The instruments used here included cognitive measures and nine stories based on three types of conflict situations which presented the subjects with a moral dilemma. These included conflicts between authority and peer cooperation, between altruism and peer cooperation, and between authority and altruism. The results showed that these youths had depressed moral reasoning compared to other boys their age. Their responses centered around the fulfillment of needs and desires of the self. Traditional channels of instilling moral reasoning (family and religion) had been interrupted through nonparticipation or dysfunctional family functioning. Delinquent and predelinquent youths seem to be reliant on authority and authority-bound types of moral reasoning. 1 table and 29 references