Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

battered women syndrome, coping skills, relationships, survival

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is a psychological and sociological construct defined as a set of symptoms that develop as coping skills and/or survival mechanisms for repeated physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse by an intimate partner (Walker, 2017). Symptom criteria include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicators of fear, hypervigilance, avoidance, and intrusive memories of abuse, in addition to disrupted interpersonal relationships, body image distortion and/or physical health complaints, and sexual dysfunction. Although historically BWS was considered a female syndrome, it is now known that both men and women can experience severe victimization by intimate partner violence (IPV; i.e., contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking) (Smith et al., 2018). Specifically, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five women and one in seven men will be victims of severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner within their lifetime (Breidling et al., 2014). Additionally, IPV occurs in non-heterosexual relationships at equal, or perhaps, even higher rates than in hetero-normative relationships (Rollè, Giardina, Caldarera, Gerino, & Brustia, 2018).). Furthermore, the power and control dynamics within violent relationships occur at multiple levels (individual, dyadic, community, societal) and intersecting identities are associated with various expressions of control and violence within relationships. Finally, IPV in adolescent dating relationships has been related to skill deficits as well as control dynamics (Niolon et al., 2017), suggesting the need for a developmental and dynamic understanding of the experience of IPV victims (Capaldi & Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 2012).

Download

Share

COinS