Abstract

In this dissertation, I show how an ethic of care illuminates the agency of battered women and how this ethic can be used to explain battered women's reactions to intimate violence. ;In chapter one I explicate the care perspective as developed by Carol Gilligan and discuss critiques of her work which specifically focus on women's responsibility in heterosexual relationships. Next I critique the care perspective by emphasizing how it fails to incorporate an adequate notion of reciprocity and respect for basic rights. Finally, I rectify these omissions by developing a model of care that includes reciprocal care and respect for basic rights as values that help to define care agency. ;In chapter two I discuss how the care perspective understands blame and responsibility in the context of caring relationships. I contrast "care blame" with a more traditional conception of blame, which I call "atomistic blame." I show that forgiveness plays a central role in the care perspective: it enables caring agents to fulfill the goal of the ethic of care maintaining and enhancing relationships. ;In chapter three I explore battered women's agency. I show how Lenore Walker's victimization model undermines the agency of battered women by using the idea of learned helplessness to explain the behavior of battered women and their failure to terminate their relationships. I then demonstrate how the care model serves as an alternative with which to understand the actions of battered women. I argue that the application of the care model to these women's actions overcomes the contradictions of Walker's model and provides a more adequate understanding of the actions of these women than does the victimization model. ;In the final chapter I consider how the legal system is biased against battered women who are charged with murdering their batterers in non-confrontational situations. The actions of these women are forced by the law into a framework that ignores the dynamics of long-term victimization. I propose changes in the current legal doctrine of self-defense to take account of the effects of long-term violence on battered women without undermining their agency