Discuss the battered women syndrome. What is the criticism against the use of battered woman syndrome in legal proceedings?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.The battered woman syndrome was hypothesized to contain several elements: learned helplessness about escaping the violence; social isolation and economic dependence on the abuser; increasing fearfulness about sustaining serious harm or being killed in the future; diminished self-esteem, guilt, and shame; and hypervigilance about signs of imminent violence. Though these remain useful descriptive aspects of this particular form of trauma, legal proceedings call for a broader framework that is better supported empirically. This could be accomplished by an evaluation to determine whether the victim meets the criteria for PTSD under DSM-5.But any use of battered woman syndrome in legal proceedings provides a good example of how this (as well as other) mental health syndromes and diagnoses must be carefully considered for their relevance and accuracy in court. One particular critique of the battered woman syndrome notes that (a) there is no single profile of a battered woman; (b) there is no single profile of the effects of battering; (c) the name of the syndrome itself is vague, without a clearly defined set of criteria to operationalize it; (d) battered woman syndrome (or any other syndrome or diagnosis) is not uniquely relevant to understanding domestic violence; (e) the relevant information needed in such cases extends beyond the psychological impact of battering, to include the dynamics of violence, the victim's responses, the short- and long-term outcomes of these efforts, and the context of the abuse; and (f) the term creates an image of pathology. Even a syndrome that appears directly relevant to the facts of certain kinds of cases, therefore, should be considered with healthy skepticism to avoid relying more than is justified on the presence of a syndrome.