The aim of this article is, by analysing children's discourses, to investigate their actions or absence of actions during a domestic violence episode. The empirical data are recorded group therapy sessions and individual interviews with children who have grown up experiencing their fathers' violence against their mothers. The analysis shows that the children's stories contain two aspects of actions: one related to the actions during the ongoing episode, and one the child perceives as possible/desirable for the future. The findings are discussed in the light of Lazarus and Folkman's theory of coping. (Contains 1 table and 5 notes.)