RATES OF BOTH CHILD-GUIDANCE REFERRAL AND OF DELINQUENCY WERE FOUND TO VARY WIDELY BETWEEN DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND DIFFERENT SCHOOLS WITHIN THE BOROUGH, AND TO BE CLOSELY INTERRELATED. MOREOVER, BOTH COULD BE RELATED TO SOCIOECONOMIC AND SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS. INDICES SUCH AS SOCIAL CLASS DISTRIBUTION, DENSITY OF POPULATION, AND TYPE OF HOUSING WERE FOUND TO HAVE AN IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP TO THE NUMBERS OF CHILDREN SENT EITHER TO CHILD GUIDANCE OR TO THE COURTS. THE FINDINGS JUSTIFY THE AUTHOR'S CONCLUSION THAT FUTURE RESEARCH IN CHILD PSYCHIATRY SHOULD PAY MORE REGARD TO THE WIDER SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE CHILD, AND THAT CHILD GUIDANCE CLINICS ARE DEALING TO A LARGE EXTENT WITH DISORDERS CAUSED OR CONDITIONED BY THAT ENVIRONMENT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)...TWH