PARENTS ANONYMOUS (PA) WAS FOUNDED BY TWO ABUSING PARENTS AND A VOLUNTEER PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST. THE FIRST PA GROUP BECAME THE MODEL FOR THE OVER 500 CHAPTERS WHICH NOW EXISTS. THE GROWTH OF PA CHAPTERS CAME MAINLY OUT OF AN INFORMAL INTERCHANGE OF IDEAS BETWEEN PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS. THE PA MODEL IS DISCUSSED. IN VERY SIMPLE TERMS, PA IS A NURTURING AND TEACHING THERAPEUTIC SERVICE OPERATED BY THE CONSUMER AS A MEANS TO REDUCE AND PREVENT FURTHER CHILD ABUSE WITHIN THE FAMILY SETTING. THE GROUP EXPERIENCE CONSISTS OF A WEEKLY 2-HOUR MEETING AT A FREE MEETING PLACE -- SUCH AS A CHURCH THAT IMPLIES NO IMPOSITION OF AN AUTHORITARIAN AGENCY. NEW AND OLD MEMBERS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO GIVE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND ARE NOT REQUIRED TO SPEAK AT MEETINGS. A GESTALT APPROACH IS USUALLY EMPLOYED IN CONDUCTING MEETINGS, THOUGH MANY TYPES OF PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES ARE ADAPTED TO SOME CIRCUMSTANCES BY PA SPONSORS. AN EVALUATION WAS CONDUCTED TO GAUGE THE OVERALL EFFECTS OF MEMBERSHIP IN PA AND THE SATISFACTION OF THE MEMBERS WITH THE PROGRAM. THE DIMENSIONS TO BE MEASURED BY THE EVALUATION INSTRUMENT WERE SELF-ESTEEM, FEELINGS ABOUT PARENTHOOD AND CHILDREN, SATISFACTION DERIVED FROM PARENTHOOD, KNOWLEDGE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL CONTACTS AND USE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES, FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR, PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF PA MEMBERSHIP, OPINIONS AND FEELINGS ABOUT CHILD ABUSE, AND DEMOGRAPHIC AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS. A TIME-SERIES EVALUATION DESIGN WAS UTILIZED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF SIGNIFICANT PROGRAM EFFECTS COULD BE DEMONSTRATED TO BE A FUNCTION OF LENGTH OF TIME IN THE PA PROGRAM. EVALUATIONS RESULTS ARE PRESENTED REGARDING CHANGES IN THE ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR PATTERNS OF PA MEMBERS, CHANGES IN SOCIAL INTERACTION PATTERNS, CHANGES IN FEELINGS ABOUT CHILDREN AND PARENTHOOD, CHANGES IN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CHILD BEHAVIOR AND DEVELOPMENT, AND WITH RESPECT TO PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICS AND PARTICIPANT VIEWS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROGRAM. CHARACTERISTIC DATA ARE PROVIDED, AND TABLES DEPICTING THE FREQUENCY OF PHYSICAL AND VERBAL ABUSE ARE INCLUDED. REFERENCES AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINING SELECTED PARTICIPANT VIEWS ON CHILD ABUSE ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)