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Splitting up where children are involved is tricky. Especially when it ends up in the family courts. It\u2019s even more tricky when a child decides they don\u2019t want a relationship with one of the parents.

Over the last two decades a controversial psychological concept has emerged to describe a situation where children - for no apparent reason - decide they don\u2019t want to see one parent. It\u2019s called parental alienation.

Women\u2019s rights organisations argue parental alienation is used to gaslight abused women. Fathers\u2019 rights organisations claim that some mothers make up allegations of abuse to prevent them from seeing their children. And children are caught in the middle.

Sonia Sodha explores the polarizing concept of \u201cparental alienation\u201d and asks how a contested psychological theory has evolved into an increasingly common allegation in the UK family courts.

Producer: Gemma Newby