Battered Woman Syndrome in the Courts

Abstract

The definition, validity, and applicability of the Battered Woman Syndrome to legal cases were reviewed to determine the current status and meaningfulness of this concept for battered women's cases. In light of definitional problems and research investigating factors considered markers of this syndrome, the Battered Woman Syndrome appears unsupportable as a true syndrome or as a well‐defined and validated concept. The usefulness of this syndrome for court cases is considered along the following issues: problems with syndrome evidence in general, problems with placing this syndrome within the context of legal defenses of justification vs. excuse, problems with clarifying the uses of and purposes for the syndrome in these cases, and potential negative effects of introducing the Battered Woman Syndrome as it currently is conceptualized. The article addresses whether applying Battered Woman Syndrome to battered women defendants is a questionable practice both in terms of its validity and its direct links to legal concepts. While commentators generally conclude that the Battered Woman Syndrome is not a valid or useful concept, research data concerning battered women is still potentially applicable to inform aspects of battered women's cases. Examples of the usefulness of research about battered women for court cases are given. Ideas for assessment of battered women in reference to mental status issues in these cases were provided.

Battered Woman Syndrome as a Legal Defense: History, Effectiveness, and Implications

“…There is still not much research on the actual syndrome itself. In her 2003 review of use of the BWS in court, Diane Follingstad (2003) pointed out that the only empirical study on whether it was actually a syndrome was a study that I did with Susan Painter (Dutton & Painter, 1993). We found that three aspects of the syndromenegative self-esteem, trauma symptoms, and continuing attachment to the abuserwere statistically related in groups of battered women who had left the relationship.…”

Intimate partner violence: gender issues and the adjudication of homicide and other cases

“…Attorneys may thus lack the confidence to vigorously defend a client at trial, and too often accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge, with all its attendant economic and social ramifications. It is also common for attorneys to conflate true battering, which involves a pattern of physical and emotional abuse, with less consequential situational violence, or to incorrectly assume that Walker's (1983) three-phase cycle of violence is representative of all IPV dynamics; and many attorneys continue to rely on Walker's original conception of the battered women syndrome despite its serious limitations, rather than emphasize the role of trauma and PTSD, which has much stronger empirical support (Follingstad, 2003;Hamel, 2014).…”

My Back Pages

“…Walker (1984) had discussed a battered woman syndrome (BWS) she thought occurred on repeated exposure to severe battering, and which consisted of lower self-esteem, traumalike anxiety and idealization to the abuser (a form of symbolic attachment). Follingstad (2003) assessed Walker's BWS (relevance to traumatic bonding) and concluded that the Painter (1993a, 1993b) studies were the only empirical studies of BWS. Follingstad concluded that it had not been established that the syndrome always followed exposure to battering or even always took the same form.…”