Jesse Buehler

Victimology

Barbie Underwood

October 10th, 2021

Battered Woman Syndrome – Criminal Minds: “The Crossing”

Battered Woman Syndrome is a term used in the field of Victimology. The term, battered

woman syndrome, is defined as the set of symptoms, injuries, and signs of mistreatment seen in a

woman who has been repeatedly abused by a spouse, partner, or relative. The term is associated

as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder; however, the validity has been argued by many

therapists, clinicians, and those involved in the justice system regarding the legality of using

battered woman syndrome as a theory within the legal system. This report will first analyze the

investigation and evidence from an episode of Criminal Minds regarding Audrey and the murder

of her husband. This report will then argue the validity of battered woman syndrome while also

giving evidence of why this syndrome should be admissible in a court of law.

In the episode, “The Crossing” from the television series, Criminal Minds, the viewer is

presented the case involving a wife murdering her husband. Audrey shot her husband while he

was sleeping in their bed. The lawyers for Audrey are claiming battered woman syndrome for

her defense while the prosecution believes that this was simply an act of murder in the first

degree. The prosecution approaches the members of the FBI to ask for their assistance with the

investigation. They agree to interview Audrey and her children and see what they can do.
 First, the investigators ask to interview the children of the victim and Audrey. The

children appear furious at their mother. They claim that she was never abused by their father;

that their father was very patient with their mother because their mother “could not do anything

right.” The children made the comment that their mother could never keep the house clean, she

could never go shopping unsupervised because she got all the wrong things, and that she never

went to any of their sporting events. Both children stated that their father had told them that he

loved them more than their mother. The children appeared to deify their father and vilify their

mother due to manipulation from their father all their lives.

The investigators then begin to search into Audrey’s life. They look at medical records,

financial statements, and if a life insurance policy was taken out on her husband. The

investigators state that they are looking for any sign of abuse or anything unusual. What was in

fact, unusual to them was that there was hardly any evidence about Audrey at all. The only

record regarding her and her husband was their marriage license, and the only record of a

hospital visit was when she had their children. This puzzled the investigators which prompted

their need to speak with Audrey herself regarding her home life and the murder.

They meet Audrey in an interrogation room inside an institutional facility. Audrey

appears disorientated, yet calm. She asks why the investigators why they are there to speak with

her. They state simply that they are there to talk about what has happened. Audrey asks the

investigators what there is to talk about? She states that she killed her husband. She shot him in

the head twice while he was sleeping. The investigators seem puzzled. They ask about her home

life. They ask her if she had ever been abused. Audrey seems insulted at the question and states

that she has never been abused. Phillip, her husband, was so patient with her, and she states she
deserved to be abused but he never once did so. Because of this last statement by Audrey, the

investigators ask why she believes she should have been abused. Audrey replies by stating that

she could never do anything right. The house was always a mess because she could not clean it

properly, she could never get the shopping right, and she could never properly parent her own

children. The investigators ask Audrey one final question regarding why she never attended her

own children’s sporting events. Audrey quietly replied that it was because she felt that since she

could never do anything right at home, she did not want to be an embarrassment for her children

out in public.

Audrey was a victim of psychological manipulation and trauma. She later stated to the

investigators that she killed her husband in his sleep because she felt that it was her only chance

to escape. However, she attempted to clean the blood off the surfaces not in an attempt to hide

evidence, but because Phillip, her husband, would have been furious if the house was unclean

when visitors (the police) came to the house. Investigators went to the residence of Audrey and

Phillip and noticed an immaculate house. The shoes were organized from size and color, and the

clothing was perfectly spaced and organized by color as well. This led to the conclusion that the

investigators believed that Audrey was a victim to battered woman syndrome. Her charges were

lowered from first degree murder, and the prosecution believed she would be offered probation

for the crime.

This report, however, disagrees with the investigators conclusion that Audrey was a

victim to battered woman syndrome. Although she did suffer severe psychological abuse, there

was no evidence of physical abuse nor does the abuse fall in line with the three stages of abuse

first theorized by Lenore Walker in her first publication, The Battered Woman, in 1979. Walker
describes that in her theory, there was a cycle of violence. There are three phases to the abuse.

First, there is a tension building phase. Audrey does fall into this category by the way her

husband and her children viewed and treated her in her home. However, the second phase is the

actual physical assault, which Audrey admitted never happened. Lastly, the final phase is the

loving-contrition phase when the batterer often apologizes, begs forgiveness, and promises not to

repeat the abuse. This also never occurred according to Audrey. There are examples of learned

helplessness and a presence of a “turning point” to when Audrey killed her husband, but overall,

there is not enough evidence to accurately suspect without a doubt that Audrey was a victim to

battered woman syndrome.

Audrey may have not been a victim of the textbook definition of battered woman

syndrome, but she did experience extreme psychological abuse and manipulation that ultimately

led to the crime of killing her husband. This evidence and pattern should not be ignored in a

court of law, and neither should the theory of battered woman syndrome. Multiple studies and

several reports have concluded that battered woman syndrome can be admissible in a court of

law. This comes a long way from Dr. Lenore Walker’s first theory and the amount of criticism it

received based on her studies.

Dr. Walker conducted several studies involving women who experienced domestic

violence. Her studies were conducted primarily in the form of interviews with victims of

domestic violence, drawn from her clients and from self-referred battered women who

volunteered for her study. Her major study was of 400 battered women and involved a team of

researchers who conducted several hours long interviews with the women. Critics of these

studies challenged Dr. Walker from a basis of not having a “control” group of unbattered women
to compare the data with. Also, Dr. Walker was criticized for her choice of questions, as the

questions were seen to be more open ended than closed ended, with the interviewers also

rumored to be biased as well.

Battered woman syndrome increasingly came to be associated with post traumatic stress

disorder. Although it is not listed in the diagnostic manual for psychological disorders, recent

research supports the correlation between characteristics of battered women and post traumatic

stress disorder victims. However, with all the criticisms regarding Dr. Walker’s research, new

findings have made battered woman syndrome admissible for defense in all fifty states. This

came to be from new information and new research along with Section 40507 of the Violence

Against Women Act.

The Violence Against Women Act charts a new direction for our nation’s response to

violent crimes against women, and Section 40507 discusses specifically the topic of battered

women and battered woman syndrome. This section of the act directed the attorney general to

conduct research and draw a report for Congress regarding the validity of battered woman

syndrome. The key findings from both the researchers and the criminal justice professionals were

that, given the knowledge available, expert testimony on battering and its effects has now been

admitted in all states, although considerable variation exists within individual states remains.

One report used by researchers and criminal justice professionals titled, Validity of

"Battered Woman Syndrome" in Criminal Cases Involving Battered Women, reviews the

literature concerning scientific and clinical knowledge on battering and its effects, implications

of this scientific knowledge for criminal cases involving battered women, and the role of expert

testimony in such cases. The review concludes that an extensive body of scientific and clinical
knowledge strongly supports the validity and relevance of battering as a factor in the reactions

and behavior of victims of domestic violence. It further reports that such knowledge is relevant at

many points in the criminal justice process, from charging through sentencing, and that expert

testimony can provide information that helps factfinders in their deliberations, dispels common

misconceptions, or interprets the behavior of the battered woman.

With all the research and new information provided, there is still much debate on the

thought of a “battered women’s defense.” This report concludes that there is no such defense.

The reasoning behind such statement comes from the thought that expert testimony should be

used to support a battered woman’s self defense claim, not replace it. In general, expert

testimony should help the jury and the judge understand the defendant’s experiences and actions,

not excuse them. The testimony should be part of the evidence that helps to inform those

involved about the social context in which the incident occurred. Overall, this report believes the

answer to the core question regarding the inclusion of battered woman syndrome in a court of

law to be valid and sometimes necessary to provide context to the crime committed.