PARENTAL ALIENATION AND SPECIFIC INTENTION: THE FINAL FUNCTION OF ARTICLE 2 OF LAW NO. 12,318/2010 AS A CRITERION OF TYPICALITY

Abstract

This article argues that the legal characterization of parental alienation under Article 2 of Brazilian Law No. 12.318/2010 requires proof of specific intent (dolo específico), understood as the deliberate aim to damage the child’s bond with the other parent. Through a technical and grammatical analysis of the expression "para que" ("so that") contained in the statutory definition, the study demonstrates that parental alienation is not constituted by impulsive or maladroit behaviors, nor by conflicts arising naturally from post-divorce dynamics, but rather by conduct intentionally directed at undermining the child’s emotional connection with the targeted parent. To support this thesis, the article draws upon criminal law doctrine and case law from other sanctioning branches of law, such as civil procedure and administrative law, highlighting the growing demand for qualified volitional elements as a threshold for typification. The study also incorporates Douglas Darnall’s typology of alienators as an interpretative tool, distinguishing cases that demonstrate specific intent from those that call for educational or conciliatory measures. Furthermore, it contends that false accusations of parental alienation, when driven by a desire to defame the custodial parent and conceal one’s own parental dysfunction, also fulfill the normative elements of the legal provision and should themselves be treated as alienating acts. The methodology combines bibliographic review, jurisprudential analysis, and statistical data, with the aim of proposing a dogmatically coherent and functionally effective interpretation of Law No. 12.318/2010, one that prevents its trivialization and safeguards its protective purpose.