A Study on Traumatic Bonding and Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This study intends to investigate the causes for traumatic bonding in abusive marital relationships. It seeks to explain why abused women find it difficult to leave their abusive partner and the relationship with them. In the process, the study also touches upon the various strata of domestic abuse as a complex and multidimensional issue. To this end, semi-structured interviews with 11 married or ever-married abused women between the ages of 20-49 were conducted. Results obtained from them showed not specific and isolated reasons but an interplay of factors that often weigh married women down in abusive relationships.