Psychological Testing in Forensic Evaluations of Battered Women Who Kill

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present article addresses the use of various psychological assessment measures (i.e., trauma and personality inventories) in Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) evaluations. More specifically, the present article discusses evaluation procedures used to assess symptoms of BWS and associated symptoms as they relate to criminal proceedings when a woman is charged with killing her abusive partner. Presently, there is a dearth of scholarly information regarding what outcomes to expect when conducting battered women’s (BW) forensic psychological evaluations and how they differ from clinical psychological evaluations. In the present study, psychological assessment results obtained from case samples were reviewed and averaged to produce BW profiles across several measures (i.e., PAI, MMPI-2, TSI-2, and DAPS). These profiles revealed consistent symptoms of anxiety, depression, somatization, paranoia, and most notably numerous symptoms secondary to traumatic experiences. Further, the present article addresses validity concerns that may arise when the discussed assessments are administered to a BW sample. In BWS evaluations, these assessment results and the expected validity scale-related concerns must be considered in conjunction with all obtained clinical and collateral information to arrive at conclusions regarding women in this population due to the lack of normative test data on a BW population.