egislature it would allow a person to use reasonable force when an immediate danger threatens a person's mental state. Ewing stated, "the law needs to recognize that the value of human life lies not in mere physical existence but rather in the capacity to experience that existence in a psychological, meaningful, and rewarding fashion" (as qtd. in Hilton pg. 268). The psychological self-defense model was tested by social scientists in 1990. One hundred and ninety-six undergraduate psychology students were given a real case scenario and asked to act as mock jurors. The research proved that when the mock jury was offered a psychological self-defense option nearly half of the participants would acquit the defendant (Hilton pg. 273). This research shows that jurors will respond more leniently when offered new alternatives for judging battered women's behavior. Many social scientists have come to support abused women and the battered women's syndrome, but there are still many critics who are not convinced.Part IV: LEGAL CRITICS OF BATTERED WOMEN'S SYNDROMEIt is not the theory behind battered women's syndrome that has critics upset but rather the misuse of the syndrome by many women to evade culpability. The syndrome itself is based on a sound theory and backed by scientific research. Psychologists, and other social scientists, have brought aid to women who truly suffer from domestic violence in America, but they have also been criticized for supporting women who have not been abused. There is dyer need for a closer examination of the negative aspects that have arisen out of the battered women's syndrome. Some critics hold that battered women's syndrome is closely related to victimology and may cause people to undermine the principles that the criminal law is based upon. Although this assumption is well warranted, it would not affect the majority of battered women's cases in America. Critics have even blamed the present state of ba...
