ABSTRACT
The modern youth culture has made its own spontaneous adjustment to the situation. When the economic situation leads to prolonged unemployment in the adolescent period, combined with a popular belief that opportunities for great wealth are available to all, delinquent behaviour may seem to offer the only hope of success. American sociologists stress the importance in the present situation of the ‘delinquent opportunities’ created by organized crime in certain cities. The traditional extended family absorbed delinquent conduct without making it public and better insulated its members from delinquency than does the modern nuclear family. The island of Mauritius is one of the densely populated areas in the world, and of great interest from a cultural standpoint because of the well-marked ethnic groupings. In many other areas of the world, as is well recognized, a higher incidence of delinquency has almost invariably accompanied the break-up of traditional ties, and almost certain that the trend will similarly continue in West Africa.
