LITERATURE ON THE INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM OF ETHNIC MINORITIES ATTRIBUTES HIGH CRIME RATES EITHER TO THE CONFLICT OF CONTRADICTORY CULTURAL VALUES WHICH ARE NORMS OF CONDUCT OR TO THE LIMITED ACCESS OF IMMIGRANTS TO ECONOMIC, PROFESSIONAL, AND POLITICAL OPPORTUNITIES. COMPARISON OF CRIMINAL STATISTICS FOR FOREIGN WORKERS AND NATIVES IN MAJOR WEST GERMAN CITIES SHOWS THAT CRIME RATES ARE LOWER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AND ADULTS BUT MUCH HIGHER FOR IMMIGRANT JUVENILES AND YOUNG ADULTS THAN FOR NATIVE GERMANS OF THE CORRESPONDING AGE GROUPS. THE STATISTICS ALSO SHOW THAT CRIMES INVOLVING SEX AND CRUDE BEHAVIOR ARE MORE PREVALENT AMONG IMMIGRANT OFFENDERS THAN AMONG THE NATIVE POPULATION, WHEREAS PROFESSIONAL CRIMES SUCH AS GRAND THEFT, BLACKMAIL, AND DEALING IN STOLEN PROPERTY ARE LESS COMMON AMONG IMMIGRANTS. THESE OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT CULTURAL CONFLICTS ARE NOT THE DIRECT CAUSE OF HIGH CRIME RATES, AS BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN OF ETHNIC GROUPS ARE LESS LIKELY THAN NATIVES TO BECOME INVOLVED IN CRIME, ESPECIALLY IF CULTURAL VALUES HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED WITHIN A CLOSE ETHNIC COMMUNITY. CRIME PROBLEMS TEND TO ARISE WHEN YOUNG GERMAN-SPEAKING SECOND-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH GERMAN SCHOOLS FIND THEMSELVES POORLY PREPARED EDUCATIONALLY AND EXCLUDED FROM THE PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES OF THE NEW CULTURE WHICH HAS BECOME THEIR FRAME OF REFERENCE. THE CRIME RATE IS EXPECTED TO GROW AS THE NUMBER OF ETHNIC MINORITIES INCREASES UNLESS STEPS ARE TAKEN TO REDUCE THE INSTITUTIONALIZED ISOLATION OF THE GROUPS. NOTES AND TABLES ARE SUPPLIED. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)