When Women Kill: An Analysis of BWS, Sentencing, and Plea Bargaining Strategies

• In Event: Gender and Crime: Examining International Contexts

Abstract

This study is an analysis of data from 35 female perpetrated homicide cases handled by a Public Defender’s office between the years 1994-2007 in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. This study also features qualitative analysis of interviews with 8 Public Defenders who represented these women in the courts. Results revealed that the issue of battered woman’s syndrome (BWS) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as contributing factors in female perpetrated homicides impacts greatly the way the Defense Attorneys handle these cases. Also, results revealed a pattern wherein women who had killed a boyfriend or husband received lighter sentences than those who had killed a stranger or acquaintance and that those women diagnosed with PTSD or BWS also received lighter sentences than women without such a diagnosis.

Author

• Carolyn Field, Edgewood College