Fifty-seven women living in 3 urban domestic violence shelters were interviewed in 1997 for a study of obstacles to work/education. In 1998, researchers attempted to locate the women who had consented to be interviewed a second time. Only 15 of the 57 women were located. These 15 women, who participated in a second in-person interview, composed the sample for this study. None of the differences between women in the original sample and those interviewed a second time were statistically significant. The low-income levels of women in this sample suggested the possibility that some of the problems they encountered may be due to poverty as well as abuse. The interview consisted of a life narrative by each woman that focused on how they viewed their experiences and themselves. Selective coding was used to identify a main theme and subsidiary themes in the lives of women with abusive partners. First-order effects of the violence on the women included physical injury, depression, fear, low self-esteem, and substance abuse. Second-order effects impacted their relationships with family and friends, subsequent intimate partners, and children, as well as their ability to work/attend school and obtain stable housing. The third-order effects of violence pertained to how others in a woman's life were affected by her victimization. The children of the women often suffered from behavioral and psychological problems. Family members often had to help in child rearing, and they were also threatened and subjected to violence by a woman's batterer. These three orders of impact of the IPV are interrelated. 1 figure and 76 references