Citation

Biggers JR. J. Forensic Psychol. Pract. 2003; 3(3): 1-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J158v03n03_01

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Battered women who kill their partners in self-defense often enter the courtroom facing a variety of obstacles. Although the term “battered woman syndrome” was introduced to the public ambit in the 1970s to promote awareness of minority rights, an immediate evaluation of the effects that courts often adopt as characteristic of the syndrome is necessary to determine if society is really trying to understand the variety of effects that battered women undergo. Evidence and testimony in criminal cases concerning “the cycle of violence” and “learned helplessness” have often been presented in the courtroom in an attempt to establish that the behavior of alleged battered victims falls within the parameters of the battered woman syndrome. However, since the conception and adoption of these two concepts by many courts, researchers have associated other psychological factors to battered women. In a modern society in which women, and minorities alike, are able to reach out and at a time when knowledge of the psychological effects of violence is increasingly becoming known, is vital to the epistemology of battering to admit expert testimony that is relevant and characteristic of each individual battered woman. This article examines some of the psychological and legal issues of battered women who kill their partners in self-defense, particularly those issues that pertain to the admissibility of expert testimony on the self-defense issue.