NCJ Number
96919
Journal
Vermont Law Review Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 1-14
Date Published
1982
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The to a battered women's self-defense lies in what perceptions are reasonable for a female victim of violence, as established in the Joan Little case in North Carolina, State v. Garcia, and State v. Warren. The testimony of psychologists in such cases must be based on research on battered women so as not to invade the factfinding province of the jury. In many jurisdictions, however, it is still difficult to get expert testimony admitted.
Abstract
Through research, the authors developed two psychological theories to explain the battered woman syndrome -- learned helplessness and the cycle of violence that moves from tension building to acute battering and then to contrite, loving behavior. They also discovered several types of interactions that frequently occur in abusive relationships and marital homicide cases, such as extreme jealousy and possessiveness of the batterer, social isolation of the couple, threats made by the batterer, and physical or sexual abuse of the children and/or the spouse by the batterer. By comparing a defendant with other battered women in their research, these psychologists were able to determine within professional limits whether the defendant was battered and thus could be expected to follow certain patterns. This approach has experienced a high rate of success in assisting juries to reach favorable verdicts, compared to cases which did not use expert testimony. The article includes 55 footnotes.