Question 1

35-year old Mary is a homemaker, married for 3 years to a 45-year-old businessman, James. They have no children. Mary is an IPV victim. Initially, Mary’s family and friends congratulated her on her marriage after a short courtship of three months. He is a businessman, with a big house and a nice car. The battering began after 6 months into her marriage.

In the latest battering incident about two weeks ago, she was slapped, punched in the face, kicked, and had her head slammed against the wall until she bled. She was hospitalized for a week with concussion, bruises all over and a broken nose. She is prevented from connecting with her family and friends. She rarely connects with them for fear of displeasing him. Financially, he controls her spending, and she must beg him for monthly allowances. In addition, she must bear with his extramarital affairs locally and overseas. Mary blames herself for being a “lousy” wife.

Prior to the battering, Mary noticed that James was worried and edgy over the past one month. She overheard his conversation with his partners that he was worried about some overseas business deals. She attributed it to distress as he had been complaining about the demands from his business and the external stakeholders. Frequently, he has anger management issues which led him to resort to physical violence against Mary. Mary has a high level of anxiety and hypervigilance about his mood. Often, she has headaches and gastrointestinal problems. She has distorted self-image.

On one occasion, he came home from work and complained that his dinner was tasteless and threw it away on the floor, breaking the plate and spoon. He pulled her hair and slapped her a few times, verbally abusing her as a useless wife. Mary tried to pacify him and attend to his every need, such as cooking his favorite food, playing the piano to help him to relax. She knew from experience that he could turn quite violent if she annoyed him with too many questions.

On one occasion, James came home after a late-night entertainment with his customers. He smelled of alcohol and perfume. Mary checked with him if he had been to a pub and drank too much. He became angry and started pulling her hair and punched her. Mary fell and fractured her arm. Mary started to cry, and she was in pain. James continued his verbal and physical abuses and ignored her cry for help. Instead, he kicked her again. He only stopped when Mary shouted for help from the neighbours. He stopped and retreated into his bedroom. Mary called her parents, and they eventually sent her to the hospital.
When interviewed by the medical social worker, Mary tried to play down the incident. She explained that James was stressed at work. Mary also blamed herself for provoking him.

Deep inside, Mary knew that nothing could be done. Her previous attempts to leave him were futile and even her parents advised her to return to him. She was also afraid that he would kill her, should she try to leave him again. She also often reexperienced her trauma in bad dreams, showed increased arousal and anxiety and had difficulty sleeping. Sometimes, she drank some of her husband’s collection of liquor to numb herself. Sometimes, she had thoughts of suicide.

a) Apply and illustrate the concept of “battered woman syndrome” in relation to the case vignette above.

b) Propose your FIVE (5) crisis intervention goals for a battered woman like Mary.

c) Formulate and demonstrate the use of the FIVE (5) therapeutic interaction statements with at least ONE (1) from each category (Validating statement, empowerment statement, reframing statement, and education statement) with a woman who has been battered.