The Children Say It Was Abusive. by Hannah Dreyfus (Propublica) After years of therapy, the boys continued to report they were being harmed by their father and violently resisted visitation with him. They were sent to a reunification camp that claims to remedy parental alienation, a disputed psychological theory in which one parent is accused of brainwashing a child to turn them against the other parent. Reunification programs allow overburdened family court judges to outsource some of that difficult decision-making: An order to participate effectively transfers to the person running the camp the power to decide if and when a parent can contact their child, regardless of the court’s previous custody rulings. This transfer of power generally lasts from the time the court order is issued until the camp director determines the treatment has been successful.