| Battered woman syndrome was originally introduced to the public in the 1970s to promote the awareness of minority rights (Biggers, 2003). By the 1980s, battered woman syndrome was introduced into the forensic arena (Ferraro, 2003). Battered woman syndrome has since been used by psychologists and members of the courts to describe the behavior, perspective, and psychological functioning of alleged battered victims. Previous research has shown that female jurors are likely to be more sympathetic than male jurors to a female defendant using a battered woman's syndrome defense (Archer, 2000). However, little research has been conducted to investigate jurors' opinions of battered male defendants and/or defendants who are in homosexual relationships. The aim of this research is to explore potential jurors' opinions regarding battered defendants in heterosexual and homosexual relationships with intimate partner violence. Further, the research will also be directed at evaluating potential jurors' opinions on the gender of the perpetrator and victim.;Keywords: Battered Woman Syndrome, Battered Person Syndrome, Domestic Violence... |
