Did you know that children's minds can be abducted just as surely as their bodies? This is what has happened to Elian. He is now in a predictable situation encountered every day by agencies that work with brainwashed and abducted children.

The process is simple and is seen frequently in our family court system as well as abduction cases. First Elian is isolated from his father, hermetically sealed in by a well-intentioned family and social group to "protect his best interests." This isolation is sustained through lengthy legal procedures. Suddenly, Elian doesn't want to

see his father. There are whispers that his father was abusive. The predicable next step is that witnesses will appear to corroborate this. It is even possible that allegations of "sexual abuse" could surface,

The ultimate cruel irony emerges. Elian's father is kept away from his son "in the child's best interests." Statements are made to the effect that contact with his father would be "too traumatizing!" This tragedy is enacted daily in our country's courtrooms. Law and

morality are turned on its heads in a travesty of justice. To cap it off, professionals declare that reintegration could be "dangerous" for Elian and might disturb his mental health forever.

This is nonsense. It needs to be debunked. The PAS Foundation regularly sees cases where families reunite, sometimes after months, sometimes after years. The process is sometimes easy, sometimes hard. It can take a day, a month, a year, four years, but reunification happens and it is good. No existing scientific study

demonstrates that reuniting children and families is harmful. On the contrary there are studies to demonstrate that separation from a formerly loved parent causes life-long difficulties and suffering,

Elian is being brainwashed, programmed into a state of alienation from his father. This is a common phenomenon throughout our family law system and in its most severe form is called "Parental Alienation Syndrome."

A dense fog of professional jargon surrounds the issues, but they are crystal clear. Abducted or brainwashed children, whether minors or adults separated from a parent can be reintegrated, often much more easily than professionals would let us believe.

Pamela Stuart-Mills, Director of the PAS (Parental Alienation Syndrome) Research Foundation in Washington DC, works with the challenges of reintegrating alienated children and is a renowned expert in reunification and reintegration of alienated

She says "Hands-on experience with reintegrating abducted and brainwashed children is clear. The process is definitely not harmful to the child if handled in a firm, loving, secure way and the parent with whom the child is being reunited is a good and loving parent. To say that to reunite Elian with his father is a harmful process for the child is simply not true!

However the social and political pressure created by those around him can be projected onto the child, involving him in a situation beyond his capacity to understand or process. This latter is what is harmful, not the reintegration itself."

physical needs are being met, this child is coming perilously close to being a victim of emotional abuse. Agencies and individuals involved in this situation should ask themselves not why Elian should be reunited with his father, but when.

abducted children, contact Pamela Stuart-Mills at and PAS Research Foundation at (202) 466-7778 or e-mail: