Jurors' Decisions in Trials of Battered Women Who Kill: The Role of Prior Beliefs and Expert Testimony¹

Abstract

The present research explored the influence of four factors on mock jurors' decisions in a homicide trial involving a battered woman who killed her abusive husband: (a) jurors' preexisting beliefs about wife abuse, (b) the presence of expert testimony on the battered woman syndrome, (c) jurors' beliefs in a just world, and (d) gender. Mock jurors listened to a trial involving a woman who had killed her abuser, which either contained expert testimony or did not, and then rendered various judgments about the case. Results indicated that those individuals who were more informed about the dynamics of abuse and those exposed to the expert testimony, compared to their respective counterparts, were more believing of the battered woman's account of what occurred. In general, weak believers in a just world were more lenient in their judgments, with verdicts of not guilty being associated with weaker beliefs in a just world than guilty verdicts. Weak believers in a just world also felt that the expert testimony applied more to the defendant than did strong believers. Finally, women who were weak believers in a just world were less likely to hold the defendant responsible for the events and to be more informed about the dynamics of abuse following the experiment.

Racial Composition of Couples in Battered Spouse Syndrome Cases: A Look at Juror Perceptions and Decisions

“…Beyond these differences in perceptions about IPV and the woman's situation, there were also important gender differences in verdict decisions, whereby female jurors were more likely to vote not guilty on the grounds of self-defense than were male jurors. This significant gender disparity in mock jurors' perceptions about IPV is consistent with prior research (Locke & Richman, 1999;Schuller et al, 1994). Given what it is known about IPV, the cycle of abuse (Walker, 1984), and prevalence rates of IPV (Breiding et al, 2014;Durose et al, 2005), it appears that men's perceptions about IPV continue to be skewed.…”

Attitudes Toward Battered Women Who Kill

“…Men perceived more options available to the defendant other than killing, were less likely to believe that the defendants fit the typology of a battered woman, and thought that both women were more in control of their behavior and emotions at the time of the killing. The present research is consistent with previous studies that have found men tend to assign harsher judgments to battered women defendants (Aubrey & Ewing, 1989;Dodge & Greene, 1991;Schneider, 2000;Schuller, Smith, & Olson, 1994;Terrance & Matheson, 2003;Terrance, Matheson, & Spanos, 2000).…”

Social Support Opinions1

“…The finality that directive support affords would suit those whose cognitive style favors certainty and structure. Further, directive helping may correspond to just‐world beliefs and the victim blaming that these beliefs promote (Schuller et al., 1994). If copers' difficulties are attributed to their own poor judgment or other flaws, there is less reason to endorse the remedies that copers develop, and more reason to impose solutions upon them.…”

“…Another cognitive challenge of support is that copers' problems often contradict implicit beliefs in a just world (e.g., Lerner, 1980). In fact, people with high just-world beliefs are more likely to blame victims for their problems (Schuller, Smith, & Olson, 1994).…”