This paper will discuss the article “Battered Women Who Kill: Variables Affecting Simulated Jurors’ Verdicts” written by Maguire, Sigal and Perrino in 2005 concerning a study they conducted to determine the factors influencing the verdicts of battered women who kill their abusers by simulated jurors’. It will include the purpose of the study, the background, the hypothesis, the results and a critique of the study.
Background or theory related to the study
Most studies conducted in the country have only examined the variables touching on the impact of domestic violence cases chiefly in occasions of prolonged physical abuse. However, most women complain of emotional distress on top of the physical abuse. Emotional abuse can be inflicted through frequent negative criticism, ignorance, belittling and threats. Researchers report that accusations of emotional abuse are taken less seriously than physical abuse although they may have prolonged emotional scaring. Since there were no previous studies that were conducted to distinguish between the impact of physical battering and emotional torture on guilty verdicts in a replicated trial of battered women who murdered their abuser, this study was conducted to compare the verdicts. The theory that the researchers are trying to support is that an abused woman in trial for killing her abuser will be judged more harshly when the cause of the murder is emotional abuse than she would if the abuse was physical since participants would claim emotional abuse was less severe than physical abuse (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 1).
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Numerous studies conducted on the issue of race and domestic violence has shown that the rate of domestic violence among the Blacks and Whites is almost the same. However, reports express that the justice system response to an abused woman on trial for killing her abuser is most likely to be affected by the race and the social class of the woman. In addition, the juror’s race is also likely to affect their verdict- studies show that jurors of the same race as the defendant will sympathize with her more and will blame her less for the crime. Therefore, this study was also set to determine the dissimilarity between the trial outcomes of Caucasian and African American defendants who have killed their spouses. The cases will be given to both African American participants and multicultural groups. From this aspect of the research, the theory formulated was that if a jury is composed of multicultural participants, they would judge an African American guiltier than they would a Caucasian defendant. In addition, African American jurors would judge an African American less guilty because of the empathy they have for her (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 2).
Lastly, this experiment is interested in the participant’s prior knowledge of domestic violence on the verdict they issue. Previous research shows that male participants are more likely to judge battered women for killing their spouses as guiltier than female jurors; this decision can be partly attributed to less knowledge on the issue of domestic violence. Therefore, the theory in this aspect is that female participants have more knowledge on the issue of domestic violence than their male counterparts and are therefore more likely to give a not guilty verdict. Furthermore, participants who had personal experience on domestic violence would have a less severe verdict than those whose experience on the matter was from social media (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 2).
Purpose and Hypothesis of the Study
The study had three main purposes that include: first the researchers were to compare the verdicts provided by the participants if the battered woman who killed her abuser when the abuser was either physical or emotional. Secondly the study was set to determine whether there is a significant difference between the outcomes of a trial held against African American and Caucasian defendants who murdered their assaulters. Lastly, the experiment would determine whether the participants’ previous knowledge of domestic violence would affect the outcome of the cases (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005).
The study had three hypotheses for each purpose of the study and they include: first, the victim of the domestic violence would often be judges guilty in circumstances of emotional abuse than they would in physical abuse. Secondly, if the simulated juror is composed of multicultural participants, they will judge an African American defendant guiltier than they would a Caucasian defendant. Lastly, a simulated jury of people with personal experience on domestic violence will give a no guilty verdict (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005).
Sample Population Studied
The study had two groups of study that include a multicultural sample and the African American sample. The multicultural sample comprised of 80 undergraduate students (37 male and 43 female) from a New York metropolitan university. They were of mixed race with 37 Caucasian, 15 Hispanics, 19 Blacks and 9 Asians, their average age was 22. From their description, all the 80 participants qualified to serve as jurors in the country. The African American sample comprised of 50 undergraduates (19 male and 31 female) at HBU in Maryland. All the 50 partakers were eligible for jury duty in America (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 3).
Measures or Variables Tested in the Study
The participants were issued with a trial transcript that was attached with a juror decision sheet where there would give their verdicts. The verdicts included not guilty by reason of self-defense, not guilty by reason of insanity and guilty. In addition, the participants filled a manipulation sheet to check their memory on aspects concerning the cases such as number of years the victim was married to the abuser. A 12-item battered woman questionnaire that measured the knowledge of the participants concerning the assaults was issued to the participants. The participants filled a demographic information sheet (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 3).
Results or Findings of the Study
Only one of the three hypotheses was confirmed by the result of the study. They confirmed that an abused woman who killed her spouse will be judged guilty often when the abuse was emotional rather than physical. The hypothesis that a multicultural juror would judge an African American defendant as guilty while giving a not guilty verdict to a Caucasian defendant was not confirmed. The difference between the two clusters of participants for whichever defendant was not significant. Secondly the results showed that there was no significant difference between the number of guilty verdicts and the gender of participant or their personal knowledge on domestic violence (Maguire, Sigal and Perrino, 2005. 4).
Weakness and Strengths of the Study
A major strength of the study is that they have incorporated all races into their study. The sample did not only comprise of Blacks and Caucasians but also included Hispanics and Asians who also go through the domestic violence. A main weakness of the study is that their participants were limited to undergraduates from psychology class. To make the study more credible, they should have taken a better sampling technique and taken participates from different categories.
Critique of the Study
The study will be very vital in the promotion of women rights and enhancement of the justice system. All women have a right to just verdicts and the implementation of the results of this study will make sure that women who are victims of domestic violence are judged not form the color of their skin or from the personal experiences of the jurors but from the proceedings of the case. Furthermore, the study results should be used to advocate for the fight against emotional abuse and not necessarily the physical abuse alone.
Reference
Maguire, B. J., Sigal, J. and Perrino, S. C. (2005) Battered Women Who Kill: Variables Affecting Simulated Jurors’ Verdicts. Journal of Family Violence. 20 (6): 1-7 Doi: 10.1007/S10896-005-7801-0
