Subjects were drawn from the July-August 1985 Children's Clinic caseload of a mental health center serving a predominantly inner city black population. Seven mothers attended the group, and five were available for followup. All of the participants were battered women parenting children who had witnessed family violence. The children were 8 to 14 years old. The group intervention addressed interpersonal relational and parenting skills by providing exercises designed to teach parents how to communicate to their children that they are capable people. To assess the effectiveness of the group, parents' perceptions of their children, children's perceptions of themselves, and parents' perceptions of family relationships were measured. Results indicate that, when compared with the normative samples for the measures used, parents viewed their children as less aggressive and as having fewer behavioral difficulties. Children viewed themselves as more closely allied with other children of the same age in terms of experiencing emotional distress. 2 tables and 18-item bibliography