In the 1960's and 1970's, several theories were developed to explain the relationship between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency. The authors examine five of those theories and test them in three studies of their own. Their cross sectional study of 1,943 teenaged boys, half of whom had no juvenile records and half of whom had been adjudicated delinquent, confirmed 3 of the theories positing a causal relationship between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency. Their longitudinal study suggested that the intellectual and personality impairments associated with learning disabilities played an important role in fostering delinquent behavior. Additionally, the study revealed that some subgroups were more likely than others to be influenced by the negative effects of learning disabilities in fostering delinquency. The third study revealed that the link between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency can be broken not by remediation but by changes in school attitude. Thus, the complex relationship between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency reflects such elements as school failure, susceptibility, and the likelihood of arrest and adjudication. Because adolescents handicapped by learning disabilities are at high risk for delinquency, juvenile justice, human services, and education agencies should develop special prevention and rehabilitation programs for them. 43 references.