Woman Hackneyed Syndrome - Research Paper Example

Battered Women Syndrome xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Battered Women Syndrome xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Instructor Battered woman defense syndrome is a legal defense term that frequently finds its way in court especially in the cases where the person accused of having committed murder or having carried out an assault was undergoing a battered person syndrome at the very time the incident is reported to have taken place or occurred. This medical condition has been biased with the application of law however it tends to cut across the various sex groups in that both men and women could actually have the condition affecting them. This condition is thought to be responsible for invoking a self defense mechanism in a person who is affected1. This condition mainly would result from one being under constant domestic violence which at most times will tend to involve physical abuse of the partner by another and this results in depression of the aggrieved partner and this makes them to be limited and often unable to take any independent action that would enable them to be able to actually escape the abuse and hence those people who are abused tend to neither seek help from others about their condition, get away from the abuser nor even fight the abuser. This condition thus makes the aggrieved to have a low self esteem and to have the guilt that what might have transpired or might have resulted in the abuse was their fault. This makes those have this condition to be most vulnerable to refusing to press charges against the abuser as well as refusing any form of help that might be offered to them and could even go ahead to show their resistance towards help given to them by being aggressive as well as abusive towards those trying to assist or offer help or assistance2. As a theory, battered woman syndrome was put forward by an American psychologist and feminist, Lenore walker after carrying out an interview of female victims who had undergone domestic violence. She came to a conclusion that violence takes place in cycles and that each cycle was made up of three stages3. The three stages would include: Tension building stage in which the victim tries to pacify the abuser or aggressor and this often involves the victim undergoing verbal abuse or even to some extent minor physical abuse such as slaps. Acute battering incident is the second stage which will be characterized by perceived danger as well as real danger itself. Loving contrition is the third and final stage and this will involve the battering of the victim by the abuser and this occurs as a result of the abuser discharging his tension. The abuser at this stage might go ahead and apologize to the victim about the incident and even make a promise not to repeat the behavior or incident in the future4. In this theory, Walker went ahead to use martins Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness to try to explain why most of the victims of aggression would tend not to flee or leave those who abuse them. Seligman’s theory was arrived at by using dogs which were constantly subjected to electric shocks and they were not able to escape even after having the possibilities of escaping and walker goes ahead to think that the women who are battered tend to also exhibit the same psychological behavior5. Walker’s theory would tend to rely on psychological as well as the behavior of the victim and the abuser and hence the diagnosis is arrived at after considering the characteristics of both parties. There are several critics of walkers theory and most of the critics argue out that walker tends not to describe the killing of partners. It is argued that those women who are battered would behave passively if at all it was to go in line with walker that the women who are battered will have learned helplessness. It is widely viewed to be more realistic by defining the model of a battered spouse as “survivor” and also goes ahead to point out that walkers theory contradicts itself since killing of a partner who is abusive is in itself not passive behavior. Walker’s theory was based on a narrow group of victims and there was no control group when conducting the study. Dutton & Painter also failed to establish the link between cycles of behavior with Walker’s theory6. In countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, there is growing acceptance of the capabilities of the battered partners going ahead to defend themselves and sometimes going to an extra mile to kill the abusers due to the abusive or life threatening situation they find themselves in and that only killing the abuser for self preservation would actually liberate them from the aggression7. Most court systems find the use of self defense in response to abuse as acceptable especially while using proportionate as well as reasonable violence for this appears to be the most appropriate response. This is evidenced by various cases which found no cases against several battered women who plead for self defense. In the United States however, after the analysis of various cases of women who killed on self defense it came to the realization that self defense was gender biased in terms of the way the trials were conducted as well as nature of its application by the trial judges8. There were several incidences where self defense by use of excessive force was justified and this included situations such as provocation, insanity as well as diminished responsibility. Killing in the name of self defense has also seen many cases lead to acquaintance of the one committing it. For instance in Australia ,the case of Osland v The Queen (1998) tends to very well show the gender biasness when in comes to self defense. In this case, both Heather and David were charged of murder for the killing of Frank Osland who had repeatedly been abusing them physically, sexually as well as psychologically for 13 years .in this case David was acquitted even after striking the fatal blow on the basis of self defense whereas Heather was sentenced 14 and a half years in prison after being convicted of murder (at para 54):9 The defense of the BWS is always that the victims of the abuse are often traumatized psychologically to an extent that they cannot be able to be capable of forming thoughts that are rational thus they are not able to be responsible for their violent actions. This if used in courts successfully is able to reduce the end penalty that the offender will receive at the end. For instance in the Mary Winkler’s trial case, the defense was able to argue that she was faced with post traumatic stress disorder which was able to impair her to commit a first degree murder. According to the psychological criteria for diagnostic, BWS is a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder. In as mush as the conviction in this case involved the intention to kill, the offender had no prior intention of committing murder. Thus, the penalty of a voluntary manslaughter is considerably lower than that of murder. The offender will have to serve a jail term of up to 6 years as opposed to a life time jail sentence for the offenders found guilty of murder10. For a successful BWS defense, the victim must be able to prove without reasonable doubt that she was being abused and her violent actions were justified to provide self defense as she was in imminent harm. Most problems arise to form a valid justification of the cases as many victims of abuse often prefer to keep the forms of abuse silent and privately avoiding the public especially in episodes that are rough. This makes it hard to determine whether the woman is trying to utilize the fact of her relationship being abusive to justify her acts in cases where abuse evidences are limited11. The justification of the acts by a woman claiming to have been a domestic violence victim is often linked to the availability of evidence of violence that is independent. Successful cases of self defense are always considered to be well led by the corroborative evidences from experts and the other witnesses. To satisfy 'abnormality of the mind' the requirements of this defense under the Homicide Act must demonstrate that he suffered from an arising from a condition of arrested or retarded development of mind or any inherent causes, or was induced by disease or injury; and that the said abnormality substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts in doing or being a party to a killing12. The defense is commonly used by women and there has not been any medical classification supporting the existence of the syndrome. This defense has therefore been historically been summoned in the court system and used by various lawyers. The defense is said to be self defense from an abuser and it is not gender specific. The condition of the offender has been used as evidence in the sense that due to constant and severe domestic violence for example physical abuse from a partner, a person becomes incapable of taking an independent action for the to escape the physical abuse13. Several courts are therefore for the idea of using this condition to support various defenses in murder charge or to mitigate a sentence. However, Battered Woman Syndrome should not be taken as a legal defense though it may legally comprise of various aspects such as self defense for example if there is a proportionate level of violence in reaction to physical abuse. In 1996 in England, the court found no case where a battered woman pleaded self defense. However, some researchers have shown that self defense is gender biased as they mostly apply on trials of women who have murdered on self defense. Provocation may also reduce the sentence of a battered woman as it gives an excuse of a temporary loss of control leading to a provocative conduct sufficient to justify a discharge. This may therefore ease the sentence as provocation accounts for the defendant’s state of mind at the time when the act took place14. The common law for example in UK and Canada, provocation defense is available against charge of murder and act by way of reducing the conviction for example from murder to manslaughter. However, provocation is not a defense presented in civil torts of assault but some guidelines show that if the wrong conducts of a victim contribute to provoking the offender’s behavior or state of mind, then the court may consider reducing the sentence. Provocation is however controversial in several ways as it enables the defendant to receive moderate treatment for being provoked. Other circumstances that may be used in defense include insanity and diminished responsibility15. The Supreme Court in Canada in the R v Lavallee (1990) case took in to account the background and other elated experiences to come in to a conclusion that justified that she believed to be at risk of serious bodily harm or even death. The circumstances had also to prove that she was obliged to use force to be able to preserve herself. A review into this case was ordered by the minister of justice in October of 1995 under judge Ratushny in accordance to the law as applied to the previous 98 cases that had involved women who had been battered. The verdict of the cases found that two of the women had been provoked in to killing for resisting sexual advances from their respective victims. In the other cases the victims had been subject to verbal abuses by their victims. “The legal problem is to determine whether a person's actions are reasonable. It is customary to adopt a reasonable person test but the fairness of the test may be skewed by decisions on which characteristics and life experiences should be incorporated into the knowledge base. The Canadian courts have held that the common sense assumptions made by jurors on spousal abuse may be erroneous and, therefore, expert opinion about the social context of abused spouses should be taken into account in factual determinations. However, there is still a marked lack of success and most female defendants feel obliged to plead provocation”16.   Read More

There are several critics of walkers theory and most of the critics argue out that walker tends not to describe the killing of partners. It is argued that those women who are battered would behave passively if at all it was to go in line with walker that the women who are battered will have learned helplessness. It is widely viewed to be more realistic by defining the model of a battered spouse as “survivor” and also goes ahead to point out that walkers theory contradicts itself since killing of a partner who is abusive is in itself not passive behavior.

Walker’s theory was based on a narrow group of victims and there was no control group when conducting the study. Dutton & Painter also failed to establish the link between cycles of behavior with Walker’s theory6. In countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, there is growing acceptance of the capabilities of the battered partners going ahead to defend themselves and sometimes going to an extra mile to kill the abusers due to the abusive or life threatening situation they find themselves in and that only killing the abuser for self preservation would actually liberate them from the aggression7.

Most court systems find the use of self defense in response to abuse as acceptable especially while using proportionate as well as reasonable violence for this appears to be the most appropriate response. This is evidenced by various cases which found no cases against several battered women who plead for self defense. In the United States however, after the analysis of various cases of women who killed on self defense it came to the realization that self defense was gender biased in terms of the way the trials were conducted as well as nature of its application by the trial judges8.

There were several incidences where self defense by use of excessive force was justified and this included situations such as provocation, insanity as well as diminished responsibility. Killing in the name of self defense has also seen many cases lead to acquaintance of the one committing it. For instance in Australia ,the case of Osland v The Queen (1998) tends to very well show the gender biasness when in comes to self defense. In this case, both Heather and David were charged of murder for the killing of Frank Osland who had repeatedly been abusing them physically, sexually as well as psychologically for 13 years .

in this case David was acquitted even after striking the fatal blow on the basis of self defense whereas Heather was sentenced 14 and a half years in prison after being convicted of murder (at para 54):9 The defense of the BWS is always that the victims of the abuse are often traumatized psychologically to an extent that they cannot be able to be capable of forming thoughts that are rational thus they are not able to be responsible for their violent actions. This if used in courts successfully is able to reduce the end penalty that the offender will receive at the end.

For instance in the Mary Winkler’s trial case, the defense was able to argue that she was faced with post traumatic stress disorder which was able to impair her to commit a first degree murder. According to the psychological criteria for diagnostic, BWS is a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder. In as mush as the conviction in this case involved the intention to kill, the offender had no prior intention of committing murder. Thus, the penalty of a voluntary manslaughter is considerably lower than that of murder.

The offender will have to serve a jail term of up to 6 years as opposed to a life time jail sentence for the offenders found guilty of murder10. For a successful BWS defense, the victim must be able to prove without reasonable doubt that she was being abused and her violent actions were justified to provide self defense as she was in imminent harm. Most problems arise to form a valid justification of the cases as many victims of abuse often prefer to keep the forms of abuse silent and privately avoiding the public especially in episodes that are rough.

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