions in development and maturation over
time, with divorce representing one of the most impactful transitions any family must navigate
(Childress, 2015; Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). A central tenet of family systems theory is
that when a family is unsuccessful in adapting to a developmental challenge, symptoms emerge
to stabilize the maladaptive response, and these symptoms often display in the child (Goldenberg
& Goldenberg, 2013). A primary founding theorist of family systems therapy, Murray Bowen,
refers to one family member rejecting another as an emotional cutoff (Bowen, 1978; Titelman,
2003). Thus, in family systems principles, a child’s emotional cutoff from a parent (i.e., child
rejecting a parent) is a symptom of the family’s unsuccessful transition from an intact to a
separated post-divorce family structure (see Figure 2; Bowen, 1978; Titelman, 2003).
Figure 2. Pathological emotional cutoff of one parent by the child.
Parental Psychological Control of the Child
Bowen (1978) describes the relationship between any three people as a triangle and
discusses how conflicts between two people elicits involvement by a third person to ease the
anxiety and tension created by the conflict, either temporarily or permanently. In spousal-
parental conflicts, triangulation can manifest via one parent’s use of psychological control over
the child to create a parent-child alliance against the other parent, manifesting in the symptoms
of enmeshment, a cross-generational coalition, and an inverted hierarchy in the family (Barber
Pathological Cutoff Family
Parent
Parent
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 9
& Harmon, 2002; Cui et al., 2014; Marici, 2015; Stone et al., 2002).
Enmeshment
In this context, enmeshment refers to an over-involved relationship created by a parent’s
violation of the child’s psychological integrity and self-autonomy (Kerig, 2005; Minuchin,
1974). This is a very destructive psychological relationship for a child to have with a parent and,
in many cases, a parent who creates an enmeshed relationship with their child experienced this
same boundary violation in their own childhood (Kerig, 2005). This violation of boundaries
across generations represents the trans-generational transmission of the parent’s own attachment
trauma to subsequent generations via distorted parenting practices created by unresolved trauma
(Prager, 2003). The trans-generational transmission of trauma is accomplished through four
distinctive types of boundary dissolution: enmeshment, intrusiveness, role reversal, and
spousification (Favaretto et al., 2022; Gazzillo, 2022; Kerig, 2005; Pearlman & Courtois, 2005;
Stepp et al., 2012). Notably, when one parent-child relationship is characterized by enmeshment,
the other parent-child relationship is often characterized by disengagement (Kerig, 2005
Minuchin, 1974).
Cross-Generational Coalition
Salvador Minuchin (1974), a preeminent family systems therapist and founder of
structural family therapy, describes the cross-generational coalition:
The boundary between the parental subsystem and the child becomes diffuse, and the
boundary around the parent-child triad, which should be diffuse, becomes inappropriately
rigid. This … rigid triangle can also take the form of a stable coalition. One of the parents
joins the child in a rigidly bounded cross-generational coalition against the other parent.
(p. 102)
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 10
Minuchin (1974) also describes the impact of a cross-generational coalition of the child
with one parent against the other parent through a clinical case example:
The parents were divorced six months earlier and the father is now living alone. … Two
of the children who were very attached to their father, now refuse any contact with him.
The younger children visit their father but express great unhappiness … . (p. 101)
Inverted Hierarchy
An inverted hierarchy refers to a child being over-empowered by the enmeshed alliance
with one parent to adopt an elevated position in the family system above the other parent
(Childress, 2015; Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, Minuchin & Nichols, 1993). In the inverted
power dynamic created by the cross-generational coalition of the child with one parent, the child
is placed in an elevated power position in the family from which the child judges the adequacy of
the disempowered targeted parent. Due to the coalition with the allied parent (Boszormenyi-
Nagy & Spark, 1973), the child must symbolically divorce the targeted parent out of loyalty to
the allied parent (Childress, 2015). Jay Haley (1977), co-founder of strategic family systems
therapy, refers to a cross-generational coalition as a perverse triangle because it violates the
generational boundaries. Haley (1977) explains that despite evidence of the coalition’s existence
from the behaviors displayed, the alliance between the child and parent will be denied when
queried. Krugman (1987) describes the covert manner (e.g., via psychological control) in which
generational boundaries are breached:
The child is elevated into the parental hierarchy and the system is stabilized through role
reversal. The child may thus be either covertly allied with one parent against the other, or
parentified and obliged to care for a parent. (p. 139)
Cloé Madanes (2018), strategic family systems therapy’s other co-founder, reiterates that
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 11
cross-generational coalitions are often created covertly (e.g., via psychological control) to shift
family power dynamics using any number or combination of family members in their creation
and/or preservation (e.g., siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, close family friends), and
these painful struggles can continue for many years, causing the child to suffer greatly from
divided loyalties to their parents (Madanes, 2018). In mild cases, the parent-child relationship
may be highly conflictual, but the relationship is maintained. However, in severe cases, the child
submits to the psychological control of the allied parent and cuts off one parent to gratify and
pacify the other, causing the child severe emotional and psychological damage (Childress, 2015;
Minuchin, 1974).
Post-Separation Coercive Control
With a narcissistic, borderline, or dark personality parent, the psychological seduction of
the child into a cross-generational coalition (perverse triangle) against the other parent also
potentially involves the creation of a shared persecutory delusion regarding the normal-range
parenting of the targeted parent (Childress, 2015). In addition to being a form of psychological
child abuse, the cross-generational coalition and inverted hierarchy can also be used by the allied
parent as a form of intimate partner emotional and psychological abuse known as coercive
control (Childress, 2015). According to Fontes (2015), coercive control is a hidden and
particularly insidious unrecognized form of abuse which causes victims and their children
tremendous psychological harm. And post-separation child and intimate partner abuse often
manifests via coercive control and weaponization of the family and domestic violence courts
(Campbell, 2017; Childress, 2015; Clements et al., 2021; Douglas, 2018; Elizabeth, 2017; Fitch
& Easteal, 2017; Fontes, 2015; Lux & Gill, 2021; Miller & Smolter, 2011; Rosenfeld, 2019;
Tucker, 2021).
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 12
Personality Disorder Pathology
Personality pathology consists of persistent and pervasive maladaptive behavioral,
emotional, and cognitive patterns that differ significantly from societal norms and expectations,
causing prominent problems in daily life (Beck et al., 2015; Kernberg, 1975; Linehan, 1993;
Millon, 2011; Möhler, 2022). Traits associated with the antisocial, narcissistic, and borderline
personality disorders have also been associated with a range of dark personality constellations:
Dark Triad (Paulhus & Williams, 2002), Vulnerable Dark Triad (Miller et al., 2010), and Dark
Tetrad (Book et al., 2016).
Dark personality traits exist along a spectrum and include subclinical presentations. Even
subclinical presentations of dark personality traits create substantial interpersonal chaos due to
the presence of Machiavellian, psychopathic, and sadistic elements, and they are known to be
manipulative (Paulhus & Williams, 2002), vengeful (Giammarco & Vernon, 2014; Rasmussen &
Boon, 2014), deceitful (Baughman et al., 2014; Jonason et al., 2014), and will seek to weaponize
others, including their own children, to fulfill their self-serving agendas (Clemente & Padilla-
Racero, 2020; Clemente & Diaz, 2021; Cohen, 1998; Eddy, 2021; Horan et al., 2015; Jonason &
Krause, 2013; Kernberg, 1975; Möhler, 2022; Moor & Silvern, 2006; Ok et al., 2020; Spearman
et al., 2022; Ulzen & Carpentier, 1997; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012; Walters & Friedlander, 2016).
The lack of affective empathy associated with the distorted parenting behaviors of dark
personality parents is experienced by children as chronic and developmentally devastating
trauma (Bechdolf et al., 2010; Möhler, 2022; Moor & Silvern, 2006; Stepp et al., 2012).
Trauma-Origin Delusional Disorder
When under stress, the narcissistic, borderline, and dark personalities are prone to
experiencing non-bizarre, encapsulated delusions while still maintaining sufficient functioning in
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 13
their everyday lives (Barnow et al., 2010; Bechdolf et al., 2010; Joseph & Siddiqui, 2022;
Millon, 2011; Thompson et al., 2010; Ulzen & Carpentier, 1997). The persecutory type of
delusion is the most common theme in delusional disorders (Kay, 2021; Millon, 2011), and it is
prominently associated with the consequences of an adult’s unresolved childhood developmental
trauma (Childress, 2015). Lingering fear from unresolved trauma distorts current perceptions of
the world and other people as being dangerous in some way when they are not (Childress, 2015).
The American Psychiatric Association (2000) defines a persecutory delusion as a false belief
maintained despite contrary evidence that the person (or someone to whom the person is close)
is being malevolently treated in some way” (p. 329).
When allegations are made that the child is being malevolently treated in some way by a
normal-range parent, they will often evidence the psychiatric symptom of splitting (rigidly fixed
and polarized dichotomous thinking) associated with narcissistic and borderline personalities
(Beck et al. 2015; Cohen, 1998; Juni, 1995; Kernberg, 1975). For this reason, a delusional dark
personality parent will cast the other parent as “all-bad” while claiming they are the “all-good,
perfect parent (Peters et al., 2014), a factor which is then bolstered by presenting themselves as
a virtuous victim of malevolent mistreatment by the other parent.
Virtuous Victim Theory
Ok et al. (2020) have associated dark personalities with the amoral manipulation of
virtuous victim signals to obtain otherwise unwarranted resources and assistance for themselves
while creating a belief in others that the alleged perpetrator must be punished harshly (Baughman
et al., 2014; Jonason et al., 2014; Jordan & Kouchaki, 2021; Ok et al., 2020). When this tactic is
combined with a dark personality’s penchant for Machiavellian manipulation, psychopathic
disregard for rules, narcissistic lack of empathy and desire for revenge, borderline dichotomous
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 14
thinking, sadistic pleasure from others’ pain, and persecutory delusions, the outcomes in family
and domestic violence court cases are devastating for the other parent and the child (Campbell,
2017; Champion, 2022a; Champion, 2022b; Champion & Trane, 2020; Childress, 2015;
Clemente & Padilla-Racero, 2020; Clements et al., 2021; Donner, 2006; Douglas, 2018;
Elizabeth, 2017; Ellis, 2022; Fitch & Easteal, 2017; Fontes, 2015; Gutowski & Goodman, 2020;
Jiménez-García et al., 2019; Lux & Gill, 2021; Mahrer et al., 2018; Miller & Smolter, 2011;
Rosenfeld, 2019; Saini & Birnbaum, 2007; Saunders & Oglesby, 2016; Silberg & Dallam, 2019;
Spearman et al., 2022; Tucker, 2021). Increased professional understanding about the personality
pathology in the family and domestic violence courts is needed to prevent continued post-
separation intimate partner violence and child abuse from occurring (Childress, 2015).
Dangerous Decisions Theory
Witness credibility and trustworthiness decisions are intuitive judgments about character
and truthfulness which shape the judge’s assessment of evidence (Korva et al., 2013). Judging
the credibility of testimony has perils and can trigger specific biases in factfinders and decision-
makers, leading to incorrect conclusions and potentially harmful decisions for the child in legal
settings (Korva et al., 2013). Curci et al. (2019) have shown that judges ability to detect lies is
far from accurate. When the judgment being made involves concerns about and allegations of
possible child abuse, the manipulative presentation of a virtuous victim narrative by a dark
personality parent can potentially lead to dangerously incorrect decisions being made for the
child (Kyriakidou, 2016). When possible child abuse is a reasonably considered diagnosis,
confidence in the accuracy of a diagnosis must be considerable, which requires a high degree of
professional competence in the diagnostic assessment of the pathology (Childress, 2015).
The differential diagnosis for severe attachment pathology displayed by a child is child
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 15
abuse by one parent or the other (Childress, 2015). Either (1) the targeted parent is abusing the
child, thereby creating the child’s attachment pathology toward that parent (a 2-person
attribution of causality), or (2) the allied parent is psychologically abusing the child by creating a
shared persecutory delusion and false (factitious) attachment pathology in the child for the
secondary gain to the dark personality parent of manipulating the court’s decisions regarding
child custody and to meet the parent’s own emotional and psychological needs (Childress, 2015).
In all high-conflict custody litigation involving severe attachment pathology displayed by the
child, a proper risk assessment for possible child abuse needs to be conducted to an appropriate
differential diagnosis relative to each parent.
Possible child abuse requires an accurate diagnosis regarding the nature of abuse(s) the
child is experiencing to allow professionals to implement an effective child protection response
and develop an appropriate treatment plan, and to expeditiously move the family conflict out of
the adversarial legal system and into the therapeutic mental health setting (Campbell, 2017;
Champion, 2022a; Champion, 2022b; Champion & Trane, 2020; Childress, 2015; Clemente &
Padilla-Racero, 2020; Clements et al., 2021; Donner, 2006; Douglas, 2018; Elizabeth, 2017;
Ellis, 2022; Fitch & Easteal, 2017; Fontes, 2015; Gutowski & Goodman, 2020; Jiménez-García
et al., 2019; Lux & Gill, 2021; Mahrer et al., 2018; Miller & Smolter, 2011; Rosenfeld, 2019;
Saini & Birnbaum, 2007; Saunders & Oglesby, 2016; Silberg & Dallam, 2019; Spearman et al.,
2022; Tucker, 2021).
Induced Delusional Disorder
A child who has been triangulated into an enmeshed cross-generational coalition with a
delusional parent will ultimately surrender and adopt that parent’s delusional beliefs (Walters &
Friedlander, 2016) creating an induced (shared) persecutory delusion. The American Psychiatric
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 16
Association (2000) provides a description of an induced (shared) delusional disorder:
The essential feature of Shared Psychotic Disorder is a delusion that develops in an
individual involved in a close relationship with another person (sometimes termed the
inducer or the primary case) who already has a Psychotic Disorder with prominent
delusions. Usually the primary case in Shared Psychotic Disorder is dominant in the
relationship and gradually imposes the delusional system on the more passive and
initially healthy second person. If the relationship with the primary case is interrupted,
the delusional beliefs of the other individual usually diminish or disappear. Although
most commonly seen in relationships of only two people, Shared Psychotic Disorder can
occur among a larger number of individuals, especially in family situations in which the
parent is the primary case and the children, sometimes to varying degrees, adopt the
parents delusional beliefs. (p. 333)
The diagnostic concern surrounding parenting by a dark personality parent is possible
Child Psychological Abuse (DSM-5, V995.51) involving the creation of an induced (shared)
persecutory delusional disorder and factitious attachment pathology in the child for the
secondary gain to the pathological parent of manipulating the court’s custody decisions, and to
obtain physical possession of the child to use as a regulatory object to meet the parent’s own
emotional and psychological needs (Childress, 2015). The diagnostic assessment issue is
determining authentic from inauthentic parent-child conflict (Childress, 2015). When a parent-
child conflict is authentic, the child’s behavior is under the stimulus-control of the parent’s
behavior (stimulus-response; Skinner, 1938). If the parent’s behavior (the cue; the stimulus)
changes, the child’s behavior will change correspondingly indicating the child’s behavior is
under the control of the parent’s behavior (the cueing stimulus; Skinner, 1938). However, when a
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 17
parent-child conflict is inauthentic, the child’s behavior is not under the stimulus control of that
parent and, no matter what that parent does (the stimulus), there will be no corresponding change
in the child’s behavior (the response; Skinner, 1938).
Therefore, if the “reason” (theme) offered by the child for rejecting a parent is authentic,
then appropriate treatment that changes and resolves the parent’s behavior will then resolve the
child’s emotional cut-off and restore a normal-range parent-child attachment bond of shared
affection (Childress, 2015). If, however, the parent-child conflict is inauthentic, then changing
the targeted parent’s behavior to resolve the offered theme for rejection will evidence no
corresponding change in the child’s rejection and the child will continue to reject the parent
irrespective of any resolution to the issues voiced by the child, which indicates that the “reason”
voiced by the child for emotionally cutting off that parent is artificially created and inauthentic
(Childress, 2015).
Diagnosis is a pattern-match of symptoms to diagnostic criteria. When the diagnostic
criteria for a persecutory delusion are met for the child, then the accurate diagnosis for the child
should be made to ensure a proper child protection response is initiated, even if a formal
diagnosis of a delusional disorder is not available for the allied parent’s psychopathology (Al
Saif & Al Khalili, 2022; Çetin, 2001). A delusional disorder in a child toward a normal-range
parent indicates the parenting of the allied parent as the reasonable cause. The goal of the clinical
diagnostic assessment is to “reduce diagnostic uncertainty enough to make optimal decisions for
subsequent care” (Balogh et al., 2015, p. 36). It is not necessary for the parent to receive a
specific or formal diagnosis for a child to be accurately diagnosed and for a child protection
response to be initiated based on the child’s symptoms and the diagnostic criteria met by those
symptoms (Al Saif & Al Khalili, 2022; APA, 2013; WHO, 2019).
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 18
Conclusion
Approximately 10% of separated families will be involved in high conflict family court
litigation regarding allegations of abuse by one or both parents, and determining the legitimacy
of these allegations is often complicated by the child’s own confounding behaviors. Parents with
dark personalities are prone to manipulating others to satisfy their personal agendas. The goal of
professional psychology is to protect all children from all forms of child abuse 100% of the time.
Whenever child abuse is alleged by either party, a proper clinical risk assessment for possible
child abuse should be conducted to the appropriate differential diagnosis for each parent.
DARKS & DELUSIONS PART I: SOLVING THE GORDIAN KNOT 19
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