Battered Person Syndrome

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the development of the concept of the battered wife and the use of the battered wife syndrome defense in a court of law. It then goes on to discuss the equality of this law and the emergence of the battered husband defense. The paper argues that the courts need to look at each case on its own merits with the same criteria for both men and women.

From the Paper:

"Many individuals are upset about this decision. Given the unequal treatment of women over the history of the United States and that there still exist questions of equality of the two genders in many aspects of society, it is understandable that those who support women's rights are not pleased about this ruling. Also, much of this concern rightly comes from the fact that many battered women have been left unprotected by a society that refused to protect them. When many of these women chose life over death, they were prosecuted and had to spend many years improperly imprisoned. Those in the legal profession did not know or care enough or were too biased to defend these women based on their abusive situations."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brewin, C.R., Andrews, B. and Valentine, J.D. (2000): Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consultative Clinical Psychology 68(5): 748-766.
• Dutton, D.G. (1995) Trauma symptoms and PTSD-like profiles in perpetrators of intimate abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stess. 8(2).
• Hamel, J. (2007) Toward a gender-inclusive conception of intimate partner violence research and theory: part 1--traditional perspectives. International Journal of Men's Health. 6(1)
• Johansen, V.A., Wahl, A.K., Eilertsen, D.E., Weisaeth, L. and Hanestad, B.L.(2007). The predictive value of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms for quality of life: a longitudinal study of physically injured victims of non-domestic violence. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 5: 26+
• Jones, L and Hughes, M. (2001). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Victims of Domestic Violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2(2), 99-11

More papers on Battered Person Syndrome:

• Term Paper # 140078 : "Psychology of Criminal Conduct and Battered Woman Syndrome"
• Essay # 31405 : "The Battered Woman Syndrome and Criminal Law"
• Term Paper # 120143 : "Battered Woman's Syndrome"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: