Abstract
The present experiment investigated the effects of situational, participant and defendant variables on simulated jurors' verdicts in a case where a battered woman has killed her abuser. One-hundred thirty male and female undergraduates from multicultural and African American samples read a trial transcript in which the battered woman was either Caucasian or African American, and had been either physically or emotionally abused. The hypothesis that the defendant would be judged guilty more often in the emotional abuse case was confirmed. No significant differences were found between African American and Caucasian defendants, and between male and female participants, innumber of guilty verdicts. Male participants, and those who had no personal experience with domestic violence, showed significantly less knowledge of the battering situation. Situational factors, such as type of abuse, rather than defendant or participant variables, such as gender, race or prior knowledge, affected number of guilty verdicts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aubrey, M., and Ewing, C. (1989). Student and voter subjects: Differences in attitudes toward battered women. J. Interpers. Violence 4: 289–297.
Bachman, R. (1994). Violence against women: A National Crime Victimization Survey Report. Washington. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Blackman, J. (1990). Emerging images of severely battered women and the criminal justice system. Behav. Sci. Law 8(2): 121–130.
Coley, S., and Beckett, J. (1988). Black Battered women: A review of empirical literature. J. Counsel. Dev. 66(6): 266–270.
Ewing, C. (1987). Battered Women Who Kill, Lexington, Toronto.
Feather, N. (1996). Domestic violence, gender, and perceptions of justice. Sex Roles 35(7/8): 507–519.
Finkle, N., and Handel, S. (1988). Jurors and insanity: Do test instructions instruct? Forens. Rep. 1: 65–70.
Finkle, N., and Handel, S. (1989). How jurors construe “insanity.” Law Hum. Behav. 15: 495–507.
Follingstad, D., Brodino, M., and Kleinfelter, K. (1996). Reputation and behavior of Battered women who kill their partners. J. Fam. Violence 11(3): 251–267.
Follingstad, D., Polek, D., Hause, E., Daeton, L., Bulger, M., and Conway, Z. (1989). Factors predicting verdicts in cases where battered women kill their husbands. Law Hum. Behav. 13(4): 253–269.
Gelles, R., and Straus, M. (1988). Intimate Violence, Simon and Schuster, New York.
Greene, E., Raitz, A., and Lindblad, H. (1989). Jurors' knowledge of battered women. J. Fam. Violence 4(2): 105–125.
Hamberger, K. (1994). Domestic partner abuse: Expanding paradigms for understanding and intervention. Violence Victims 9(2): 91–95.
Hinkle, A., Smeltzer, D., Allen, C., and King, G. (1983). The judgment of college students and jurors concerning sanity and guilty of an alleged murderer. J. Soc. Psychol. 120: 253–257.
Kasian, M., Soanos, N., Terrance, C., and Peebles, S. (1993). Battered women who kill: Jury simulation and legal defenses. Law Hum. Behav. 17(3): 289–312.
Locke, L., and Richman, C. (1999). Attitudes toward domestic violence: Race and gender issues. Sex Roles 40(3/4): 227–247.
Mechanic, M. (2000). The influence of prior knowledge and attitudes on juror receptivity to expert testimony in a simulated battered woman's homicide case. Court Call Summer 2000, 1–11.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (1995). Membership newsletter, p. 1–5.
Ptacek, J. (1988). Why do men batter their wives? In Bergen, R. (ed.), Issues in Intimate Violence, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, Ch. 2.
Sackett, L., and Saunders, D. (2001). The impact of different forms of psychological abuse on battered women. In O'Leary, K., and Maiuro, R. (eds.), Psychological Abuse in Violent Domestic Relations, Springer, New York, pp. 197–210.
Walker, L. (1999). The battered woman syndrome defense. In Gerdes, L. (ed.), Battered Women, Greenhaven, San Diego, CA, Ch. 3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Braden-Maguire, J., Sigal, J. & Perrino, C.S. Battered Women Who Kill: Variables Affecting Simulated Jurors' Verdicts. J Fam Viol 20, 403–408 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-005-7801-0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-005-7801-0