THE NEUTRALIZATION THEORY OF DELINQUENCY HOLDS THAT DELINQUENTS DO NOT PERCEIVE THEMSELVES AS HAVING SERIOUSLY DEPARTED FROM SOCIAL NORMS, BUT THAT THEY USE TECHNIQUES OF NEUTRALIZATION TO JUSTIFY DELINQUENT ACTS. THE RESEARCH ATTEMPTED TO REPLICATE A STUDY DONE AT OAKLEY TRAINING CENTER (MISSISSIPPI), A JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL CENTER, TESTING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VARIABLES SELF-IDENTITY (FEELINGS ABOUT SELF), STAKE-IN-CONFORMITY (IDENTIFICATION WITH DOMINANT SOCIAL VALUES), AND NEUTRALIZATION AS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISM USED FOR DEVIANT ACTS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF A REGIONAL EXPLANATION EXISTED FOR THE LACK OF SUPPORT GIVEN TO A THEORY CONSTRUCTED WITHIN THE NEUTRALIZATION FRAMEWORK. THE STUDY ALSO ANALYZED DATA MEASURING THE RELATIONSHIP OF VARIABLES IN A REVISED THEORY CONSTRUCTED FROM THE FINDINGS OF THE OAKLEY STUDY. IN THE REVISED THEORY, TWO NEW VARIABLES WERE INTRODUCED: SOCIAL TOLERANCE (LESS SEVERE REACTIONS TO DEVIANCE) AND NEUTRALIZATION WITHIN THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT RATHER THAN IN THE DOMINANT SOCIETY. ONLY THE LATTER VARIABLE WAS CONSIDERED ANALYTICAL IN THE PRESENT STUDY. DATA WERE DERIVED FROM A QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTERED TO 209 JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AT TAFT YOUTH CENTER IN PIKEVILLE, TENN. DATA WERE ANALYZED BY THE CHI SQUARE STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE, ALONG WITH PEARSON'S CONTINGENCY COEFFICIENT, GOODMAN AND KRUSKALL'S GAMMA, AND KENDALL'S TAU-B. THE OAKLEY STUDY FOUND NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-IDENTITY, STAKE-IN-CONFORMITY, AND NEUTRALIZATION. THE PRESENT STUDY, WHICH ATTEMPTS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE OAKLEY FINDINGS BY CONSIDERING VARIABLES RELATED TO THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT, FAILED TO CONFIRM EITHER THE ORIGINAL OR THE REVISED THEORY. THE LOGIC OF THE THEORY, HOWEVER, IS CONSIDERED VALID, IN NEED OF A DIFFERENT TESTING METHODOLOGY IN FUTURE RESEARCH. THE APPENDIX CONTAINS A SAMPLE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE USED IN THE STUDY. TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--RCB)