This association between abuse as a child and abusing behavior as an adult is usually attributed to modeling or the learning of attitudes that legitimate hitting family members. To test this hypothesis, this study used four waves of data from a sample of midwestern families. The sample consisted of 451 two- parent families recruited through the cohort of all seventh-grade students, male and female, in eight counties in north-central Iowa who were enrolled in public or private schools during winter and spring 1989. An additional criterion for inclusion in the study was the presence of a sibling within 4 years of age of the seventh grader. Data collection was conducted annually and included visits to each family twice in their homes. During the first visit, each of the four family members completed a set of questionnaires that focused on family processes, individual family member characteristics, and economic circumstances. During the second visit, which usually occurred within 2 weeks of the first, the family was videotaped while engaging in several structured interaction tasks. Analysis of the data showed that the relationship between childhood exposure to harsh parenting and recurrent adult violence toward children or a spouse was mediated by the extent to which parents displayed an antisocial orientation. This pattern of findings is consistent with criminological theories that view criminal and deviant behavior of all sorts as rooted in a general antisocial orientation acquired in childhood largely as a result of ineffective parenting. 5 tables, 2 figures, and 81 references