WHILE SCHOOL FAILURE HAS LONG BEEN SEEN AS A CAUSE OF JUVENILE MISCONDUCT, NO EXPLICIT THEORY OF HOW SUCH FAILURE MIGHT LEAD TO DEVIANT BEHAVIOR EMERGED UNTIL COHEN'S WORK ON DELINQUENT BOYS AND HIS 'GENERAL THEORY OF SUBCULTURES'. ACCORDING TO COHEN, LOW STATUS OR FAILURE IS THE KEY FACTOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN ANY SOCIAL SYSTEM. PERSONS WHO FAIL IN THE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM ADOPT ALTERNATIVE CRITERIA FOR STATUS, CRITERIA WHICH DEVALUE THE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM. THEREFORE, TO ACHIEVE HIGH STATUS IN THE NEW STATUS SYSTEM, THE FAILURES MUST DEMONSTRATE ATTRIBUTES OR BEHAVE IN WAYS THAT ARE DISAPPROVED OF BY THE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM. TWO CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCHOOL FAILURE AND MISCONDUCT ARE POSSIBLE. EITHER SCHOOL FAILURE CAUSES MISCONDUCT OR MISCONDUCT CAUSES FAILURE IN SCHOOL. FROM THESE POSSIBILITIES, TWO BASIC HYPOTHESES AND TWO ALTERNATIVES MAY BE DEVELOPED: (1) WHEN STUDENTS LEAVE SCHOOL, DELINQUENCY RATES SHOULD DECREASE; (2) THE ZERO-ORDER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL FAILURE AND DELINQUENCY SHOULD BE UNAFFECTED WHEN 'IN SCHOOL MISCONDUCT' IS CONTROLLED. EXISTING DATA AND OTHER EVIDENCE SUPPORT THE FIRST HYPOTHESIS. A STUDY OF THE DELINQUENCY CAREERS OF 743 HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SHOWED A SHARP DECLINE IN DELINQUENCY RATES AFTER BOYS DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL, COMPARED TO THE SAME BOYS WHILE THEY WERE ATTENDING SCHOOL. SCHOOL FAILURE PRODUCES AT LEAST SOME ADOLESCENT MISCONDUCT, AND THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED. SCHOOL CONDITIONS ARE CHANAGEABLE; CONSEQUENTLY, FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD FOCUS ON THOSE ASPECTS WHICH CAN BE ALTERED TO RREDUCE ADOLESCENT SCHOOL FAILURE IN THE INTEREST OF DELINQUENCY PREVENTION. GRAPH, REFERENCES, AND NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (LWM)