The Battered Husband Syndrome, that is: when the victim is the man

Abstract

By "Battered Husband Syndrome" Steinmetz means that kind of violence (psychological, economic or physical) in which the man is the victim and his partner the author. These kinds of domestic abuses are peculiar, since in this case the woman is the offender, whereas in the best known Battered Woman Syndrome she's the victim. The most important scientific research on this subject is quoted here with the purpose to provide information about BHS and to compare the most recent literature, in order to create a more detailed idea of this new phenomenon. But one of the leading goals in this paper is certainly the occasion to show some stories of abused men that contact our Listening Center and Therapy for abused men as examples. This Center belongs to Isabella Merzagora Betsos, Professor of Criminology at the University in Milan and it's maintained by a team of Psychotherapists and Psychologists. Thanks to this Center, a lot of witnesses has been collected and the final part of the paper is entirely dedicated to these depositions.