ABSTRACT
The symbolic interactionist approach leads the analyst to consider definitions of the situation. After examining a sample of statistics on juvenile delinquency, Irwin Deutscher finds no consistent evidence of an increase in the phenomenon. On this basis he suggests that, in order to arrive at a “solution” to the problem, efforts must be made to understand the public definitions, which may be partly responsible for its existence. Professor Deutscher asks that we look more closely at the interactionist question: what is the relationship between the way others define a person and the person’s definition of himself? Finally, this article contains a plea for studying the process of becoming a delinquent in place of studies of static traits and characteristics of delinquents.
