Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

1 online resource ([8], 326 leaves) / Criminal and Procedural Law / LLD

1 online resource ([8], 326 leaves) / Criminal and Procedural Law / LLD

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2004. / There is no p. 160. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-280).

The South Africa criminal law allows the battered woman to raise a battered woman syndrome defence in the context of non-pathological criminal incapacity. However, there is a need of expert evidence to support such defence for it to succeed in the court of law. Hence, this paper scrutinizes the task of expert evidence in support of the battered woman syndrome in order to reach the extent of its effectiveness. Nevertheless, such evidence is not indispensable but without it, the court hardly gets persuaded resulting into the failure of the defence. The meaning of battered woman syndrome is articulated in the paper as well as the fact that battered woman syndrome defence falls under the defence of non-pathological criminal incapacity. The origin and development of the non-pathological criminal incapacity has also been discussed by comparing it with pathological criminal incapacity which emanates from mental illness while the former does not originate from a mental illness. Psychiatrist are in a better position to understand the latter while psychologists are in a better position to understand the former, hence it is advisable if the court pays more attention or attach more weight to the evidence given by the psychologists if this defence is to succeed and have a brilliant future. Moreover, the possible defences available to the battered woman have been mentioned as well as the cases that used non-pathological criminal incapacity as a defence particularly with regard to the battered woman syndrome defence. Both cases that were successful and unsuccessful have been elaborated. However, the cases that failed with the defence are in large numbers than the successful ones. Although expert evidence is essential to support the battered woman syndrome defence, it is unjustly and unfairly applied on the battered woman who is an accused person in the court leading to the failure of the defence .In short the use of expert evidence has failed in its application as the two professions, law and medicine has failed to make this defence work as they have not reached an agreement concerning the battered woman syndrome defence. In addition, the paper looks at the obstacles linked with the battered woman syndrome defence as well as offering suggestions to be put in place in order to make the use of expert evidence achievable. This can only be done if both the lawyers and mental health professionals come to terms with each other where they are able to understand the battered woman syndrome and the actions which led to the situation where battered woman finds herself as an accused person. Finally, the paper concludes that expert evidence has failed tremendously in its application leading to the failure of the battered woman syndrome defence in the context of non-pathological criminal incapacity. Consequently a lot still needs to be done to protect the women who face numerous obstacles; both personal and legal as they do not face justice in court and everyone must take part to put an end to battering of women which is inhuman and morally wrong. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Public Law / unrestricted

One of the most debated constituents of intimate partner violence pertains to attachment theory. Although, attachment theory can provide a theoretical framework for understanding the linkage between childhood family experiences and subsequent experiences with partner violence, there are controversial perspectives as to whether attachment style is stable from childhood to adulthood (Bowlby, 1973, 1980, 1982) or if attachment style can be formulated directly from adult abusive relationships (Caspi & Elder, 1988; Ricks, 1985). Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore how attachment style presents in the Battered Woman Syndrome, determine if the battered woman's attachment style is consistent throughout childhood to adulthood or if it is manifested due to intimate partner violence exposure as well as to determine how attachment style is manifested in interpersonal functioning and perceived power and control. The theory of learned helplessness (Seligman, 1975) was used as a conceptual model for understanding why battered women remain in abusive relationships. There were 137 female sample participants who reported a history of domestic violence. Measures administered included the Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ, Walker, 1978) that assessed childhood history, interpersonal functioning and power and control and the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Collins and Read, 1996) that assessed the participant's attachment style. Statistical techniques employed included latent class analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression. Results indicated that aversive childhood environment (as measured primarily by childhood battering variables) and involvement in adulthood abusive relationships were significantly related to childhood environment and involvement in adulthood abusive relationships. Across all five adulthood battering episodes there were significant overall effects of attachment style on sexual abuse scores. Results also confirmed the hypotheses that insecurely attached participants were more likely to report more interpersonal functioning difficulties and lower perceived power and control when compared to secure participants. Implications for future research are also presented.

Bakgrund: En av tre kvinnor i europeiska Unionen (EU) har upplevt psykisk misshandel av en partner. sjuksköterskan kan ställas inför flera olika etiska dilemman om våld-i-nära relations-problematik kommer fram i mötet med en misshandlad patient. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors strategier och handlingsberedskap i mötet med den misshandlade kvinnan i den psykiatriska vården. Metod: En kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en manifest ansats. Resultat: Åtta sjuksköterskor inom psykiatrin mellan 26-67 år deltog i studien. Självutveckling, tillit, och debriefing var viktiga strategier i mötet med den våld-i-nära-relationsutsatta kvinnan. Självutveckling handlade om behovet av temadagar och vikten av självinsikt. Tillit handlade om att vara närvarande, miljöns och timingens betydelse, samt att våga fråga om våld-i-nära-relation. Debriefing handlade om hur sjuksköterskan hanterade och gick vidare med svaren, och om betydelsen av kollegialt samarbete och egenterapi. Konklusion: Sjuksköterskor använder sig av flera strategier i mötet med den våldsutsatta kvinnan inom psykiatrin, men uttrycker ett behov av vidareutbildning, alltifrån temadagar till längre utbildningar.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology

The National Women's Health Information Center reports that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to American women and that nearly one-third of American women have been physically assaulted by their significant other at some point in their lives. These women often experience depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and grief (Campbell et al., 1995). Literature supports the use of physical activity in promoting psychological well-being. The purpose of this study, then, was to evaluate the influence of physical activity on how survivors of domestic violence view themselves and their circumstances. The participants were seven women (18 to 54 years) who had been in abusive relationships, on average for eleven years, and who had recently left their partners. The participants were given access to an exercise facility and participated in one, two, three, or four interviews at one-month intervals. Interview questions covered abuse history, physical activity levels, self-view, emotional status, and how exercise may have influenced these factors. Qualitative analysis of 11 participants' responses revealed that exercise gave women the perception of healing, "getting out of trauma mode," of working towards a future self, "moving towards the vision of the type of person that I want to be," and freedom. Exercise improved their self-view by demonstrating to them that they were advancing beyond their abuse-controlled lives; that they were taking care of themselves. Women found exercise an effective means of "eliminating nervous energy" that resulted from being battered women, which in turn improved emotional status. Results are discussed in terms of the unique benefits derived from physical activity by these women, how exercise enhanced their recovery, and suggestions made by participants as to how the benefits of exercise could be fully realized. / Graduation date: 2004