Battered Women Syndrome

Battered Woman Syndrome

All syndromes are defined by different occurrences that happen to a person. They are usually determined by an expert like a psychologist. A syndrome some women have to face is battered woman syndrome. Battered Women Syndrome is a series of characteristics in women who are physically and psychologically abused by a dominant male in their lives. These women learn helplessness and dependency; sometimes these characteristics originate from childhood if they were abused. BWS is not considered a disease; they are hostages who look to their partner to survive because of low self esteem.

A woman must experience two cycles, before she can be labeled a "battered woman". Phase one - the tension building stage during which verbal abuse and minor battering incidents occur, but are quickly covered up. These little episodes of violence gradually increase in frequency and severity. At this stage, the woman puts a lot of energy into trying to calm the batterer down. She may try to please him to keep him from becoming more abusive or may just try to stay out of his way. In some relationships this tension building stage can go on for years. In others it lasts only days. During this part of the cycle the batterer becomes more and more threatening and she finds it more and more difficult to cope with his behavior. When the acute attack is over, it is usually followed by shock, denial and disbelief. Phase two- The Explosion, this is the most violent part of the cycle. It is also the shortest. During phase two his rage is totally out of control and she is often severely beaten before he is able to regain his composure. When the acute attack is over, it is usually followed by shock, denial and disbelief. The batterer cannot believe what he's done and the woman feels violated and hopeless. Phase three- the honeymoon phase, the batterer realizes he has gone too far. In most cases he is genuinely sorry for what he has done and believes that he will never do it again. His worst fear is that she will leave him and he does everything he can to make sure that doesn't happen. Both of them sincerely want to make the relationship work. During this phase, when he is being so charming and loving, she gets a glimpse of how wonderful their marriage could be. She wants to believe that he loves her and she wants to believe that he will change; so she convinces herself that he can do it. She chooses to believe that the behavior she sees during phase three is what her man is really like. She hopes the brutal side will disappear. (http://www3.telus.net/cythera/id24.htm)

In order for the Battered Woman Syndrome claim to be used, expert testimony is essential. This is needed to give proof to the argument that justifies why the woman killed her husband. She must provide proof that the expert who she has chosen is qualified in the field. A lot of people think this is much like the "insanity" defense because of the experts brought in such as psychologists and psychiatrists and also because of the word "syndrome'. (http://www.aaets.org/article138.htm)

The sixth amendment states that in all criminal trials, the accused has the right to present a defense. Courts do decide whether or not some one has a case or not. Courts should not limit the kinds of defenses that people are allowed to use in a case, limiting types of defenses means you might be stripping someone of their innocence. Battered women already have to go through a lot in this country to gain respect. Being dependent and helpless makes it hard for women to gain respect, especially if she has to kill someone just to get back a sense of control. They should be allowed to use self defense as a defense to why they did what they needed to do. (http://www.psychologyandlaw.com/battered.htm)

Women claim to have been battered for a wide variety of purposes ranging from the justification theory of self-defense (killing the batterer was justified and I should therefore not be punished), grounds for temporary insanity (I was insane from the battering and could not appreciate the criminality of the act of killing), negating an important element of the criminal charge (I could not form criminal intent), diminished capacity (similar to insanity), to mitigating circumstances to reduce the punishment if found guilty (the sentence should be less because I was battered).( http://www.psychologyandlaw.com/battered.htm)

Battered Women Syndrome in the courts might not be that good because if a woman kills a man then she can use that as an excuse. Women all over would then be accusing a male in their life of abuse and some will be let go. This could just be used as a plea to get themselves out of trouble and or a reduced sentence or a license to kill. If someone came home and found their spouse in bed with another lover, but has never raised a hand too her and she killed him, she could turn around and say that he beat her and she was afraid for the safety of the other woman.

Murder no matter to what degree is wrong. If it is justified for one case then it would only be fair if it were justifiable in other cases, such as the hockey dad case. Junta got kicked out of the rink because his son and another mans son were go after each other on the ice. They said some words and so Junta left. He had then come back in to get his son when he and the other guy got into an altercation, which wound up in death. This would open doors for defense attorneys to convince the jury and judge that if these women are let off even though they killed someone, then their client