Drawing on a range of empirical studies and theoretical perspectives, the author first examines how youth problems are socially constructed, followed by an analysis of the data sources for determining the prevalence of youth crime in Canada. Another chapter discusses the delinquent tradition in American sociology, as well as subcultural and resistance theories of delinquency. The interaction of youth subculture and the school subculture are examined in one chapter, along with how this interaction becomes the context for various crimes and deviance. Subcultural activity among marginal youth is considered in one chapter, including youth unemployment and its consequences, criminality in the underclass, the code of the streets, youth crime in the inner city, hate crime, and other issues pertinent to understanding criminogenic subcultures that influence youth deviance. A separate chapter profiles female delinquents, followed by a chapter that critiques Canada's Young Offenders Act and its effectiveness. The concluding chapter draws policy implications from the study's findings. 336 references and a subject index