TO PRESENT A PICTURE OF JUVENILE PROSTITUTION, RESEARCHERS ANALYZED EXISTING REPORTS AND RECORDS ON JUVENILE PROSTITUTION, OBTAINED DATA FROM THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT (NYCPD), AND CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS WITH 11 YOUNG PROSTITUTES IN THE CUSTODY OF THE YOUTH AID DIVISION OF THE NYCPD. INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED ON THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES: SEX, AGE, PREVIOUS ARREST RECORD, CURRENT RESIDENCE, PREVIOUS RESIDENCES, LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN NEW YORK CITY, FAMILY HISTORY, SIBLING ORDER, ETHNIC GROUP, PARENTS' EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION, DELINQUENTS' EDUCATION, AND USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. IN ADDITION, INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED FROM OBSERVING AND TALKING TO 21 YOUNG WOMEN WHO WERE NOT IN CUSTODY, AND CONDUCTING LATER INTERVIEWS WITH SOME OF THE YOUNG PROSTITUTES INITIALLY INTERVIEWED WHILE IN CUSTODY. ALTHOUGH INTERVIEWING IN THE FIELD WAS OFTEN DANGEROUS AND TIME CONSUMING, THIS TECHNIQUE ENABLED RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY AND QUESTION SOME UNSTATED ASSUMPTIONS CONCERNING JUVENILE PROSTITUTION, SUCH AS THE BELIEF THAT THESE DISPROPORTIONATELY MIDDLE-CLASS YOUNG WOMEN FROM OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY HAVE RUN AWAY FROM HOME BECAUSE OF DISPUTES WITH THEIR PARENTS. A NUMBER OF THESE PROSTITUTES, WHO WERE NEW YORK-BORN AND FROM THE LOWER-OR WORKING-CLASS, EITHER STILL LIVED AT HOME OR HAD NO HOME FROM WHICH TO RUN. THE STUDY ALSO REPORTS ON WHERE THESE TEENAGERS COME FROM, HOW RECRUITMENT FOR PROSTITUTION IS ACCOMPLISHED, THE ROLE OF THE PIMP, FAMILY COMPOSITION, RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PARENTS OF PROSTITUTES AND THEIR CHILDREN, SEXUAL EXPERIENCE AND DRUG USE, AND THE 'WEEKEND PROSTITUTE.' A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED. (WJR)