Critical Reading - Psychological self-defense
Critical reading assignments evaluate how well you can summarize key concepts in academic papers. You are going to be graded on your ability to put the answers to each question INTO YOUR OWN WORDS. I am not interested in how well you can hunt out answers and copy them into a Word document - I need to know that you understand the material. Rarely (if ever) should you quote directly from the reading, and copying without proper paraphrasing is considered plagiarism and will result in a zero on the assignment and possibly an "F" in the course.
Read
Ewing, C. (1990). Psychological self-defense: A proposed justification for battered women who kill. Law and Human Behavior, 14 (6), 579-594
Read the above article and respond to these questions
1. Under current law, what circumstances must exist for an incident to be determined a clear case of self-defense?
2. Approximately what percentage of battered women have been sexually abused (e.g., raped, raped with an object, raped in front of their children, etc.) by their spouses/partners?
3. Describe the stages of Walker's cycle of violence, including what sorts of incidents/behaviors occur at each phase.
4. What is learned helplessness and how has it been applied to battered woman syndrome (BWS)?
5. What are some of the factors that may be inherent in a battered woman's situation that can prevent them from leaving the batterer?
6. Give a typical profile of a battered woman who kills vs. one that does not?
7. What is psychological self-defense as Ewing defines it?
8. What is the castle doctrine and how does it relate to Ewing's idea of psychological self-defense?
9. Summarize Ewing's discussion of the difference between justification and excuse as it pertains to BWS. What is Professor Morse's view (as described by Ewing) and what is Ewing's view?
10. What do YOU think? Should the psychological self-defense be recognized for BWS? Why or why not?