to deal with the excessive force problem, Germany has created a statute that allows excessive force under certain conditions. The Strafgesetzbuch states that, "[I]f the actor exceeds the limits of self-defense because of confusion, fear, or fright [s]he is not to be punished" (as qtd. in Dubin pg. 12). This statute allows the woman to be completely acquitted. Although the law requires the woman to be in situation that would justify the use of self-defense, it does not punish her for perceiving the situation wrong and overreacting. This defense, if adopted by the U.S., would allow abused women who kill their attackers to be acquitted (Dubin pg. 12).Germany has also helped battered women by providing a more liberal view on the imminent danger element of self-defense. The German legislature has come to recognize that imminent danger need not be immediate to pose a substantial threat. This logical assertion has brought Germany to take a deeper look at what imminent danger means and how it is applied. German courts have concluded that a perceived danger only needs to be intermittent, or ongoing, in order for it to be justifiable. Germany's liberal stance on the imminent danger element of self-defense is quite logical, because many abused women kill their attackers while they are asleep. The German method of viewing imminent danger would be an ideal tool for battered women, because they are abused continuously over an extended period of time (Dubin pg. 14).Many social scientists have studied the weaknesses of the self-defense justification and formulated personal theories about what the defense should entail. In 1987, C.P. Ewing introduced the psychological self-defense model. Ewing suggests that this defense is necessary, because battered women face psychological danger from their abusers. This defense would examine both the physical and psychological dangers that a battered woman has endured. If this model was adopted by the l...
