Female Murderers

In f bet, "until the late 70's and archaean 80's, cops rarely made arrests for wife beating because it was assumed that manpower had the right to control their wives" (Paterno, 1991, p. E14). Because of this factor, many women in abusive relationships were coerce to resort to murder "as their last hope at self-defense" (p. E1). Fortunately, this situation has been changing over the course of time. at that place has been increased social awareness on the issue of wife abuse. In particular, it is now realized that repeated beatings and other forms of municipal force out piece of ass drive some women to retaliate with acts of murder. In turn, this change in social awareness has been causing gradational change in the way the legal system looks at such cases. Thus, the " battered woman syndrome" is starting to be considered as a possible defense in many cases of women who kill. In 1977, in a Montana court case, the psychologist Lenore Walker was the inaugural person to introduce the battered woman syndrome as a legal defense (p. E14). Since that time, the idea has gained a great down of attention in the news media. In addition, an increasing physique of politicians, judges and lawyers are beginning to consider the syndrome to be a valid motive for murder among women.

It has been estimated that three to four jillion women in America are battered by their keep ups or boyfriends each year (Vidulich, 1991, p. 6). Of this number, a rela

Eleventh-hour clemency. (1990, December 31). Time, 136, 17.

Vidulich, D. (1991, March 29). Several women convicted of killing husbands pardoned. National Catholic Reporter, 27, p. 6.

A typical case of a women who killed her husband can be seen in Mytolka athletic supporter, a resident of the state of Maryland. Friend was acc utilise and convicted of killing her husband. She never denied the act, but there was proof that she had committed murder in reaction to years of arduous abuse. In fact, it was noted that "she tried for months to get assistance, fearing for her and her son's lives" (Vidulich, 1991, p. 6). Furthermore, it was reported that she killed her husband only after he had been beating her repeatedly for a period of five hours (p. 6).

However, as is typical in such cases, this evidence of spousal abuse was not permitted to be used in her trial. As a result, she was sentenced to prison without having her full twaddle told in court.

Paterno, S. (1991, April 14). A legacy of violence. Los Angeles Times, pp. E1+.

Although the actions of Celeste and Schaefer seem to be pointing in the right direction in terms of providing fair trials for women who kill, they assimilate nonetheless stirred a great deal of controversy. For example, the Ohio pardons were "hailed by women's rights groups as a major victory in the conflict to treat violence-prone battered women as victims, not criminals" ("Eleventh instant Clemency," 1990, p. 17). At the same time, however, many people who were opposed to the act argued that the pardons would simply "encourage more abused women to resort to violence" (p. 17). For example, Dennis Watkins, the president of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney's Association, responded to Celeste's pardons by expressing concern over the message that was universe conveyed to other abused women by the action. According to Watkins, "the fact that you're battered does not give you a license to kill. Now, instead of expiry to the courts or getting a divorce, th
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