THE EFFECTS OF VICTIM AND DEFENDANT CHARACTERISTICS ON THE DISPOSITION OF CASES ARE CONSIDERED. IT WAS THEORIZED THAT SANCTIONS WOULD BE MORE SEVERE WHEN THE CRIME WAS SERIOUS AND THE VICTIM SUSTAINED A SERIOUS INJURY, WAS A CREDIBLE WITNESS, WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR OR DESERVING OF HIS/HER INJURY, AND WAS A MEMBER OF ADVANTAGED AND POWERFUL GROUPS. TO VERIFY THE HYPOTHESES, A SAMPLE OF 1,050 NONCAREER CRIMINAL FELONY CASES HANDLED IN MARION COUNTY, INDIANA, BETWEEN JANUARY 1974 AND JUNE 1976 WERE SURVEYED. EACH CASE WAS ANALYZED, AND SELECTED VARIABLES (E.G., PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORD OF VICTIM AND DEFENDANT, SEX AND AGE OF VICTIM, MONETARY OR PHYSICAL HARM SUSTAINED) WERE ENCODED. AN EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE CODED DATA CONFIRMED THE ORIGINAL HYPOTHESES. ADDITIONAL LITERATURE THAT HAS ADDRESSED THE VICTIM'S ROLE IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IS EXPLORED. A DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH SETTING IS PROVIDED, ALONG WITH A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE METHODS USED IN SAMPLING, DATA COLLECTION, AND ANALYSIS. THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES AND THEIR MEASURES ARE DELINEATED. SPECIFIC FINDINGS FOR EACH DEPENDENT VARIABLE ARE DISCUSSED INDIVIDUALLY. THE FINAL CHAPTER SUMMARIZES THE FINDINGS AND CONSIDERS THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRENT THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES. (VDA)