Respondents heard four scenarios in which an adolescent with no prior convictions killed a stranger, an adolescent with a criminal history killed a stranger, a first-offender adolescent killed his father, and an adolescent with prior convictions killed his father. The scenarios were then varied according to the youth's race and age, and whether or not the father had abused him. The findings showed substantial agreement on transferring repeat and older offenders to adult court. For both situations where the father had abused the adolescent, respondents recommended juvenile trials for the accused. According to the results, laypersons believe that abused youngsters act with less intention and have less understanding of the wrongfulness of their actions than non- abused juveniles. 10 notes, 40 references, and 7 tables