Citation

Ho R, Venus M. Aust. J. Psychol. 1995; 47(3): 153-159.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Australian Psychological Society, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00049539508257517

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study employs attributional analysis to investigate lay persons' reactions to a battered woman who kills her abusive spouse. Specifically, the study was designed to test the hypotheses that (a) presentation of battered woman syndrome (BWS) information will exert a positive influence on respondents' reactions to a battered woman for her fatal action, (b) female respondents will react more positively towards the battered woman than male respondents in both pre- and post-presentation of BWS information, and (c) the process by which respondents come to form judgements of guilt and sentencing severity will follow Werner's (1979,1986) attribution-affect-action model for motivated behaviour. A total of 203 respondents (98 males, 105 females) from the Darwin metropolitan area completed questionnaires designed to elicit information relevant to the present study. Results indicated that females judged the battered woman less severely than did males, both pre- and post-BWS information. Path analysis suggests that judgements of guilt and sentencing severity were related both directly and indirectly, via affect, to responsibility attribution. However, the results offered only moderate support for the positive effect of BWS information. These findings are discussed in relation to their implications for the introduction of BWS information to Australian courts, and for the ongoing education of the general public with regard to the nature and effects of domestic violence.

Language: en