Domestic violence is a growing social and health problem that affects many women each year. While the reasons that a great number of battered women stay in or return to an abusive relationship are multifaceted, reasons extracted from the domestic violence literature revealed that the lack of economic resources and the lack of financial independence strongly influence battered women's decisions to stay in or return to abusive relationships. Additionally, domestic violence, by its very nature, is likely to produce depression in battered women. Research suggests that depression can negatively impact every area of a battered woman's life, even perceived self-efficacy across domains. Despite the critical increase of domestic violence against women, little attention has been given to the career development needs of battered women and how their entanglement with domestic violence may hinder their career growth. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between depression, age, and ethnicity with the career decision self-efficacy in formerly, battered women residing in women shelters located in the south-east region. Data was collected through the distribution of three instruments the Beck's Depression Inventory-II, Demographic Instrument, and the Career Decision Self-Efficacy-Short Form. The results obtained from this study revealed that depression and age had a statistically significant negative relationship with career decision self-efficacy, but ethnicity did not have a statistically significant relationship with career decision self-efficacy. Conclusions drawn from this study support the fact that human service providers and helping agencies must have more career interventions and career counseling for battered women that promote increased self-efficacy and economic independence in this oppressed population. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]