The proposed study will examine the lived experiences of American Muslim women with regard to incidence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Little is known about the rapidly growing Muslim population in the United States and women from this population are likely to be at an increased risk for abuse. Therefore, the specific aims for the proposed research are: 1) to describe American Muslim women's lived experiences with abuse, and 2) to identify culturally specific factors which shape American Muslim women's experiences and perceptions of abuse by obtaining a greater understanding of the Islamic cultural system in which they live. The improvement of health outcomes for abused minority women and their children is dependent upon health research that provides nurses the information they need to effectively intervene while simultaneously removing barriers to care. This requires knowledge of the cultures in which abused women live. Providing a model for this kind of contextual, culturally based abuse research is a long term objective for this program of study. The interpretive phenomenological method using unstructured interviewing techniques will provide the research design and method for this model. This methodological approach has been demonstrated to produce rich contextual data that is reflective of the cultural system from which it is derived. Finally, this program of study is the beginning of a program of health research investigating the health needs of the American Muslim population and minority abused women. Ultimately, it is hoped that research findings can contribute to improved care delivery for these groups.