ABSTRACT
In increasing numbers, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists are turning their attention to the interpersonal dynamics of juvenile delinquent groups. The sociologist attempts to find the mainsprings for human behavior within the matrix of interpersonal relationships in which the individual functions. He tries to determine the significant people in the delinquent's life and how they are influencing him. The theory of delinquency as a subculture has left many gaps in the analysis of its organizational character. Thus far sociologists have tended to concentrate their fire on the accommodation patterns by way of which the leaders and activists in the delinquent gangs gain recognition by adults in the community. We need more empirical studies of delinquency as a social system, emphasizing the sources of strain and anomie generated by "internal" social and cultural normative processes. As long as this approach is lacking, we shall have a distorted concept of the emergence and maintenance of delinquent groups as viable organizations.
