PENNSYLVANIA CRIMINAL CODES ARE BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT VIOLENT OFFENDERS CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO GROUPS REQUIRING DIFFERENT PROCESSING, PUNISHMENT, AND TREATMENT. BASED ON AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH, IT CAN BE HYPOTHESIZED THAT NO SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS WILL BE FOUND BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED FOR VIOLENT CRIMES AND THEIR PAST CRIMINAL HISTORIES; IN ADDITION, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WILL BE IDENTIFIED IN THE DEGREE OF INJURY INFLICTED ON THEIR VICTIMS ACROSS THE FIVE VIOLENT CRIME CATEGORIES. THE SAMPLE CONSISTS OF ROUGHLY 2,000 PERSONS ARRESTED FOR ANY OF THE FIVE CATEGORIES OF VIOLENT ACTS IN 1975. USING POLICE ARREST RECORDS, A 10 PERCENT RANDOM SELECTION OF NAMES IS MADE FOR ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, AND SIMPLE ASSAULT, WHILE ALL THE NAMES OF MURDER AND RAPE ARRESTEES ARE INCLUDED. THE PERSONAL, SOCIOECONOMIC, AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH GROUP ARE COMPARED AS THEY RELATE TO THE OFFENDER, THE VICTIM, AND THE CRIME SETTING. IN ORDER TO PREDICT VIOLENT BEHAVIOR, CRIMINAL HISTORIES OF OFFENDERS ARE RATED BY THE ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN POLICE SCALE OF CRIME SERIOUSNESS. THE RESULTS ARE COMPARED WITH AN ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CURRENT OFFENSE BY THE SELLIN-WOLFGANG SERIOUSNESS OF INJURY SCALE, ALSO USED TO DISCOVER WHETHER THE SAME AMOUNT OF INJURY WAS INFLICTED IN ALL THE OFFENSES IN EACH OFFICIAL VIOLENT CRIME CATEGORY. ANALYSES OF THE DATA CONFIRM THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF VIOLENT CRIME AND PRODUCE NO IMPORTANT ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN PAST AND CURRENT VIOLENT OFFENSES. THE VARIABLES OF AGE, SEX, RACE, ECONOMIC STATUS, AND LIVING CONDITIONS HAVE NO CONCLUSIVE EFFECT ON THE VIOLENCE SCORES. A SLIGHT TENDENCY TOWARD INCREASED VIOLENCE OCCURS WHEN VICTIMS ATTACK FIRST, OTHER OFFENDERS AND DEFENDANTS ARE DRINKING, THE DEFENDANTS USE GUNS, AND WHEN RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE DEFENDANT AND THE VICTIM CHANGE. MALES ARE MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH VIOLENCE THAN FEMALES AND YOUNG PEER GROUPS MORE THAN OLDER POPULATIONS, BUT THE CORRELATIONS ARE NOT CONCLUSIVE. TABLES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. THE APPENDIXES CONTAIN STATISTICS ON VIOLENT CRIME, PHILADELPHIA CENSUS TRACTS, CRIME SERIOUSNESS SCORES, DATA ON THE VARIABLES ANALYZED, AND CODING FORMULAS. (MJM)