Abstract This paper presents information regarding the nature of aggressive relationships, as well as the psychological consequences ensuing from recurring abuse. Specifically, studies and laws relating to the battered woman syndrome are highlighted in order to elucidate the occurrence of repeated abuse that form a battered woman's insights, making her believe that she is in danger of impending death or physical injury.
From the Paper "Domestic assault is frequently fraction of a much bigger system of controlling, forcing, threatening, as well as violent behaviors employed by a batterer to restrain the victim. The violence reasons"or probably will reason"a considerable gap in authority and sovereignty amid the batterer and the victim, as well as it harshly compromises the victim's sovereignty."
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts the female and male perspectives on the roles of a husband and wife in marriage, by using two articles, one written by a man and the other by a woman. The articles examined by the author are, "I Want a Wife," written by Judy Brady and published in Ms. Magazine in 1971, and ?Help! I Want My Wife Back," written by "Guardner", that was published on the internet in 2001. Some of the topics discussed are gender issues, grievances, needs of both partners and how expectations are different depending on your sex.
From the Paper "Second issue is whether all married woman share the same feeling of neglect and exploitation as expressed in Judy Brady's article. Well there can be a long debate about the issue, but I think that the alteration in the attitudes of partners after getting married as discussed in Guardner's article is logically attributable to the grievances expressed in Judy Brady's article since the otherwise cannot be proved. The reason is the same, expectations. Husband and wife have, most of the times, too high expectations from each other. It is not at times possible for the other partner to continuously come up to the expectations of his or her spouse when in fact, invariably they want to. The lack of communication and unawareness of the problem adds fuel to the fire and the relationship gets more and more strained."
Abstract This paper discusses marriage and suppression in the two short stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "Astronomer's Wife" by Kay Boyle. It also looks at the different reactions of the female characters to their marriage.
From the Paper "One of the basic building blocks of society is the nuclear family where one plus one equals three. Contrasting political and social view points, aside if the two sexes did not occasionally ...|
Tags: Kay Boyle, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Yellow Wallpaper, Astronomer's Wife, marriage, suppression
Abstract This book review examines the nature of mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese immigrant experience as reflected in Any Tan's novel "The Kitchen God's Wife." The review discusses the common themes in Tan's novels, such as cultural conflict often seen between the generations. These themes are further analyzed in terms of the characters' personalities and experiences. The reviewer also considers some of the literary devices that the author used to illustrate these conflicts. The paper also cites various literary critics' opinions of the novel.
From the Paper "With these two elements in mind, this paper provides a discussion and analysis of the "immigrant experiences" of Weili and Pearl. While Pearl is already considered an assimilated member of the American culture, her identity as Chinese-American persists, making this 'immigrant experience' not only applicable to her mother, but to her as well. This paper posits that the immigrant experience is best demonstrated through two recurrent themes in the novel: cultural conflict and the persistence of reality over 'made-up' history, or fictional personal history."
Abstract This paper discusses the development of the concept of the batteredwife and the use of the batteredwife 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."
Tags: rights PTSD trauma rational, domestic violence
Abstract This paper examines battered women syndrome (BWS), women who serve indeterminate life sentences for killing a spouse or intimate partner that was abusing them. It provides a history of BWS, looks at the 'types' of batterings that lead to this syndrome such as physical and sexual and evaluates parole in the state of California by reviewing recent events. It analyzes various cases of women who are eligible for parole, but are not paroled. The paper leans toward the side of battered women who have served their sentences and should be granted parole.
From the Paper "There are many elements to Battered Women's Syndrome, which makes the definition of this phenomenon broad and complex. The predominant types of battering that lead to this syndrome are physical, sexual, and psychological battering (NVADV). Battering may include emotional abuse, economic abuse, sexual abuse, using children, threats, using male privilege, intimidation, isolation, and a variety of other behaviors used to maintain fear, intimidation and power. The California Board of Prison Terms defines BWS as a series of common characteristics that appear in women who are physically and/or psychologically abused, over an extended period of time, by a dominant male figure in their lives (BPT). In all cultures, the perpetrators are most commonly the men of the family."
Abstract The findings of research studies over time have been consistent in associating the phenomenon of intimate partner violence with intergenerational transmission, low socioeconomic status, social and structural stress, social isolation and personality factors of both perpetrators and victims. This paper shows that most prior research in the area of intimate partner violence has focused on the identification and assessment of inter-individual variations in behaviors and life experiences. An alternative approach to such research is a focus on intra-individual variations in the behaviors of individuals involved in intimate partner relationships. Literature is reviewed in this paper in support of a proposed study that will investigate the metamotivational states of male batterers through a focus on intra-individual variations within a framework of reversal theory. Following the literature review, research questions and hypotheses are developed for the study proposed to investigate the metamotivational states or modes of male batterers.
From the Paper "Self-awareness theory is concerned with the ways through which individuals control and direct their behavior (Wicklund, 1975). Within a sociological context, the relationship between self-awareness and social identity is perceived as a realization by an individual of variations between their own self-image and the ideal self-image associated with a salient reference group, and a response by an individual to such a realization (Abrams, 1994). Within the context of cognitive psychology, the self-awareness/social identity relationship is described in "terms of control theory, in which negative feedback loops operate to enable individuals to match their behaviour to particular standards" (Abrams, 1994, pp. 90-91)."
A research paper which proves that criminal law in America has failed to provide a defense that adequately protects women suffering from Battered Women's Syndrome.
2,900 words (approx. 11.6 pages), 5 sources, 2002, $ 106.95
Abstract Battered Women's Syndrome, or BWS, is a very complex psychological problem facing criminal courts today and has caused great debate on whether or not it should even be allowed in the courtroom. United States courtrooms, instead of protecting battered women, have put these women on trial and found them guilty of murder.
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the case study by Fraser and Crittendon and the problem facing battered women in the United States today. It then provides a SWOT analysis of the organization, Battered Women Fighting Back! Relevant recommendations and a summary of the research are provided in the conclusion.
From the Paper "While there has been some progress made in recent years to help battered women in the United States deal with their problem, the issue remains at the forefront of the public's attention thanks to the efforts of authors such as Jennifer Fraser and Victoria L. Crittendon. In their case study, "Battered Women Fighting Back!," Fraser and Crittendon provide an overview of how the organization was started as a prison-based support group in 1992 by Stacey Kabat. Over the years, the group's focus expanded to include providing educational materials and services designed to increase public awareness of the problems facing battered women and what could be done to ameliorate the situation."
Abstract This six-page paper deals with Battered Women's Syndrome and how the Law has had trouble recognizing the issue. However it also discusses and illustrates how the US senate has recognized this problem of Violent Acts against women.
Abstract By analyzing the story "The Wife of Bath" by Geoffrey Chaucer in his "Canterbury Tales", this paper examines the Wife's views on the topic of sovereinitee (or dominance) in marriage as revealed in her Prologue, and analyzes how her opinions on the subject influence her Tale. It analyzes the Wife's identification with the old woman in her Tale, or rather, how the wife projects her own opinions and concerns on the character of the old woman and includes close readings of passages from the Tale. It also discusses how the Wife's construction of the old woman reveals the importance she places on female sexuality as a form of agency, as the main tool for gaining power, or sovereinitee, in marriage. Through the character of the old woman, the Wife reveals her fear of growing old and losing her most powerful weapon.
From the Paper "In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale focus on the power relations between husbands and wives, and on which party should have ?sovereinetee,? or dominion, over the other. The wife herself believes, not in equality between husbands and wives, but in a wife's control over her husband. She and Janekin struggle for this "sovereinetee" during their fight at the end of the Prologue. She justifies her belief by insisting that both husband and wife may only coexist in contentment and satisfaction if the wife achieves domination. Once the Wife wins complete control, she no longer needs to manipulate Janekin to gain power; her weapons of manipulation, primarily her sexuality, become pointless and she can give him whatever pleasure he desires. Her Tale is strongly biased by her own, often uninformed, opinions, and mirrors her views on the subject of marriage and "sovereinetee". The knight's wedding night with the old woman, in particular, mirrors the Wife's power struggle with Janekin, for the old woman in the Wife's Tale seems to represent an idealized version of the Wife herself. The old woman's ability to become young again serves as a scenario of wish-fulfillment on the part of the Wife, who has concerns about getting old since her sexuality comprises her main form of agency, serving as weapon for her to gain power in marriage. Without her looks, she is scared of losing power in the struggle for domination. She fully reveals this fear and the desire to remain young in her description of the old woman, who initially has no power over her husband since she cannot control him sexually, but also has the ability to return to youth and thus regain her power."
Abstract This paper compares the "Wife of Bath'"s prologue to the tale told by the "Wife of Bath" in the "Canterbury Tales" and shows that it is clear that her words demonstrate an unfair treatment of wives by their men. In addition, the male characters in both aspects of her story show only a tendency for abuse and for violence unless they listen to their women and grant them respect.
Abstract In his work, "The Canterbury Tales", Geoffrey Chaucer describes a pilgrimage, or journey, taken by several very different individuals. One of these individuals is known as the Wife of Bath. A very intriguing woman, the Wife of Bath gives her fellow pilgrims a rather lengthy history of her life in the prologue to her obligatory tale. Yet, as she continues on, her tale is much more complex, and somewhat puzzling, based on her previous self-portrait. This paper discusses how Chaucer forces his readers to wonder which is a more accurate narration of her personality and how these two, the Prologue and Tale, fit together in the Wife of Bath's characterization.
From the Paper "In the process of setting an example for others, the Wife of Bath is securing her sense of self worth. Although in her prologue she appears confident and bound to her opinions, in actuality she has been influenced by the perceptions of those around her and must reaffirm the significance of her experience. The society in which she lives has, to some extent, dictated the actions of her past. In her prologue, she says that there was no other conceivable reason, given the circumstances, for her to take these men as her husbands other than for her own ease and financial gain; she utilized the situation to her advantage while she had the ability, which is understood to be her youthfulness and vulnerability (WBP, 219-220)."
Abstract The writer argues that the Clerk's Tale tells a story with the opposite view than that of the Wife of Bath's Tale. The paper tries to prove that the Clerk is commenting on the way in which a wife should behave towards her husband. The writer brings a passage from the tale to illustrate this theory.
From the Paper "Petrarch's interpretation of the story, as adopted by Chaucer, is not so much an allegory as an exemplum. In an exemplary story, or a moralized tale, it is customary for the models of human behavior to be presented in extremely unrealistic terms. ?Often highly artificial and to a modern reader incredible, these "examples" seem to have appealed very strongly to medieval congregations because of their concreteness and narrative and human interest, as well as their moral implications? (Holman and Harmon 192). In the case of the Clerk's Tale, Griselda's passivity in allowing her children to be, as she is led to believe, slain without a word of protest is, by any standards of genuine behavior, both preposterous and repugnant. However, the usual understanding of the exemplary mode of narrative screens out such irrelevant incidents, while allowing those elements in the story which contribute to its exemplary significance to be fully exploited."
