Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

relationship and how a woman’s perception can be

influenced by a history of abuse and PTSD symptoma-

tology. In addition, because the expert conducts a com-

prehensive assessment of the defendant, he or she is

likely able to discuss possible comorbid mental health

disorders.

Because of BWS’s broad range of applications

within the legal system, and the need for psychologi-

cal evaluation and/or expert testimony across legal

settings, the term battered woman syndromehas tradi-

tionally been used in both a legal and a clinical con-

text, with an understanding that the wide-ranging

effects of battering are physiological, behavioral, cog-

nitive, and emotional.

Lenore E. Walker, Rachel I. Duros,

and Allison Tome

See also Domestic Violence Courts; Intimate Partner

Violence; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);

Victimization

Further Readings

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and

statistical manual of mental disorders(4th ed., text

revision). Washington, DC: Author.

Browne, A. (1987). When battered women kill. New York:

Free Press.

Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women and

rape. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Koss, M. P., Goodman, L. A., Browne, A., Fitzgerald, L. F.,

Keita, G. P., & Russo, N. F. (1994). No safe haven: Male

violence against women at home, work, and in the

community. Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

Walker, L. E. (1979). The battered woman. New York:

Harper & Row.

Walker, L. E. A. (1984/2000). The battered woman syndrome.

New York: Springer.

Walker, L. E. A., Arden, H., Tome, A., Bruno, J., & Brosch, R.

(2006). Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire:

Training manual for interviewers.

BATTEREDWOMANSYNDROME,

TESTIMONY ON

The most common form of syndrome testimony that

has been introduced in the courtroom is battered

woman syndrome testimony. For the most part, this

testimony has been offered in homicide trials of bat-

tered women who have killed their abusers. Most often,

the expert witness, typically a clinical psychologist,

offers the testimony on behalf of the defense, with the

testimony being of relevance to jurors’ evaluation of

the woman’s claim of self-defense. The courts have

been quite receptive to this form of expert testimony,

and it has now been admitted with some frequency in

not only courtrooms across the United States but also

in courtrooms in Canada, Britain, Australia, and New

Zealand. Battered woman syndrome evidence has been

used in other contexts as well (e.g., duress defenses,

sentencing, civil actions), but the research examining

its impact on jurors is confined primarily to cases

involving battered women who have killed their

abusers. This research suggests that the introduction of

battered woman syndrome evidence is associated with

positive effects for a battered woman on trial, but find-

ings also point to some shortcomings of its use.

The term battered woman syndrome was first coined

in the late 1970s by Dr. Lenore Walker, who pioneered

much of the research on the topic. The syndrome

describes the pattern of violence found in abusive rela-

tionships and the psychological impact that this vio-

lence can have on a woman. Drawing on her clinical

work, as well as on interviews she conducted with hun-

dreds of battered women, Walker identified a repetitive

three-phase cycle that characterizes the battering rela-

tionship. The first phase, referred to as the tension-

buildingphase, is characterized by “minor” abusive

incidents (e.g., outbursts, verbal threats). These more

minor incidents of abuse, however, eventually build up

to the second,acute batteringphase, which is then fol-

lowed by the third,loving contritionphase. It is in this

final phase that the abuser professes his love, promising

never to harm the woman again. Believing his

promises, the woman is provided some hope that the

violence will cease. Eventually, however, the cycle

repeats itself.

Alongside the cycle of violence theory, Walker pro-

posed a psychological rationale to explain how

battered women can become psychologically trapped

in an abusive relationship. Given the repetitive, yet

unpredictable nature of the violence and the impend-

ing imminence of harm that it presents to the woman,

she is eventually reduced to a state of psychological

helplessness, perceiving that there is little she can do

to alter the situation. In her more recent writings,

Walker characterizes the battered woman syndrome as

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