The following study aims to identify the relationship between emotional dependency and intimate partner violence in a sample of women who utilize the psychology service of a national health establishment. A quantitative approach is followed with a comparative associative strategy. The sample consisted of two groups of women, female victims of intimate partner violence (25 women) and women who were not victims of intimate partner violence (26 women). The results suggest that there is a statistically significant relationship between the variables of study, since differences between the two study groups was found and it was found that the value assumed correlation coefficient between variables was highly significant. / El siguiente estudio tiene como objetivo identificar la relación entre la dependencia emocional y la violencia de pareja en una muestra conformada por mujeres usuarias del servicio de psicología de un establecimiento de salud nacional. Para esto, se sigue un enfoque cuantitativo y se utiliza una estrategia asociativa comparativa. La muestra estuvo constituida por dos grupos de mujeres, mujeres víctimas de violencia de pareja (25 usuarias) y mujeres que no fueron víctimas de violencia de pareja (26 usuarias). Los resultados sugieren que existe relación estadísticamente significativa entre las variables de estudio, puesto que se encontró diferencias entre los dos grupos de estudio y se halló que el valor que asumió el coeficiente de relación entre las variables fue altamente significativo.

This essay concerns Purple Hibiscus and Kambili's emotional development, and explores how violence, submission and emotional dependence along with a traditional feminine gender role can hinder acknowledgement of trauma. I propose that Kambili is encouraged to take on a culturally expected feminine gender role, and her submissive disposition is discussed and connected to her constant search for a father figure. The notion of personal and collective postcolonial trauma is explained and applied to contextualise her inability to question either her father or the political situation in Nigeria. I read Kambili's change as negative and aim to show that she has internalised patriarchal structures. Her change is contrasted to the change in her brother Jaja, to show how and why they develop in different directions. Traditional gender roles are discussed from a rather general perspective, but also in a context that concern masculinity, violence and power relations.