The time spent living in a domestic violence shelter is a time of upheaval and change. One is cut off from, and often terrified of, one's life partner, and forced with the choice of whether to continue that significant relationship. Further, due to fear, lack of transportation, distance of the safe-house from one's own neighborhood, and assorted interpersonal "fall-out," one may also be substantially cut off from other significant sources of support, such as family, friends, co-workers, and religious community. At the same time, one finds oneself sharing a room with one's children in a house shared with several strangers and their children, having to negotiate numerous social institutions and rules - from the advocates and the safe-house itself, to the welfare system, the criminal justice system, and so on.

Using narrative methodology, this study applies the micro-level sociological perspective of Symbolic Interactionism to inquire about the religious identities of current and recent-past residents of a domestic violence shelter. Religious identity is approached as part of a "cultural tool kit" which is developed and maintained in coversation with significant others from early childhood and throughout life. Depending on their life experiences, victim-survivors demonstrate differing spiritual "tools" in their tool kit (institutional affiliation, personal spiritual practices, etc.) and differing abilities to use and adapt these tools in time of upheaval. Open-ended narratives, allowing each woman to tell her own life/ faith story, were analyzed to explore the themes about how domestic violence shelters and religious organizations could better meet the needs of victim-survivors. Five major themes were discovered in the narratives, and these are examined in the conclusion of this work.