Parental alienation: Expression of the phenomenon in Spanish-speaking countries and social networks [descriptive analysis] Alienación parental: Expresión del fenómeno en países de habla hispana y redes sociales [análisis descriptivo]

Abstract

The topic of interest that occupies the present study is a type of intrafamily psychological violence known as Parental Alienation, which consists of the influence and molding of the thoughts of the children exerted by one of the parents, the foregoing in order to generate in the children rejection towards the other parent. This leads to a weakening of the relationship between that father and his children and results in their eventual separation. To study this phenomenon we analyzed the comments published in groups in the social network Facebook concerning the topic. These groups were from the following eight (8) Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. In terms of the methodology, an observation of case study was carried out as well as a 
control of the interaction and lexical elements that served as an input to identify the attitudes and ideologies of the participants engaged in the communication act. The study is based on symbolic interactionism which mediates the behavior of the participants. A systematic observation and a Critical Discourse Analysis were carried out, in which seven dimensions proposed by Van Dijk were considered. Additionally, an analysis of the characteristics proposed by different authors was carried out. The result was characterized by the relationships between the social structures that were observed.