ABSTRACT
In studying the agencies of social control in a "community", this chapter provides an empirical setting for raising basic issues by focusing on how juveniles are labeled "delinquent." It critically discusses theoretical and methodological positions structural-functionalists utilize for recommending writer's work. The chapter uses the term objectification to denote the observer's and the actor's attempts to convince the reader of the credibility of the properties or elements being attended and labeled "data" for purposes of making inferences and taking further action. The verification of what is observed or inferred is recommended without reference to the interpretation of the actor or the researcher of each other's environment of objects according to their separate and joint common sense and scientific rules of procedure. The use of a dictionary for the analysis of written reports or documents assumes the researcher can legitimately impute the abstract meanings of the dictionary to the text, thus suspending the relevance of meanings in their situational context.
