SHARED CUSTODY AS A LEGAL STRATEGY TO PROTECT THE PARENTAL BOND

Abstract

This study analyzed shared custody as a legal strategy aimed at protecting parental bonds in situations of parental alienation arising from marital breakdowns. It was based on the understanding that the dissolution of cohabitation between parents, especially when marked by intense conflict, tended to produce significant impacts on children and adolescents, compromising their emotional development and their right to balanced family life. In this context, parental alienation was examined as a practice that weakens affective ties and violates fundamental principles of the legal system, notably the best interests of the child and adolescent and human dignity. The research, of a bibliographic and documentary nature, allowed for the verification that shared custody had been consolidated within the Brazilian legal framework as the primary model for exercising parental authority, by promoting parental co-responsibility and ensuring the active participation of both parents in their children’s lives, even after marital separation. It was observed that this custody arrangement contributed to the reduction of alienating practices, by limiting exclusive control over care and encouraging more cooperative relationships between parents. The study concluded that shared custody, when effectively implemented and accompanied by the internalization of the coparenting logic, proved to be a relevant instrument in the prevention and confrontation of parental alienation, strengthening the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents and preserving essential family bonds for their healthy development.