ABSTRACT
The belief that juvenile delinquency is an “individual” matter, caused by some psychological idiosyncracy or maladjustment in a particular offender, has been widely held ever since the subject has had serious study. An allied theory is that delinquency has the characteristics of the class in which it arises. For example, the ways in which a middle class man contravenes the law of the land will bear the middle class stamp, and will in that way differ from the ways of the common thief. The variations in patterns of behaviour from one culture to another are a commonplace to the sociologist: the works of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead in particular, suggest that it is reasonable to assume that not only will different acts be regarded as “criminal” by different societies, but also that the reasons for these criminal acts being committed at all will vary in different societies.
