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Battered Woman Syndrome Paper

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I. Introduction.

According to the NCADV, each minute an average of 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Every day in the United States, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners on average. In 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner (Strucke & Hajjar, 2010).Studies suggest that there is a cause-effect between a pattern of violence in an intimate partners relation and the subsequently depression and suicidal behavior of the victim. And most of them exhibit the Battered Woman Syndrome (Strucke & Hajjar, 2010). But what exactly cause this syndrome, it is a mental illness or a learned behavior passed down generationally.

First we have to understand …show more content…
It was first introduced into the legal system as an argument of self-defense. It tries to justify why abused women ultimately kill their abusive partners rather than leave them. Currently, every jurisdiction in the United States accepts expert testimony on the Battered Women Syndrome to support a self-defense claim by the accused partner
(Cornia, 2013).

II. Physical Abuse Forms

It is not easy for the abused partner to admit that she is so. Regardless of the pain of an abusive relationship, admitting its existence hurts emotionally and is socially demeaning.
There are many forms and are not limited to just physical abuse. In reality, there are no pure forms of abuse. Although neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse are the most known,
I believe that each case of an abused partner comprises a combination of them. Many abused women disclose several types of violence against them (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989).
We see that this is repeated in case after case, for example:
- Using weapons or knives against them
- Beating, throwing her down
- Twisting arms, tripping,
- Pushing, shoving, hitting
- Pulling hair, slapping, choking
- Punching, kicking, grabbing
- Biting, …show more content…
Some goes to the extreme reasoning that it is a way of her partner’s expression of love (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989).

III. Co- Dependency

Co- dependency is defined as an emotional, psychological and behavioral condition that develops as a result of an individual’s prolonged and accepted exposure to a set of oppressive directives or restrictions. They prevent the open expression of feelings or the direct discussion of personal and interpersonal problems (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989). The common denominator of these two abusive situations is that both can produce co-dependency in those involved with the abuser. A characteristic of co-dependency is that the victim accepts or rejects absolutely a condition or idea imposed by the abuser. Co-dependents often display a personal rigidity which develops from the same rigid situations in which they live. All people may display co-dependence behaviors at one time or another and it does not make them co- dependents. It is the degree or extent to which these characteristics exist in a person that determines co- dependency (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989). For example, there are some

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