A FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSITION OF LABELING THEORY IS THAT STIGMATIZATION AND ALIENATION ARE CONDUCIVE TO DEVIANT BEHAVIOR. FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE, THE STEADY INCREASE IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN THE PAST DECADES HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE EXPANSION OF FUNCTIONS EXERCISED BY THE JUVENILE COURTS (INCREASING THE POTENTIAL FOR STIGMATIZATION) AND THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE COURTS' PROCESSING STYLES (LEADING TO ALIENATION). TWO HYPOTHESES RESULT: (1) BECAUSE OF A SUPPOSED BREAKDOWN IN ALTERNATIVE INFORMAL CONTROLS, URBAN COURT SYSTEMS TEND TO EXPAND THEIR JURISDICTIONS AND TO PROCESS A LARGE NUMBER OF JUVENILES; AND (2) BECAUSE THEY PROCESS SO MANY CASES, THE COURTS TEND TO DISPLACE THEIR GOALS. THE CROSS-NATIONAL SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN ENHANCES THE RANGE OF VARIATION FOR THESE HYPOTHESES, AND IT PROVIDES AN AVENUE FOR ASSESSING THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY MIGHT BE CULTURE BOUND. WHILE BOTH TARGET CITIES, RIO DE JANEIRO AND AN ANONYMOUS EAST CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL CITY IN NORTH AMERICA, SHARE SIMILAR ECOLOGICAL PROFILES, THE TWO DIFFER GREATLY IN RATES OF OFFICIAL DELINQUENCY. THE DATA SHOW THAT THE U.S. COURT PROCESSED 10 TIMES MORE JUVENILES THAT THE BRAZILIAN COURT, INDICATING THAT A DIRECT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN METROPOLITAN PRESSURES AND COURT EXPANSION, AS SUGGESTED IN THE FIRST HYPOTHESIS, IS NOT UNIVERSAL. THIS EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE SECOND HYPOTHESIS: THE COURT PROCESSING A GREATER NUMBER OF JUVENILES WAS FOUND TO HAVE DISPLACED THE TRADITIONAL MANDATES OF JUVENILE JUSTICE. AS SUCH, RIO CLEARLY STIGMATIZES FEWER JUVENILES THAN DOES THE AMERICAN COURT. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)