The analysis is based on data obtained from a systematic random sample of the juvenile court records of Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, Va. A total of 2,044 records were examined. The research looked at the zero-order correlations between commonly employed independent variables and judicial disposition. It then identified the relative importance of subsets of predictor variables and assessed the overall explanatory power of the entire set of independent variables. It also evaluated the hypothesis that there is a direct relationship between the amount of effort court officials expend in the collection of more than routine bits of background information and the harshness of final court dispositions. The dependent variable, severity of case disposition, consisted of four categories: case dismissed or not prosecuted, fine or restitution required, some type of supervision required other than institutionalization, and institutionalization. The independent variables were legal, extralegal, and social history. The social history variable proved to be the best predictor of judicial dispositions. Four tables, 12 notes, and 1 reference are supplied.