Data were collected in a university-affiliated clinic prior to therapeutic intervention. To elicit discussion, an interactional task required all family members to spend 10 minutes deciding upon an area of shared disagreement. This videotaped discussion constituted the data for this study. A transcript was prepared, and all verbal remarks were coded. Data were obtained on information sharing, guiding interaction, control, agreement, criticism, and protest. Abusing fathers displayed more coercive patterns of influencing behavior and more negative patterns of response to other family members, including both mothers and children. Fewer differences were observed between mothers in the abusing and nonabusing families or in the children's behavior; however, mothers in the abusing families criticized their husbands more, and abused children exhibited less agreement and more criticism toward their fathers. In support of Patterson's theory, abusing families exhibited relatively more reciprocated sequences of criticism and relatively fewer reciprocated sequences of agreement as compared to nonabusing families. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding interaction in child-abusing families. 1 table, 1 figure, and 17 references