• There are four general requirements for a successful modern-day claim of self-defense: an unprovoked attack, imminent danger, an absence of alternatives, and proportionality.

• Most jurisdictions do not require retreat, and many have gone so far as to enact so-called stand your ground laws.

• Castle doctrine laws, in the states that have them, provide that a non-aggressor is not required to retreat from his or her own dwelling before being able to use force in self-defense.

• Battered woman syndrome is a justification defense that arises mainly in domestic abuse situations.

• The defense of others rule holds that a person is justified when using force to protect another from the unlawful use of force by an aggressor.

Questions:-

1. What are the four elements of self-defense?
2. What is the castle doctrine? How is it relevant in the self-defense context?
3. What conditions must be in place for a battered woman syndrome defense to succeed?
4. Is it lawful to use force to resist an arrest? Under what circumstances?