Feb 27, 2023 09:42
1 yr ago
35 viewers *
French term

OPA (figurative)

French to English Medical Psychology
Case of alleged wrongful child removal.

"LA MISE EN DANGER PSYCHOLOGIQUE, LE SYNDROME D'ALIENATION PARENTAL
DEFINITION

Le syndrome d’aliénation parental (SAP) désigne la manipulation psychologique exercée par un parent pathologique sur son enfant, dans un contexte de couple ou de séparation.
Le but d'une aliénation parentale est de rayer purement et simplement le parent visé de la vie de l’enfant.

CE TROUBLE SE MANIFESTE EN UNE VERITABLE « OPA » SUR LA PENSEE DE L’ENFANT POUR LE TRANSFORMER EN ALLIE DANS UNE GUERRE QUI NE LE CONCERNE PAS ET CONTRE LAQUELLE IL DEVRAIT AU CONTRAIRE ETRE EPARGNE."

I presume (until otherwise enlightened) that this means "Offre Publique d'Achat", or in other words "takeover bid", used in a figurative sense.

But I don't think we could use "takeover bid" in English. I wonder whether a similarly dramatic but more commonly used expression exists in English to express this idea.

Discussion

Mpoma (asker) Feb 27, 2023:
@Samuël Yes, that's certainly the idea. But I'm hoping to find some expression which has something dramatic, possibly figurative, about it.

And ideally which might conceivably or habitually be used when talking about this form of emotional abuse.

"Annexation" might fit quite nicely with the allusions to war ... possibly. Has any English-speaking psychiatrist/psychologist ever, in the history of humanity, talked of a child's mind/thoughts being "annexed", though?
Mpoma (asker) Feb 27, 2023:
@Charles Je n'en suis pas le rédacteur, rien qu'un humble rond-de-cuir, sans aucun droit de porter jugement sur les capacités litéraires de mes clients estimés.
Samuël Buysschaert Feb 27, 2023:
indoctrination maybe?
Just an idea,

"the process of repeating an idea or belief to someone until they accept it without criticism or question"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/dictionnaire/anglais/ind...
Charles R. Feb 27, 2023:
What a... ...high-quality ST! "Une guerre contre laquelle il devrait au contraire être épargné", ça pique...

Proposed translations

+4
4 hrs
Selected

mind control // hostile takeover

Mind control is less figurative, but it's the overall meaning here.
Nevertheless the term "hostile takeover", which is literal, could almost fit.

For detailed english vocabulary on this subject, check ref.
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : I particularly like 'hostile takeover'.
14 mins
agree Ilian DAVIAUD
1 hr
agree FPC : Yes, mind control
9 hrs
agree AllegroTrans
6 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+3
1 hr

brainwashing, whitewashing

"As a family lawyer, I have seen the impact on children and parent first hand. I acted for a father whose ex-wife sought to totally whitewash him out of the children’s lives removing all photographs and evidence of his mere existence from the former family home and even removing from the children every single comforter and soft toy given to them by their father over the years. When he would see them, the mother would tell the children he had chosen to leave, he would argue this was not true. The only casualties? The children caught in the middle."
https://eachother.org.uk/parental-alienation-court-initiativ...

"When Parents Brainwash Their Kids
“Parental alienation” is the idea that one parent can maliciously turn a child against the other parent for no good reason. Dr. Richard Warshak calls it “divorce poison.”
“The kids hear a steady drumbeat about a parent’s flaws and lies that portray the parent as unloving and unworthy of love,” explained Warshak, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and author of "Divorce Poison." "
https://abcnews.go.com/US/divorcing-parents-brainwashing-chi...
Note from asker:
Yup, "brainwashing" is probably about as close as one can get.
Peer comment(s):

agree FPC
12 hrs
agree Anastasia Kalantzi
4 days
agree AllegroTrans
7 days
Something went wrong...
1 hr

overriding (rational) thinking

Brain Development: The Effect of Interventions on Children ...
National Institutes of Health (.gov)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › N...
·
Traduire cette page
21
de EL Grigorenko · 2017 · Cité 18 fois — The overriding principle of neuroplasticity is that behavioral change is associated with a specific gain or loss of synapses within neuronal

Adolescent Brain Development: Implications for Parents
Fostering Perspectives
https://fosteringperspectives.org › b...
·
Traduire cette page
Adapted from Children's Services Practice Notes, v. ... the desire for rewards and social pressures overrides rational thinking (Steinberg, 2007; Galvan, ...
Peer comment(s):

neutral AllegroTrans : yes, this is what happens but I think your suggestion is too mild by comparison to the source text
7 days
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search