This work investigates the theoretical crisis in delinquency studies by reconciling social-class anomalies and social-control discrepancies through a new sociological framework. The authors, Herman and Julia Schwendinger, utilize two decades of empirical research to challenge existing paradigms regarding juvenile behavior. By focusing on the emergence of delinquency within middle-class populations, they propose a structural explanation that accounts for the social environments and subcultural formations of adolescents.

Experts recognize this work as a significant contribution to the field of criminology for its rigorous attempt to bridge the gap between ethnographic observation and quantitative data. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a foundational text for those studying the sociological roots of adolescent behavior.