BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME (BWS) Presentation and Research by: Lauren Hollkamp

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1 BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME (BWS) Presentation and Research by: Lauren Hollkamp

2 Main Research Questions What is BWS, how does it manifest, and how can we help women who have it? How does the legal system deal with BWS? What are the characteristics of women with BWS? Why is chose this topic: I have learned about the cycle of abuse in previous classes, and when we didn t learn about BWS in class I decided it would be a good topic to research and inform others about

3 WHAT IS BWS? Mental disorder that develops in victims of domestic violence as results of serious, long-term abuse (findlaw.com)

4 What is BWS? BWS is categorized under the umbrella of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Women suffering from BWS may suffer from the following symptoms: Intrusive Recollections of the trauma Heightened anxiety levels Emotional numbing & behavior of avoidance Disrupted relationships with people Body image distortion Sexual intimacy issues

5 THE CYCLE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 1. Tension Building 2. Acute battering 3. Honeymoon Phase

6 The Cycle of Domestic Violence Abuser shows shame for behavior Minimizes the abuse may blame it on the victim Tries to convince the victim it will not happen again Victim is convinced that leaving is not necessary Abuser exhibits loving, kind behavior Intimidation and threats from abuser walking on eggshells Tension build over common domestic issues Victim tries to placate abuser, unsuccessfully Not able to predict when the tension will explode Tension peaks Often triggered by an outside event; not by victims behavior Some experts say the victim will trigger this phase early to get to the honeymoon sooner Creates a sense of learned helplessness

7 Characteristics of Battered women Learned Helplessness: a characteristic of battered women in which she becomes so depressed, defeated, and passive that she believes she is incapable of leaving the abusive situation. Traditional sex role attitudes: i.e. woman cooks, man works, etc. Poor self-image Shame Socially isolated Fear of leaving

8 BWS IN THE LAW The Ibn-Tamas trial and how BWS is used in the legal system

9 Ibn-Tamas v. United States Beverly Ibn-Tamas married her husband Dr. Ibn-Tamas in 1972, but their marriage was a frequent alternation between extreme violent episodes and periods of calm. grabbed a revolver, pointed it at her, and yelled you are going to get out of here this morning one way or another In defense, Beverly killed her husband; Mrs. Ibn-Tamas testified that she saw her husband crouching in the open doorway of his office with what she said was a gun in his hand BWS was not allowed as a defense in Beverly s trial, and she was convicted of 2 nd degree murder However, before sentencing, the judge heard expert testimony on BWS, which may have contributed to her sentence of only 2 years in prison

10 BWS & the law Women like Beverly Ibn-Tamas have a few options for their defense: 1. Pleading self defense 2. Using the insanity defense 3. Expert testimony on BWS 4. Judicial Nullification Instruction 5. The best outcome is a mix of expert testimony and judicial nullification

11 Facts about BWS 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime, most within the ages of % of victims are women, however BWS is also known as Battered Person Syndrome 40-60% of police calls at night are regarding domestic abuse Low income families are 3x more likely to suffer domestic abuse in the home BWS is a sub-category of PTSD Contrary to popular belief, The majority of batterers are sober at the time of abuse

12 Problems with BWS There were a few holes with the original research on BWS The majority of women sampled did not even experience all three stages of abuse The experiment had some faulty data collection the experimenters were aware of the experiments hypothesis, leading to a possible experimenter bias Follow up research has failed to fill these holes Based mostly on interviews with women in shelters No set comparison between the women who supposedly have BWS, or with the general population Does not explain why the victim would suddenly become violent

13 Resources for battered women National Domestic Violence Hotline WA State coalition against domestic violence WA state coalition of sexual assault programs

14 Key Terms & Q s Questions What is BWS and what are two common characteristics of women who have it? Describe the cycle of domestic violence and how it leads to BWS Terms Battered Woman Syndrome Learned Helplessness Expert Testimony