The world has been captivated by the
Jodi Arias trial for months and the defendant’s accusations
regarding her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander, have been
cataclysmic and have come at a huge price for victims of domestic
violence around the world. This post is going to attempt to explain
why I believe that significant damage has been done to the victims
across our nation. The woman on trial says she was abused and claims
to be suffering from “battered women’s syndrome” (BWS). The
word syndrome by definition is a pattern of symptoms indicative of
some disorder. Battered persons who have endured the isolation,
indoctrination, demoralization and the pain inflicted upon them
develop these patterns of behavior – observed as symptoms – in
order to survive. When people without observed or documented symptoms
use this defense it minimizes the plight of abused persons around the
globe. There are numerous features that constitute BWS and if Jodi
truly does not meet those criteria, the results of this trial could
be catastrophic to battered women everywhere and undo the legal
successes of those that have suffered at the hands of an intimate
partner. If she does not meet the established BWS criteria, a
verdict less than premeditated murder has the potential to ignite and
repeat threats that occurred for months after the verdict was
announce in the Nicole Brown-Simpson murder. The damage from that
verdict was felt by many victims of domestic abuse: a number of my
clients reported that their perpetrators threatened them with
variations of “You better watch yourself or I’ll give you some OJ
with your breakfast.” While Jodi's defense team’s attempt at
saving their client’s life may be successful, they potentially risk the safety for thousands of people unquestionably suffering
from BWS. After evaluating the testimony and the evidence presented,
along with my work in the trenches with victims of domestic violence,
I’ve concluded that this is indeed a domestic violence case.
Unfortunately, based on the information publicly available, my belief
is that the wrong person is getting all the attention as the victim.
Travis, a strong and powerful man, became a victim long before his
murder was committed. With this in mind, I am going to share my
conclusions about how this tragedy could – and should – have been
predicted, based on my professional knowledge and the information
presented prior to and during the trial.
Part I will look at predictors of
violence from Travis' perspective and share how future victims could
learn from this tragedy.
Predictor 1: Travis and his
friends knew that something wasn’t right with this relationship.
According to interviews with friends, many tried to warn him after
his tires were slashed multiple times. They all believed they knew
who was responsible, yet no police reports were ever filed.
Destruction of personal property is against the law and is punishable
so you may ask why he didn’t follow through. Simple: society tells
men they need to put on their big boy boxers and man-up when put in
this kind of position. Victims – especially male victims – should
just write off their partner's bad behavior and assume the temper
tantrum will end soon.
Predictor 2: Travis verbally
forecasted his own death by warning his loved ones that if he didn’t
show up then they would “know who to blame.” Many victims prepare for
and express concern about their impending deaths. They often make
wills, tell people how to take care of their kids, write goodbye
letters or leave pictures of the abuse so their killers will
eventually be caught. Travis expressed discomfort with what was
happening; yet nobody acted on this or took the cues seriously. Was
his discomfort because Jodi had demonstrated behaviors he thought
were not-quite-right (NQR)? Perhaps, though we'll never know for
sure. Notably, as a society we have normalized psychotic behavior by
devaluing the word 'crazy.' I often hear generalizations such as, “Oh
that Bitch is crazy!” When people hack into emails, voicemails and
enter bedrooms without being invited, they should be considered
dangerous and may indeed be insane—this type of intrusive, abnormal
behavior could really be because a person is crazy.
Predictor 3: Travis began hiding
his relationship with Jodi from others. He was meeting her
secretively because his friends didn’t understand why he would keep
seeing her. Victims often lose friends and loved ones when they
refuse to abandon an intimate relationship; the friends feel distress
and unease watching the abuse and simply remove themselves from their
source of discomfort. So why would a battered person remain in an
abusive relationship? Most people don’t understand that danger and
love excite the same part of the brain. Although his internal alert
system was partially functioning, Travis was likely confused by the
exciting sex, the amazing weekend excursions and the thrill of
secrecy. Abusive relationships involving male victims could
figuratively be viewed much like the mating ritual of the praying
mantis. The male knows there is an element of danger, but he risks his
life anyway in order to mate. Sometimes he gets lucky and escapes;
other times the female rips the male's head off and tears him apart
limb-by-limb.
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