Another general finding was that for some of the women living with domestic violence, fear had rearranged their lives. Andrea saw herself as a woman who was trapped in an abusive relationship and failed to recognize her potential. Since she was economically dependent and did not feel she could make it living on her own, she remained living in fear with her abusive husband who subjected her to his offensive and insulting verbal outbursts and prevented her from seeing people that she wanted to see.

Jill clearly had very low self-esteem and was living in fear with her two young children and abusive spouse. She also experienced a pattern of violence based on power and control that appeared by all accounts to be getting worse. Her stories implied that her spouse treated her as a servant. Yet, there were times that it appeared evident from an outsider's perspective that Jill's upbringing seemed to have conditioned her to believe that this was acceptable behaviour and the abuse she endured was part of love. Thus, Jill continued to live in fear of upsetting her abusive partner and wondering what he would do when he was upset. She was nervous and curt when she spoke; she casually indicated that she dressed in a particular way to please her husband, imposing rules for herself to keep him happy. Although there were the apologies and promises from her spouse that his behaviour towards her would change, the stage was always temporary and the relationship was plagued with tension and fear for Jill.

Employment provides one with more than money, but also important social networks. Having more contacts with others helps one to build an identity. Natalie was the one individual in the study who expressed her need to work for more than the financial aspect. She suffered from a mental health condition and recognized that without employment and the associated social networks her identity centered around the image of the poor single woman raising two sons. This depressed her further and despite the lack of job skills and her low educational level, she aimed to get experience through volunteering and eventually have a more positive identity of someone who was accomplishing good things with others in this world.