This research is a replication of a recent paper by Thornberry and Christenson (1984) that found that prior dispositions affect current dispositions in juvenile justice decision-making. We find, as they did, that the outcome of current cases is highly dependent on prior dispositional outcomes. However, unlike them, we find that successive dispositions are characterized by escalation of sentences, not stability. In a recent paper, Thornberry and Christenson (1984) find a relationship between juvenile justice dispositions imposed for past offenses and the disposition of current offenses. They report that past organizational decisions, reflected in the disposition of prior offenses, exert a strong influence on current case outcomes, controlling for offense-related and extralegal factors. Further, in exploring the nature of the relationship between prior and current dispositions, they find that repeat offenders are very likely to receive the same type of disposition for each successive offense. They conclude that there is a tendency toward stability, rather than escalation, in the disposition of cases involving repeat offenders. Thornberry and Christenson's (1984) research adds a new dimension and direction to the justice decision-making literature. It suggests that processing variables are important, not only in the short term from arrest to disposition of any single offense, but over the long-term delinquent career as well. This study is a replication and extension of their research, utilizing a larger and more recent data set and more extensive data on previous outcomes. *We thank Terence P. Thornberry and two anonymous referees for comments on an earlier version of this paper, and Alan Agresti for statistical advice. Address correspondence to John C. Henretta, Department of Sociology, 3115 Turlington Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. ? 1986 The University of North Carolina Press