Battered Women In Society Toda Essay, Research Paper

In 1991, Governor William Weld modified parole regulations and permitted

women to seek commutation if they could present evidence indicating they

suffered from battered women’s syndrome. A short while later, the Governor,

citing spousal abuse as his impetus, released seven women convicted of

killing their husbands, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts

enacted Mass. Gen. L. ch. 233 23E (1993), which permits the introduction of

evidence of abuse in criminal trials. These decisive acts brought the issue of

domestic abuse to the public’s attention and left many Massachusetts

residents, lawyers and judges struggling to define battered women’s

syndrome. In order to help these individuals define battered women’s

syndrome, the origins and development of the three primary theories of the

syndrome and recommended treatments are outlined below. I. The Classical

Theory of Battered Women’s Syndrome and its Origins The Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), known in the mental health

field as the clinician’s bible, does not recognize battered women’s syndrome

as a distinct mental disorder. In fact, Dr. Lenore Walker, the architect of the

classical battered women’s syndrome theory, notes the syndrome is not an

illness, but a theory that draws upon the principles of learned helplessness to

explain why some women are unable to leave their abusers. Therefore, the

classical battered women’s syndrome theory is best regarded as an offshoot

of the theory of learned helplessness and not a mental illness that afflicts

abused women. The theory of learned helplessness sought to account for the

passive behavior subjects exhibited when placed in an uncontrollable

environment. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, Martin Seligman, a famous

researcher in the field of psychology, conducted a series of experiments in

which dogs were placed in one of two types of cages. In the former cage,

henceforth referred to as the shock cage, a bell would sound and the

experimenters would electrify the entire floor seconds later, shocking the

dog regardless of location. The latter cage, however, although similar in

every other respect to the shock cage, contained a small area where the

experimenters could administer no shock. Seligman observed that while the

dogs in the latter cage learned to run to the nonelectrified area after a series

of shocks, the dogs in the shock cage gave up trying to escape, even when

placed in the latter cage and shown that escape was possible. Seligman

theorized that the dogs’ initial experience in the uncontrollable shock cage

led them to believe that they could not control future events and was

responsible for the observed disruptions in behavior and learning. Thus,

according to the theory of learned helplessness, a subject placed in an

uncontrollable environment will become passive and accept painful stimuli,

even though escape is possible and apparent. In the late 1970’s, Dr. Walker

drew upon Seligman’s research and incorporated it into her own theory, the

battered women’s syndrome, in an attempt to explain why battered women

remain with their abusers. According to Dr. Walker, battered women’s

syndrome contains two distinct elements: a cycle of violence and symptoms

of learned helplessness. The cycle of violence is composed of three phases:

the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm loving respite

phase. During the tension building phase, the victim is subjected to verbal

abuse and minor battering incidents, such as slaps, pinches and

psychological abuse. In this phase, the woman tries to pacify her batterer by

using techniques that have worked previously. Typically, the woman showers

her abuser with kindness or attempts to avoid him. However, the victim’s

attempts to pacify her batter are often fruitless and only work to delay the

inevitable acute battering incident. The tension building phase ends and the

active battering phase begins when the verbal abuse and minor battering

evolve into an acute battering incident. A release of the tensions built during

phase one characterizes the active battering phase, which usually last for a

period of two to twenty-four hours. The violence during this phase is

unpredictable and inevitable, and statistics indicate that the risk of the

batterer murdering his victim is at its greatest. The batterer places his victim

in a constant state of fear, and she is unable to control her batterer’s

violence by utilizing techniques that worked in the tension building phase.

The victim, realizing her lack of control, attempts to mitigate the violence by

becoming passive. After the active battering phase comes to a close, the

cycle of violence enters the calm loving respite phase or “honeymoon phase.”

During this phase, the batterer apologizes for his abusive behavior and

promises that it will never happen again. The behavior exhibited by the batter

in the calm loving respite phase closely resembles the behavior he exhibited

when the couple first met and fell in love. The calm loving respite phase is

the most psychologically victimizing phase because the batterer fools the

victim, who is relieved that the abuse has ended, into believing that he has

changed. However, inevitably, the batterer begins to verbally abuse his

victim and the cycle of abuse begins anew. According to Dr. Walker,

Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness explains why women stay with

their abusers and occurs in a victim after the cycle of violence repeats

numerous times. As noted earlier, dogs who were placed in an environment

where pain was unavoidable responded by becoming passive. Dr. Walker

asserts that, in the domestic abuse ambit, sporadic brutality, perceptions of

powerlessness, lack of financial resources and the superior strength of the

batterer all combine to instill a feeling of helplessness in the victim. In other

words, batterers condition women into believing that they are powerless to

escape by subjecting them to a continuing pattern of uncontrollable violence

and abuse. Dr. Walker, in applying the learned helplessness theory to

battered women, changed society’s perception of battered women by

dispelling the myth that battered women like abuse and offering a logical and

rationale explanation for why most stay with their abuser. As the classical

theory of battered women’s syndrome is based upon the psychological

principles of conditioning, experts believe that behavior modification

strategies are best suited for treating women suffering from the syndrome. A

simple, yet effective, behavioral strategy consists of two stages. In the initial

stage, the battered woman removes herself from the uncontrollable or “shock

cage” environment and isolates herself from her abuser. Generally,

professionals help the victim escape by using assertiveness training,

modeling and recommending use of the court system. After the woman

terminates the abusive relationship, professionals give the victim relapse

prevention training to ensure that subsequent exposure to abusive behavior

will not cause maladaptive behavior. Although this strategy is effective, the

model offered by Dr. Walker suggests that battered women usually do not

actively seek out help. Therefore, concerned agencies and individuals must

be proactive and extremely sensitive to the needs and fears of victims. In

sum, the classical battered women’s syndrome is a theory that has its origins

in the research of Martin Seligman. Women in a domestic abuse situation

experience a cycle of violence with their abuser. The cycle is composed of

three phases: the tension building phase, active battering phase and calm

loving respite phase. A gradual increase in verbal abuse marks the tension

building phase. When this abuse culminates into an acute battering episode,

the relationship enters the active battering phase. Once the acute battering

phase ends, usually within two to twenty-four hours, the parties enter the

calm loving respite phase, in which the batterer expresses remorse and

promises to change. After the cycle has played out several times, the victim

begins to manifest symptoms of learned helplessness. Behavioral

modification strategies offer an effective treatment for battered women’s

syndrome. However, Dr. Walker’s model indicates that battered women may

not seek the help that they need because of feelings of helplessness. II. An

Alternate Battered Women’s Syndrome Theory: Battered Women as Survivors.

Over the years, empirical data has emerged that casts doubt on Dr. Walker’s

explanation of why women stay with their batterers or, in extreme cases,

why they kill their abusers. Two researchers, Edward W. Gondolf and Ellen R.

Fisher, make reference to voluminous statistics that refute the classical

battered women’s syndrome theory, and suggest Dr. Walker erroneously

attributes a victim’s refusal to leave her batterer to learned helplessness. For

instance, the two, in discounting Dr. Walker’s theory, cite a study conducted

by Lee H. Bowker that indicates victims of abuse often contact other family

members for help as the violence escalates over time. The two also note that

Bowker observed a steady increase in formal help-seeking behavior as the

violence increased. In addition to citing empirical data, Gondolf and Fisher

point out that using Dr. Walker’s theory to explain the battered woman’s

actions in extreme cases creates the ultimate oxymoron: a woman so

helpless she kills her batterer. In an effort to account for the shortcomings of

the classical battered women’s theory, Gondolf and Fisher offered the

markedly different survivor theory of battered women’s syndrome, which

consists of four important elements. The first element of the survivor theory

surmises that a pattern of abuse prompts battered women to employ

innovative coping strategies and to seek help, such as flattering the batterer

and turning to their families for assistance. When these sources of help prove

ineffective, the battered woman seeks out other sources and employs

different strategies to lessen the abuse. For example, the battered women

may avoid her abuser all together and seek help from the court system. Thus,

according to the survivor theory, battered women actively seek help and

employ coping skills throughout the abusive relationship. In contrast, the

classical theory of battered women’s syndrome views women as becoming

passive and helpless in the face of repeated abuse. The second element of

Gondolf and Fisher’s theory posits that a lack of options, know-how and

finances, not learned helplessness, instills a feeling of anxiety in the victim

that prevents her from escaping the abuser. When a battered woman seeks

outside help, she is typically confronted with an ineffective bureaucracy,

insufficient help sources and societal indifference. This lack of practical

options, combined with the victim’s lack of financial resources, make it likely

that a battered women will stay and try to change her batterer, rather than

leave and face the unknown. The classical battered women’s syndrome

theory differs in that it focuses on the victim’s perception that escape is

impossible, not on the obstacles the victim must overcome to escape. The

third element expands on the first and describes how the victim actively

seeks help from a variety of formal and informal help sources. For instance,

an example of an informal help source would be a close friend and a formal

help source would be a shelter. Gondolf and Fisher maintain that the help

obtained from these sources is inadequate and piecemeal in nature. Given

these inadequacies, the researchers conclude that the leaving a batterer is a

difficult path for a victim to embark upon. The fourth element of the survivor

theory hypothesizes that the failure of the aforementioned help sources to

intervene in a comprehensive and decisive manner permits the cycle of abuse

to continue unchecked. Interestingly, Gondolf and Fisher blame the lack of

effective help on a variation of the learned helplessness theory, explaining

help organizations are too overwhelmed and limited in their resources to be

effective and therefore do not try as hard as they should to help victims.

Whatever the case may be, the researchers argue that we can better

understand the plight of the battered woman by asking did she seek help and

what happened when she did, rather than why didn’t she leave. Because the

survivor theory of learned helplessness attributes the battered woman’s

plight to ineffective help sources and societal indifference, a logical solution

would entail increased funding for programs in place and educating the public

about the symptoms and consequences of domestic violence. There are

battered women’s advocacy programs in place in courts located throughout

the country. However, inadequate funding limits their effectiveness. By

increasing funding, citizens can assure that all battered women will receive

the assistance that will permit them to escape their batterer. Additionally, if

we educate citizens about the harmful effects of domestic abuse, the public

will no longer treat victims with indifference. To recap, Edward W. Gondolf

and Ellen R. Fisher developed the survivor theory of battered women’s

syndrome to explain why statistics indicate that battered women increase

their help seeking behavior as the violence escalates. The theory is

composed of four important elements. The first recognizes that battered

women actively seek help throughout their relationship with the abuser. The

second element posits that a lack of options, know-how and finances creates

anxiety in the victim over leaving her batterer. The third element describes

the inadequate and piecemeal help the victim receives. Finally, the fourth

element concludes that the failure of help sources, not learned helplessness,

accounts for why many battered women remain with their abusers. Under the

survivor theory, the best method for helping battered women is to increase

funding for battered women’s assistance programs and agencies and educate

the public about the harmful effects of domestic abuse. III. Battered Women’s

Syndrome Equals Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Although the DSM-IV does

not recognize battered women’s syndrome as a distinct mental illness or

disorder, some experts maintain that battered women’s syndrome is just

another name for post traumatic stress disorder, which the DSM-IV

recognizes. The post traumatic stress disorder theory is also applied to

individuals who were never exposed to domestic abuse, and, in the domestic

abuse ambit, does not exclusively focus on the battered woman’s perception

of helplessness or ineffective help sources to explain why she stayed with

her batterer. Instead, the theory focuses on the psychological disturbance an

individual suffers after exposure to a traumatic event. In 1980, the American

Psychiatric Association added the post traumatic stress disorder

classification to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III,

a manual used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental illness.

Although the diagnosis was controversial at the time, post traumatic stress

disorder has gained wide acceptance in the mental health community and

revolutionized the way professionals regard human reactions to trauma. Prior

to the disorder’s inception, experts attributed the cause of emotional trauma

to individual weakness. However, with the advent of the theory of post

traumatic stress disorder, experts now attribute the etiology of emotional

trauma to an external stressor, not a weakness in the psyche of the

individual. Since 1980, the American Psychiatric Association has revised the

criteria for diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder several times.

Currently, the diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a

history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three

symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and

hyper arousal symptoms. Recent data indicate that many individuals qualify

for a post traumatic stress disorder under the current diagnostic criteria,

with prevalence rates running between 5 to 10% in our society. As noted

earlier, in order for a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder to apply, the

individual must have been exposed to a traumatic event involving actual or

threatened death or injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of the person

or others. The authors of the early theory of post traumatic stress disorder

considered a traumatic event to be outside the range of human experience,

such events included rape, torture, war, the Holocaust, the atomic bombings

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos, airplane

crashes and automobile accidents, and did not contemplate applying the

diagnosis to battered women. The American Psychiatric Association

loosened the traumatic event criteria in the DSM-IV, which replaced the

DSM-III and DSM-IIIR. Presently, the traumatic event need only be markedly

distressing to almost anyone. Therefore, battered women have little trouble

meeting the DSM-IV traumatic event diagnostic requirement because most

people would find the abuse battered women are subjected to markedly

distressing. In addition to meeting the traumatic event diagnostic criteria, an

individual must have symptoms from the intrusive recollection,

avoidant/numbing and hyper arousal categories for a post traumatic stress

disorder diagnosis to apply. The intrusive recollection category consists of

symptoms that are distinct and easily identifiable. In individuals suffering

from post traumatic stress disorder, the traumatic event is a dominant

psychological experience that evokes panic, terror, dread, grief or despair.

Often, these feelings are manifested in daytime fantasies, traumatic

nightmares and flashbacks. Additionally, stimuli that the individual

associates with the traumatic event can evoke mental images, emotional

responses and psychological reactions associated with the trauma. Examples

of intrusive recollection symptoms a battered woman may suffer are

fantasies of killing her batterer and flashbacks of battering incidents. The

avoidant/numbing cluster consists of the emotional strategies individuals

with post traumatic stress disorder use to reduce the likelihood that they will

either expose themselves to traumatic stimuli, or if exposed, will minimize

their psychological response. The DSM-IV divides the strategies into three

categories: behavioral, cognitive and emotional. Behavioral strategies

include avoiding situations where the stimuli are likely to be encountered.

Dissociation and psychogenic amnesia are cognitive strategies by which

individuals with post traumatic stress disorder cut off the conscious

experience of trauma-based memories and feelings. Lastly, the individual may

separate the cognitive aspects from the emotional aspects of psychological

experience and perceive only the former. This type of psychic numbing

serves as an emotional anesthesia that makes it extremely difficult for

people with post traumatic stress disorder to participate in meaningful

interpersonal relationships. Thus, a battered woman suffering from post

traumatic stress disorder may avoid her batterer and repress trauma-based

feelings and emotions. The hyper arousal category symptoms closely

resemble those seen in panic and generalized anxiety disorders. Although

symptoms such as insomnia and irritability are generic anxiety symptoms,

hyper vigilance and startle are unique to post traumatic stress disorder. The

hyper vigilance symptom may become so intense in individuals suffering from

post traumatic stress disorder that it appears as if they are paranoid. A

careful reading of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and diagnostic

criteria indicates that Dr. Walker’s classical theory of battered women’s

syndrome is contained within. For instance, both theories require that the

victim be exposed to a traumatic event. In Dr. Walker’s theory, she describes

the traumatic event as a cycle of violence. The post traumatic stress

disorder theory, on the other hand, only requires that the event be markedly

distressing to almost everyone. Thus, the cycle of violence described by Dr.

Walker is considered a traumatic stressor for the purposes of diagnosing post

traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, like the classical theory of battered

women’s syndrome, the theory of post traumatic stress disorder recognizes

that an individual may become helpless after exposure to a traumatic event.

Although the post traumatic stress disorder theory seems to incorporate Dr.

Walker’s theory, it is more inclusive in that it recognizes that different

individuals may have different reactions to traumatic events and does not

rely heavily on the theory of learned helplessness to explain why battered

women stay with their abusers. There are several methods a professional can

utilize to treat individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The

most successful treatments are those that they administer immediately after

the traumatic event. Experts commonly call this type of treatment critical

incident stress debriefing. Although this type of treatment is effective in

halting the development of post traumatic stress disorder, the cyclical nature

and gradual escalation of violence in domestic abuse situations make critical

incident stress debriefing an unlikely therapy for battered women. The

second type of treatment is administered after post traumatic stress disorder

has developed and is less effective than critical incident stress debriefing.

This type of treatment may consist of psychodynamic psychotherapy,

behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy. The most effective

post-manifestation treatment for battered women is group therapy. In a group

therapy session, battered women can discuss traumatic memories, post

traumatic stress disorder symptoms and functional deficits with others who

have had similar experiences. By discussing their experiences and

symptoms, the women form a common bond and release repressed memories,

feelings and emotions. To summarize, many experts regard battered women’s

syndrome as a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder. The diagnostic

criteria for post traumatic stress disorder include a history of exposure to a

traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters:

intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyper arousal

symptoms. After exposure to a traumatic event, defined by the DSM-IV as one

that is markedly distressing to almost everyone, an individual suffering from

post traumatic stress disorder may suffer intrusive recollections, which

consist of daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares and flashbacks. The

individual may also try to avoid stimuli that remind him/her of the traumatic

event and/or develop symptoms associated with generic anxiety disorders.

Critical incident stress debriefing, psychodynamic psychotherapy, behavioral

therapy, pharmacotherapy and group therapy are all recognized as effective

treatments for post traumatic stress disorder. IV. Conclusion Although there

are many different theories of battered women’s syndrome, most are all

variations or hybrids of the three main theories outlined above. A sound

understanding of Dr. Walker’s classical battered women’s syndrome theory,

Gondolf and Fisher’s survivor theory of battered women’s syndrome and the

post traumatic stress disorder theory, will permit the reader to identify the

origins and essential elements of these various hybrids and provide them

with a better understanding of the plight of the battered woman. Given the

prevalence of domestic abuse in our society, it is important to realize that the

battered woman does not like abuse or is responsible for her victimization.

The three theories discussed above all offer rationale explanations for why a

battered women often stays with her abuser and explore the psychological

harm caused by abuse while discounting the popular perception that battered

women must enjoy the abuse.