Battered Women Syndrome

Battered Women Syndrome BATTERED WOMENS SYNDROME: FICTION OR REALITY. Introduction To understand battered womans syndrome one has to know why and how one becomes a â€Å"battered woman.† For a woman to be labeled battered woman has to undergo two complete battering cycles which has three different stages. The stages begins with tension-building, followed by explosion which also known as acute battering incident and then culminating in a calm, loving interval which is known as the honeymoon stage. Battered woman stays in insulting relationship because women are resistant during honeymoon stage and they tend to be peacekeepers in a relationship and they are responsible for marriage work, unfavorable economic costs and its more dangerous to leave than staying before threats by batterer to kill her or the children and this result to psychological paralysis. According to Tennant, 2001 battered woman syndrome is a psychological and behavioral pattern which is a symptom in those women living in rough treatment relationships. There are various characteristics of the syndrome such as woman believing that it was her fault for the violence to happen, she is unable to put the responsibility of the violence elsewhere, she fears for her life and for her childrens and she has an illogical belief that, the abuser is omniscient and omnipresent. This syndrome can be more of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rather than being just a mental illness (Tennant). Most women who experience domestic violence suffer from battered women syndrome and they have to undergo two cycles; cycle of abusive which involves repeated abuse which can be either generational or episodic whereby generational is passed down by exposure from parents to children and episodic is a repeated pattern in which two people in the family are involved either child abuse, spousal abuse or elder abuse. (McMahon, 23) ODonovan, 1991 stated that, stages for battered woman syndrome includes; Denial stage which occurs when a woman denies to her or to others that there is a problem, they have excuses why their partners have an abusive happenings and they generally believe the abusiveness will happen again. Stage two is guilt and the woman acknowledges that in their relationship there is a problem and recognizes she is an abuse victim and she blames herself for the incidents and she begins to question her character and she will try to live up with her partner. Stage three is enlightenment, this begins when the woman begins to understand that no one deserves a beat and the beatings she receives are not necessary and then comes to realize that her partner has a problem and she then stays in the relationship with future hopes for a change. Stage four comes when the woman realizes that her abuser has a fixable problem and she realizes that there is nothing they can do to assist him and then she decides to take another step of leaving the spouse and starts a new live. (ODonovan, 219) US Department of Justice, 1996 outlined that, there have been a battered women defense which is a legal defense for the assaulted or murdered people who was suffering from battered person syndrome and the defense is invoked by women. Battered women syndrome is as a result of legal advocacy and it owes the existence of legal advocates needs to support and rationalize claims from the battered women. Battered women syndrome has been used in a diverse assorted cases ranging from ideal self-defense case to the more narrative prosecutorial syndrome use. Courts use the relevance of the syndrome to back up honesty of womens belief in use of deadly force for her mental incapacity for establishment of a necessary mental objective. Battered women syndrome has been employed in criminal cases and experts have to qualify to testify about the syndrome. (US Department of Justice) According to McMahon, 1999 battered women syndrome has been misunderstood even by legal expertise and its not a legal defense but its effects and expert testimony are employed in getting legal system to assist judges understand the experience of a battered woman. Some beliefs show that, battered women syndrome is a fact and others show is a fiction and the fact ones are powerful for they influence the way a battered woman, family and friends encounter and the general public respond to the various instances of battering (McMahon, 25). Battered women syndrome fiction beliefs that, battered women hate and they have to learn that not all men are bad but according to the fact they dont hate men they hate being battered. Mans home is his castle and it shouldnt be interfered with but the fact is battery is an offense and no one has the right to beat or abuse another. Womans beating comes as a result of provoking or nagging her spouse but the fact remains that, people are beaten for a reason and people have no right to violently express their anger. A person still stays with her abuser even after being battered likes being beaten. Beating hurts and no one is fond of being beaten but a woman may decide to continues staying with her abuser due to the fear of further violence, because of religious reasons, financial hardships, emotional attachments and family beliefs that they should stay together. (McMahon, 26) In addition, there has been a fiction that upper and middle class women dont often experience battering like poor women but the fact is that, domestic violence can happen in any socio-economic levels for the rich women are accessible to resources and the poor women make use of the community agencies and they are more visible. Once a battered woman, always a battered woman, this is false belief which has been with people but the fact is that, whereas some battered women have been in one or more abusive relationship, those women who experience domestic violence are least likely to enter to another abusive relationship. Battered women syndrome claims that, battered women have psychological trauma and they are responsible for the violence and men and women should be all accountable for their violence actions. (McMahon, 30) According to ODonovan, 1991 lawyers and judges are indebted to become better consumers of knowledge because battered women syndrome have been originally put in place of disappointment, aggravation, and sometimes anger over domestic violence. Domestic violence worldwide is very real, and an epidemic extent according to reports. Battered women syndrome has been a psychological-styled diagnosis whereby its a womans ill health provoked by husbands battering and the defense for the syndrome now spins around her ironically alleged helplessness and mental deficiency. Battered women syndrome lacks a scientific and reliable technical base and this make it to fall under disuse. (ODonovan, 225) In todays world many women are beaten by their spouse or boyfriends and several violent cases have been reported. Battery causes injuries to women more than even rape, because many miscarriages happen as a result of battery than medical situations and many women die from battery. The battering effects vary and the psychological impact is defined using a general symptoms and women who are battered react differently to violence and these responses may be emotional through fear, sadness and anger, beliefs and attitude changes towards others and they have psychological dysfunction or distress. Womens response to battery is based on violence and abuse, context and environment in which the woman should respond and heal from and who is the battery victim. (Tennant) As argued by McMahon, 1999 women with battered women syndrome are viewed as flawed, disordered, damaged or abnormal in a way. Despite the fact that many battered victims have negative impacts from the act, the syndrome language makes women battered syndrome in a pathology. Medical conditions of battered victims are not gender specific like the law which is bias in self-defense. Domestic violence results to physical abuse and the depressed is not able to take independent measures which enables him/her to escape the violence. This is the reason why many people doesnt seek assistance, leave the abuser or fight the abuser but they can use force to protect themselves and they may end up killing their abuser due to the life threatening situations and the abusiveness. Conclusion Battered women syndrome is considered as a form of post traumatic stress disorder which is recognized as a psychological condition which describes a constant domestic violence victim and for one to be categorized as battered has to undergo through two cycles and the stages of the syndrome. Battered women syndrome is a fact for many have experienced it through domestic violence and even the law has dealt with such cases. Works Cited McMahon, Mark, â€Å"Battered Women and Bad Science: The Limited Validity and Utility of Battered Woman Syndrome.† Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Vol.6, No. 1, pp. 23-49, 1999 ODonovan, Katherine, â€Å"Defense for Battered Women Who Kill,† Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 219-240, summer, 1991 Tennant, Robert, Battered Womens Syndrome, 2001 US Department of Justice, The Validity and use of Evidence Concerning Battering and Its Effects in Criminal Trials: Report Responding to Section 40507 of the Violence Against Women Act, May, 1996

Media Portrayals of Criminal Justice System

A limited number of people have interaction with or are having the real experience of what and how the criminal justice system works. This is because majority of our ideas are generally drawn from the various forms of mass media – news, television, movies, and print media. Generally, all media forms show a very positive representation of the attainment and honesty of the criminal justice system.   The media helps to mold the mental positions and impressions of the society. It also assists in shaping the public's perceptions regarding criminals, crime, and justice, as well as the people within the system. In fact, the media is a vital source of details and an effective tool of shaping one’s views on the criminal justice system.For the reasons that media builds a social reality, creates a public's plan of action, and designs the government's response toward crime and justice, suggest that there is a complicated interaction between media portrayals of crime itself and th e criminal justice system in general.Broadcast and Print News PortrayalsAn article by Shannon Petersen suggests that modern broadcast and print media portrayals of the criminal justice system unveil greatly about journalism. Petersen coined this as the yellow journalism due to the significantly and specifically shocking, challenging, and unreliable characteristics of the news it brings. This is also because the characteristics of yellow journalism were evident in news stories in broadcast media (television and radio) and in all the nation's major newspapers (Petersen, 1991).The article titled â€Å"Yellow Justice: Media Portrayal of Criminal Trials in the Progressive Era† also states that newspaper, television, and radio companies were motivated more by the financial gain instead of its justice awareness. This oftentimes led to misleading and inaccurate news reports (Petersen, 1991). Petersen (1991) also noted that yellow journalism was very apparent during industrialization boom of newspapers and broadcasting companies.The lack of internal restriction regarding the manner and topic to report also contributed to the wide practice of yellow journalism. In fact, Petersen (1991) reported that during the early part of the twentieth century, courts had not yet adopted judicial practices like jury segregation to avoid the presence and eventually limit the influence of media practitioners in the courtroom.Lastly, Petersen (1991) stated that media portrayals of the judicial trials in the early twentieth century promote more about an advance era of the society. For instance, even a credible newspaper such as the New York Times was tainted when it published a report which showed racism and sexism (Petersen, 1991). This is because the report strengthened tendencies in the society and the criminal justice system.Newspaper and broadcast reports which sensationalized the criminal justice system are stories which deal with racial and gender stereotypes, bigamy, divorc e and traffic violations (Petersen, 1991). According to Pterson (1991), these articles display a knowledgeable skepticism of the ability of the society to refuse the power of the media. Surprisingly, they even show the public's willingness to sacrifice the freedom of the press in the name of justice (Petersen, 1991).Television PortrayalsAltheide (1985), Gerbner and Gross (1976), and Gerbner (1993) presented a great relation between heavy television screening and the socialization of television-prejudiced ideas of reality (cited in McNeely, 1995). According to McNeely (1995), there is a significant involvement and study addressing the concern on violence on television and its influences on the viewers. A large number of works focuses on the issue of whether or not television portrayals of crime and violence have an effect to the viewing population on the aspect of engendering, rather than simply attesting similar mental positions and human conducts.McNeely (1995) suggested that telev ision programs should be utilized to ascertain public images of the criminal justice system itself and how those images might or might not change the knowledge, perspective, and basic understanding of the judicial system and its operation. He added that those said images and impressions can be compared with â€Å"reality† in order to add to one's understanding of the criminal law and social interaction (cited in McNeely, 1995).McNeely (1995), however, clarified that with television portrayals, people might expect to find a comparative match and an increasing level of influence on public notion of the criminal justice system. A growing level of television viewed by the â€Å"postmodern† individual may result in more television-defined public perspectives of criminal justice and law enforcement. McNeely (1995) added that the suggested research, aside from being distinctly absorbing and suggestive, can lead to a somewhat different and persuasive examination of the interac tion between the public and judicial system especially in terms of their interactive investigation. This is because of their significant abstract and experimental implications for related studies of the tradition, government, and the criminal justice studies in general (cited in McNeely, 1995).Movie PortrayalsIn his presentation of the movie portrayals of the criminal justice system, Myers (2006) said that movies reflect some realities about the judicial system regardless of the agreement of their screenplays to Hollywood's commercial mood. The movies shine an unflattering light on the justice system and which gives encouragement to its viewers. The movies tend to illustrate that the justice system is not essentially interested in finding the truth, despite the fact that seeking the truth is a necessary aspect of the crime victims' sense of justice (Myers, 2006).A lot of movie portrayals are critiques of the criminal justice system. Most of them show how the current system lacks in providing true justice to crime victims. This is because in movies, many crime victims and proponents of the legal system participants must resort to their personal and more risky manners of seeking justice for the crimes committed against them or their love ones. This is where the judicial practice fails which the movies apparently portray.First, it does not provide enough resources or counseling to victims that have suffered from the crime. Second, the criminal justice system legal system does not adapt the appropriate punishment for crime suspects. While the court is still wondering whether law is a reflection of the public or simply impacts the perspective of the people, there is no doubt that the justice system, with all its strengths and weaknesses, is portrayed most dramatically and largely on the silver screen.The various media portrayals of the criminal justice system as presented in this paper have true and important impacts on the behavior of the public and the society. B y knowing and understanding the ineffectiveness of the justice system as portrayed by the media, people can become more decisive consumers of media images.The various media forms are in the business of affecting how and what people think of the criminal justice system. Nowadays, it is quite hard to believe that people can just ignore everything they perceive in the media because the portrayals presented are not literally correct or because they are loosely staged models of reality.Although most people understand that what they are seeing in media is not a depiction of â€Å"real events,† the persuasive and powerful presentations of media have somehow affected how the human mind works. In order for a portrayal to be efficient, the audience must, in some way, identify with the characters and what they are doing, even if some aspects of the situation are â€Å"unrealistic.† This is where the media proves to be effective in presenting the true facet of the criminal justice system.ReferencesMcNeely, C. (1995). Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System: Television Imagery and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public Knowledge in the United States. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Culture, 3(1), 1-20.Myers, R. (2006). Movies About the Legal System and the Portrayal of Crime Victims. Fordham Law Forum on Law, Culture & Society. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from    Fordham Law and Culture Database.Petersen, S. (1999). Yellow Justice: Media Portrayal of Criminal Trials in the ProgressiveEra. Stanford Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 72.

Sadest Poem Essay - 470 Words

Saddest Poem nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Tow weeks ago one of my classmates has presented a poem from his culture, and I am sure that it’s a Latin culture. The poem is called â€Å"Saddest Poem† written by Pablo Neruda who is as I understood one of the most famous Latinos poet. This poem was translated to English, even though it didn’t lose its original structure. No one can argue about the main idea of this poem that it’s a sad poem and we can clearly see that from the title. Neruda uses many of the poetry techniques to complete a perfect picture ending with this poem. Sitting, metaphor, sounds, and imagery all were the elements that leaded to this nice piece of literature. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;When I read this poem, I felt that†¦show more content†¦He is alone; there is only the night and the stars. He is thinking of her. â€Å"I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; On night like this, I held her in my arms nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky†(6-8) nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; He keeps thinking of her and repeating â€Å"I can write the saddest poem off all tonight†(1,5,11) he is very sad. Then he moved to describe her and their relationship â€Å"she loved me, sometimes I loved her.†(9) Then he compared losing her with â€Å"to hear the immense night, more immense without her.†(13) nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;â€Å"My soul is lost without her†(18) this is a usual saying but its still a personification as well as â€Å"my eyes search for her†¦. my heart searches for her..†(19-20) There is a very nice line that I like because of it sounds, which showed me how sad he is â€Å"We, we who were, we are the same no longer.†(22) The â€Å"wee† sound is just showing how lost and sad he is. More over, he is not sure about something in his deep feelings. Or I shall say he is sure but contradicting himself when he says â€Å"I no longer love her, true, perhaps I love her.†(27) The best line in this poem, in my opinion, that represents personification,

Essay about Poverty in Our Society - 2241 Words

Poverty in Our Society In this assignment I intend to show an awareness of the concepts, definitions and measurements of poverty, of the groups experiencing poverty, social exclusion and discrimination. I will then discuss Government anti-poverty policies, legislation and how social work can respond to poverty. I shall now discuss the history of poverty the legislation, theories and measurements of poverty. The Poor Law Act 1601 focused on work discipline, deterrence and classification [Golding and Middleton (1982, Alcock.P p11). People who were poor or destitute were sent to workhouses, as a form of poverty†¦show more content†¦[Rowantree 1901). Absolute poverty does exist but should be seen as a relative concept. [Scottish Executive Social Justice Report 2000] [Prescott 1994: 26) states that absolute poverty does not exist in Britain today having been virtually eliminated by the welfare state, with the exception of small groups such as homeless or elderly people who die through not heating their homes in the winter, this is not due to poverty but is the persons choice. [Becker. S p22] (Pathological theory) Relative Poverty defined by (Townsend, 1979) measured poverty in the state standard income, relative income standard of poverty and relative deprivation. Townsend states the poverty line is decided by society, that a person is living in poverty if he or she is excluded from social participation or part citizenship (Structural theory). [Townsend 1979, Golding 1986, Lister 1990, Oppenheim and Harker 1996] (Becker. S p23) Mack and Lansley 1985 Breadline Britain was based on Townsends relative measurement also of the publics perception of necessities (Democratic). 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