Question

Olivia is now 23 years old and four months pregnant. One year ago she married a young man named Jon. Their relationship has been turbulent from the start, but ever since the pregnancy and Olivia beginning to show, Jon has been increasingly controlling of the household finances as well as where Olivia goes, who she is with, and who she talks to. Jon appears to be isolating Olivia from her friends and family. He is often distant and stern with her, while Olivia tries to be the “perfect wife.” Jon is hypervigilant when he is at home. Olivia is not happy in the marriage, but when her best friend, Helena, said to her over the phone that she thought Jon was abusive, Olivia defended him and said that she would never leave since she had no place to go and no access to money. Olivia also added that Jon does not hit her or call her names, so he is not really abusing her and she guesses all will be OK. Olivia and Jon are a Mormon couple, and divorce is highly frowned upon by their faith and their families..

Do you feel that Jon is an abusive husband? Defend your answer based on the literature.

Is Olivia showing signs of battered woman syndrome? Explain.

How might Olivia's psychosocial or cognitive development play a role in this scenario?

Compare and contrast the many ways this scenario would be different if Olivia were abusing Jon instead of him abusing her. Differentiate how Jon would be viewed by society as an abused husband versus how Olivia would be viewed by society as an abused wife.

Answer 1

1. John seems to be mentally abusing Olivia because he is not only extremely controlling of her behaviour and actions, but is also emotionally distant from her. He is denying her the opportunity to seek emotional warmth from others around her but is not providing her the warmth himself. This would classify as a form of emotional abuse.

2. Olivia does not seem to be displaying the battered woman syndrome as she is accepting of her situation. She defends her husband to her best friend and justifies her actions. She does not show signs of trauma.

3. As Olivia has been brought up in a Mormon family, her upbringing might play a role in her placid acceptance of the situation. Olivia feels no need to introspect about her marriage, perhaps because divorce is discouraged in her community. She thus feels compelled to stick to her marriage with John, for which she ignores many abusive aspects of the situation.

4. I don’t think that gender of the abuser would lead to a differentiation in how society perceives this case. As the marriage involves forms of emotional abuse wherein no physical or verbal violence or harm is being perpetrated, reactions would be the same.