The Pinocchio Effect - False Allegations and The Alienated Child
I presume you are all familiar with the story of Pinocchio - the wooden puppet whose nose grew longer every time he lied. Eventually, with the help of his conscience, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio learns to be a good boy and tell the truth, finally achieving his goal of becoming a real boy. Unfortunately, in the case of boys and girls who are being alienated from their fathers by the Evil Queens, this happy ending isn't always these case. These children are often forced to lie so often that eventually the line between lies and reality becomes blurred - they end up believing that what they are being told to say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This is highly concerning as childhood is the time when we learn our morals and values, how to follow the rules of society and, most importantly how to treat other human beings. We have all told lies at some points in our life whether as children ("No, I didn't eat that last piece of cake in the fridge...I h