The 170 delinquents and 170 nondelinquents ranged in age from 13 to 17. The groups were matched in terms of education and socioeconomic status. All subjects were given a goal perception test that measured clarity of goal, intensity of anticipation of achieving that goal, instrumental effort taken to reach the goal, extent of environmental factors that would help achieve the goal, and degree of expectation of final goal fulfillment. The results supported the hypothesis that delinquents seek immediate and short-cut goals, while nondelinquents seek long-range goals. While both groups perceived their goals clearly, nondelinquents were better able to perceive favorable and surmountable factors in the environment and had higher expectations for goal fulfillment. Tables and 9 references.