Subculture theories of crime and juvenile delinquency rest on the postulate that people intern alize values and beliefs and that the belief system orients the person's behavior toward the environment. Subculture theories dominated criminological thought during the 1950's and 1960's. The demise of subculture theory resulted from three interrelated realities: the 1970's social movements that produced a liberal ideology, basic shifts in social science research methods, and the doctrine of political correctness. However, the reform of the liberal welfare state may result in the revitalization of subcultural theories. The timeliness of the subculture perspective is also at hand because gang membership, and thus utilitarian crime, stands as a viable alternative to welfare dependency. Welfare will be the most significant development affecting lower-class people. Criminological theorizing has always been class-based; therefore, subculture factors will probably receive increasing attention from the social science community. However, the reforms of the welfare state will probably occur in phases, and realities may not appear acute at first. When they have taken effect, a gradual and then more pronounced increase in utilitarian crime in the underclass is likely. 37 references