Battered Woman Syndrome

Critique of the "Battered Woman Syndrome" Model

By Mary Ann Dutton, Ph.D.
The George Washington University

Introduction
Although widely misunderstood even among legal professionals, "battered woman syndrome" is not a legal defense. It is one approach to explaining battered women's experiences. Like other "social framework testimony," ( Vidmar & Schuller, in press ), expert testimony concerning battering and its effects is used in the legal system to help a judge or jury better understand a battered woman's experience ( Federal Rules of Evidence 702 ). The purpose of this paper is to offer a critique of the concept battered woman syndrome as a means of framing battered women's experiences ( Gordon & Dutton, 1996 ).

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Review of the concept battered woman syndrome
The concept of battered woman syndrome has evolved from its inception in the late 1970's. Initially, it was conceptualized as "learned helplessness," a condition used to explain a victim's inability to protect herself against the batterer's violence that developed following repeated, but failed, efforts to do so ( Walker, 1977-78 ). Another early formulation of battered woman syndrome referred to the the cycle of violence ( Walker, 1984 ), a theory that describes the dynamics of the batterer's behavior. The cycle of violence theory can be used to explain how battered victims are drawn back into the relationship when the abuser is contrite and attentive following the violence. More recently, battered woman syndrome has been defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ( Walker, 1992 ), a psychological condition that results from exposure to severe trauma. Among other things, PTSD can explain why a battered victim may react, because of flashbacks and other intrusive experiences resulting from prior victimization, to a new situation as dangerous, even when it is not.

In the courtroom, expert testimony concerning domestic violence can be offered for various purposes: (1) to show that a defendant is a battered woman, (2) to explain a battered woman's state of mind, (3) to generally support a claim (e.g., when a battered victim is suing a batterer for damages) or the validity of a particular defense (i.e., when a battered victim is the defendant), (4) to explain a battered woman's conduct, (5) to explain a battered woman's recantation or resistance to prosecution (i.e., when a battered victim is witness in prosecution case), (6) to bolster a battered woman's credibility, or (7) to explain the existence of mitigating factors (i.e., for purposes of sentencing when a battered woman has been found guilty in a criminal trial) ( Parish, 1996 ). Statutes and case law vary from state to state and across federal jurisdictions; in some, this testimony is referred to as "battered woman syndrome." The critique that follows derives from the view that syndrome language generally, and battered woman syndrome more specifically, is inadequate to the task of describing battered women's experience, whether for purposes of expert testimony, counseling, or advocacy.