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Battered Woman Syndrome
Battered woman syndrome (BWS), first proposed in the 1970s after research demonstrated the psychological impact from domestic violence on the victim, has undergone further clarification since its inception. This entry reviews the historical issues concerning domestic violence and its victims in the criminal justice system (including the criminal and family courts), describes psychological theories about domestic violence victims and the BWS, and discusses the application of the BWS in legal context.
History of Domestic Violence and the Law
Domestic violence is defined as the physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse by one person (mostly men) of another person (mostly women) with whom there is an intimate relationship, in order to get that person to do what the abuser wants without regard for that person's rights. Domestic violence is ...
- Criminal Competencies
- Adjudicative Competence of Youth
- Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
- Capacity to Waive Rights
- Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
- Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants With Mental Retardation (CAST*MR)
- Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
- Competency for Execution
- Competency Screening Test (CST)
- Competency to Be Sentenced
- Competency to Confess
- Competency to Stand Trial
- Competency to Waive Appeals
- Competency to Waive Counsel (Proceed Pro Se)
- Competency, Foundational and Decisional
- Competency, Restoration of
- Delusions
- Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
- Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
- Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
- Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
- Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
- Hallucinations
- Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
- Psychotic Disorders
- Criminal Responsibility
- Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances, Evaluation of in Capital Cases
- American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
- Automatism
- Battered Woman Syndrome
- Battered Woman Syndrome, Testimony on
- Criminal Responsibility, Assessment of
- Criminal Responsibility, Defenses and Standards
- Delusions
- Diminished Capacity
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Extreme Emotional Disturbance
- Guilty but Mentally Ill Verdict
- Hallucinations
- Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)
- Mens Rea and Actus Reus
- Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
- Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
- M'Naghten Standard
- Psychotic Disorders
- Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)
- Death Penalty
- Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Trials, Effects on Jurors
- Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances, Evaluation of in Capital Cases
- American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
- Capital Mitigation
- Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
- Competency for Execution
- Death Penalty
- Death Qualification of Juries
- Jury Understanding of Judges' Instructions in Capital Cases
- Juveniles and the Death Penalty
- Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
- Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
- Moral Disengagement and Execution
- Religion and the Death Penalty
- Victim Impact Statements
- Divorce and Child Custody
- Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
- Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
- Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
- Child Custody Evaluations
- Child Maltreatment
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
- Divorce and Child Custody
- Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
- Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
- Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
- Tender Years Doctrine
- Termination of Parental Rights
- Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
- Education and Professional Development
- Eyewitness Memory
- Neil v. Biggers Criteria for Evaluating Eyewitness Identification
- Alcohol Intoxication, Impact on Eyewitness Memory
- Appearance-Change Instruction in Lineups
- Clothing Bias in Identification Procedures
- Cognitive Interview
- Computer-Assisted Lineups
- Confidence in Identifications
- Confidence in Identifications, Malleability
- Conformity in Eyewitness Reports
- Cross-Race Effect in Eyewitness Identification
- Double-Blind Lineup Administration
- Elderly Eyewitnesses
- Estimator and System Variables in Eyewitness Identification
- Expert Psychological Testimony on Eyewitness Identification
- Exposure Time and Eyewitness Memory
- Eyewitness Descriptions, Accuracy of
- Eyewitness Identification: Effect of Disguises and Appearance Changes
- Eyewitness Identification: Field Studies
- Eyewitness Identification: General Acceptance in the Scientific Community
- Eyewitness Memory
- Eyewitness Memory, Lay Beliefs About
- Facial Composites
- False Memories
- Forced Confabulation
- Hypnosis and Eyewitness Memory
- Identification Tests, Best Practices in
- Instructions to the Witness
- Juries and Eyewitnesses
- Lineup Filler Selection
- Lineup Size and Bias
- Motions to Suppress Eyewitness Identification
- Mug Shots
- Optimality Hypothesis in Eyewitness Identification
- Police as Eyewitnesses
- Popout Effect in Eyewitness Identification
- Postevent Information and Eyewitness Memory
- Presence of Counsel Safeguard and Eyewitness Identification
- Reconstructive Memory
- Repeated Recall
- Repressed and Recovered Memories
- Response Latency in Eyewitness Identification
- Retention Interval and Eyewitness Memory
- Showups
- Simultaneous and Sequential Lineup Presentations
- Source Monitoring and Eyewitness Memory
- Stress and Eyewitness Memory
- Training of Eyewitnesses
- Unconscious Transference
- Verbal Overshadowing and Eyewitness Identification
- Voice Recognition
- Weapon Focus
- WITNESS Model
- Forensic Assessment in Civil and Criminal Cases
- Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
- Adjudicative Competence of Youth
- Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
- Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances, Evaluation of in Capital Cases
- American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Automatism
- Battered Woman Syndrome
- Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI)
- Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
- Capacity to Waive Rights
- Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
- Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
- Child Custody Evaluations
- Child Maltreatment
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Civil Commitment
- Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
- Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants With Mental Retardation (CAST*MR)
- Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
- Competency for Execution
- Competency Screening Test (CST)
- Competency to Be Sentenced
- Competency to Confess
- Competency to Stand Trial
- Competency to Waive Appeals
- Competency to Waive Counsel (Proceed Pro Se)
- Competency, Foundational and Decisional
- Competency, Restoration of
- Conduct Disorder
- Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
- Consent to Clinical Research
- Criminal Responsibility, Assessment of
- Criminal Responsibility, Defenses and Standards
- Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
- Delusions
- Diminished Capacity
- Disability and Workers' Compensation Claims, Assessment of
- Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact Evaluations
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Divorce and Child Custody
- Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
- Ethical Guidelines and Principles
- Ethnic Differences in Psychopathy
- Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
- Extreme Emotional Disturbance
- Financial Capacity
- Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI)
- Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
- Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations
- Forensic Assessment
- Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
- Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
- Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
- Guilty but Mentally Ill Verdict
- Hallucinations
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
- HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
- Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT)
- Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)
- Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
- Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
- Litigation Stress
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT–T)
- MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
- Malingering
- Malingering Probability Scale
- Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
- Mens Rea and Actus Reus
- Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
- Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Assessment of
- Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M–FAST)
- Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–III (MCMI–III)
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2)
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) Validity Scales
- Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
- M'Naghten Standard
- Mood Disorders
- Novaco Anger Scale
- Parens Patriae Doctrine
- Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
- Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
- Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
- Pedophilia
- Personal Injury and Emotional Distress
- Personality Disorders
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Presentence Evaluations
- Psychological Autopsies
- Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
- Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
- Psychopathy
- Psychopathy, Treatment of
- Psychotic Disorders
- Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
- Return-to-Work Evaluations
- Risk Assessment Approaches
- Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
- Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)
- Sex Offender Assessment
- Sex Offender Civil Commitment
- Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
- Sex Offender Recidivism
- Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
- Sexual Harassment
- Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
- Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
- Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
- STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
- STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
- Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
- Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS)
- Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
- Substance Use Disorders
- Suicide Assessment and Prevention in Prisons
- Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
- Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
- Testamentary Capacity
- Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
- Validity Indicator Profile (VIP)
- Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
- Violence Risk Assessment
- Waiver to Criminal Court
- Juvenile Offenders
- Adjudicative Competence of Youth
- Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
- Juvenile Offenders
- Juvenile Offenders, Risk Factors
- Juvenile Psychopathy
- Juveniles and the Death Penalty
- Legal Socialization
- Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
- Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders
- Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
- Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
- Victim-Offender Mediation With Juvenile Offenders
- Waiver to Criminal Court
- Mental Health Law
- Capacity to Consent to Treatment
- Civil Commitment
- Consent to Clinical Research
- End-of-Life Issues
- Forcible Medication
- Guardianship
- Institutionalization and Deinstitutionalization
- Mandated Community Treatment
- Mental Health Courts
- Mental Health Law
- Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders
- Outpatient Commitment, Involuntary
- Patient's Rights
- Proxy Decision Making
- Psychiatric Advance Directives
- Substance Abuse Treatment
- Therapeutic Jurisprudence
- Psychological and Forensic Assessment Instruments
- Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
- Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
- Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI)
- Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
- Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
- Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
- Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
- Competency Screening Test (CST)
- Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
- Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
- Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
- Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
- Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI)
- Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
- Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
- Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
- Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
- HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
- Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT)
- Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
- Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT–CR)
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCat–T)
- Malingering Probability Scale
- Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
- Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M–FAST)
- Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–III (MCMI–III)
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2)
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) Validity Scales
- Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
- Novaco Anger Scale
- Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
- Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
- Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
- Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
- Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
- Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
- Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
- Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)
- Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
- Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
- Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
- Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
- Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
- STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
- STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
- Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
- Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS)
- Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
- Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
- Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
- Validity Indicator Profile (VIP)
- Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
- Psychology of Criminal Behavior
- AMBER Alert System
- Battered Woman Syndrome
- Battered Woman Syndrome, Testimony on
- Bias Crimes
- Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
- Child Maltreatment
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
- Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
- Criminal Behavior, Theories of
- Criminal Responsibility, Assessment of
- Criminal Responsibility, Defenses and Standards
- Cybercrime
- Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
- Elder Abuse
- Elderly Defendants
- Homicide, Psychology of
- Intimate Partner Violence
- MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
- Media Violence and Behavior
- Obscenity
- Pedophilia
- Pornography, Effects of Exposure to
- Psychological Autopsies
- Public Opinion About Crime
- Serial Killers
- Sex Offender Civil Commitment
- Sex Offender Community Notification (Megan's Laws)
- Sex Offender Treatment
- Sex Offender Typologies
- Stalking
- Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
- Suicide by Cop
- Terrorism
- Therapeutic Communities for Treatment of Substance Abuse
- Treatment and Release of Insanity Acquittees
- Victim-Offender Mediation With Juvenile Offenders
- Psychology of Policing and Investigations
- Behavior Analysis Interview
- Competency to Confess
- Confession Evidence
- Crisis and Hostage Negotiation
- Critical Incidents
- Detection of Deception by Detection “Wizards”
- Detection of Deception in Adults
- Detection of Deception in Children
- Detection of Deception in High-Stakes Liars
- Detection of Deception: Cognitive Load
- Detection of Deception: Event-Related Potentials
- Detection of Deception: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Detection of Deception: Nonverbal Cues
- Detection of Deception: Reality Monitoring
- Detection of Deception: Use of Evidence in
- False Confessions
- Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations
- Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
- Interrogation of Suspects
- Police as Eyewitnesses
- Police Decision Making
- Police Decision Making and Domestic Violence
- Police Interaction With Mentally Ill Individuals
- Police Occupational Socialization
- Police Psychologists
- Police Psychology
- Police Selection
- Police Stress
- Police Training and Evaluation
- Police Use of Force
- Polygraph and Polygraph Techniques
- Profiling
- Public Opinion About the Polygraph
- Reid Technique for Interrogations
- Return-to-Work Evaluations
- Statement Validity Assessment (SVA)
- Suicide by Cop
- Videotaping Confessions
- Sentencing and Incarceration
- Community Corrections
- Competency to Be Sentenced
- Conditional Release Programs
- Death Penalty
- Domestic Violence Courts
- Drug Courts
- Juvenile Boot Camps
- Parole Decisions
- Presentence Evaluations
- Prison Overcrowding
- Probation Decisions
- Public Opinion About Sentencing and Incarceration
- Sentencing Decisions
- Sentencing Diversion Programs
- Stanford Prison Experiment
- Substance Abuse Treatment
- Suicide Assessment and Prevention in Prisons
- Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
- Supermax Prisons
- Therapeutic Communities for Treatment of Substance Abuse
- Treatment and Release of Insanity Acquittees
- Symptoms and Disorders Relevant to Forensic Assessment
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Automatism
- Battered Woman Syndrome
- Child Maltreatment
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Conduct Disorder
- Delusions
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Hallucinations
- Malingering
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Assessment of
- Mood Disorders
- Pedophilia
- Personality Disorders
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Psychopathy
- Psychotic Disorders
- Substance Use Disorders
- Trial Processes
- “Dynamite Charge”
- “Stealing Thunder”
- CSI Effect
- Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Trials, Effects on Jurors
- Alibi Witnesses
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Amicus Curiae Briefs
- Bail-Setting Decisions
- Battered Woman Syndrome, Testimony on
- Chicago Jury Project
- Children's Testimony
- Children's Testimony, Evaluation by Juries
- Complex Evidence in Litigation
- Confession Evidence
- Damage Awards
- Death Qualification of Juries
- Domestic Violence Courts
- Drug Courts
- Elderly Defendants
- Expert Psychological Testimony
- Expert Psychological Testimony on Eyewitness Identification
- Expert Psychological Testimony, Admissibility Standards
- Expert Psychological Testimony, Forms of
- Expert Testimony, Qualifications of Experts
- Fingerprint Evidence, Evaluation of
- Hearsay Testimony
- Inadmissible Evidence, Impact on Juries
- Insanity Defense, Juries and
- Judges' Nonverbal Behavior
- Juries and Eyewitnesses
- Juries and Joined Trials
- Juries and Judges' Instructions
- Jury Administration Reforms
- Jury Competence
- Jury Decisions Versus Judges' Decisions
- Jury Deliberation
- Jury Nullification
- Jury Questionnaires
- Jury Reforms
- Jury Selection
- Jury Size and Decision Rule
- Jury Understanding of Judges' Instructions in Capital Cases
- Legal Authoritarianism
- Legal Negotiation
- Legal Socialization
- Leniency Bias
- Litigation Stress
- Mental Health Courts
- Parole Decisions
- Plea Bargaining
- Pretrial Publicity, Impact on Juries
- Probation Decisions
- Procedural Justice
- Prosecutorial Misconduct
- Public Opinion About Crime
- Public Opinion About the Courts
- Public Opinion About the Polygraph
- Race, Impact on Juries
- Racial Bias and the Death Penalty
- Religion and the Death Penalty
- Scientific Jury Selection
- Sexual Harassment, Jury Evaluation of
- Statistical Information, Impact on Juries
- Story Model for Juror Decision Making
- Translated Testimony
- Trial Consulting
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Victim Impact Statements
- Voir Dire
- Witness Preparation
- Wrongful Conviction
- Victim Reactions to Crime
- Battered Woman Syndrome
- Child Maltreatment
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Coping Strategies of Adult Sexual Assault Victims
- Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
- Elder Abuse
- Intimate Partner Violence
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Rape Trauma Syndrome
- Reporting Crimes and Victimization
- Sexual Harassment
- Stalking
- Victim Participation in the Criminal Justice System
- Victimization
- Victim-Offender Mediation With Juvenile Offenders
- Violence Risk Assessment
- Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
- Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
- Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
- Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
- HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
- Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
- MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
- Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
- Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
- Novaco Anger Scale
- Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
- Psychopathy
- Psychopathy, Treatment of
- Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
- Risk Assessment Approaches
- Sex Offender Assessment
- Sex Offender Civil Commitment
- Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
- Sex Offender Recidivism
- Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
- Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
- Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
- Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
- STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
- STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
- Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
- Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
- Substance Use Disorders
- Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
- Violence Risk Assessment
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