Legal Definitions - battered-person syndrome

Battered-person syndrome is a medical and psychological condition that affects individuals who have suffered physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from a spouse or partner. It is also known as battered-woman syndrome.

The syndrome was first described in the 1970s by Dr. Lenore Walker. It consists of a three-stage cycle of violence:

• The tension-building stage, which may include verbal and mild physical abuse
• The acute battering stage, which includes stronger verbal abuse, increased physical violence, and perhaps rape or other sexual abuse
• The loving-contrition stage, which includes the abuser's apologies, attentiveness, kindness, and gift-giving

Battered-person syndrome is sometimes used as a defense to justify or mitigate a person's killing of their abuser.

For example, if a woman kills her abusive husband after years of physical and emotional abuse, she may argue that she was suffering from battered-woman syndrome and acted in self-defense.

Another example is a man who has been repeatedly sexually assaulted by his partner. He may develop battered-person syndrome and struggle with feelings of shame, guilt, and fear.