The labeling theory provided the theoretical framework for this research study. Two assumptions of the labeling theory were considered in particular: the social audience agrees on the appropriateness of the label designation. Five research questions and five hypotheses were derived from these two assumptions. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire composed of 15 juvenile behavioral situations and 6 official legal labels. A total of 255 respondents participated in the study from June through August 1974. All respondents resided in Jefferson County, Tex. The adult social audiences were stratified by occupation into two basic groups consisting of those employed outside the criminal justice system and those employed outside the criminal justice system and those employed within it. Data analysis showed that the entire sample, when treated as one social audience, did agree on the meaning of the acts as acceptable or unacceptable juvenile behavior in 14 of the 15 situations. When the entire sample was treated as five distinct social audiences, each social audience did agree within their individual group on the meaning of the acts as acceptable or unacceptable. Other results indicated that the social audience of community adults agreed on the appropriateness of the label designation in only 6 of the 15 situations, as did the criminal justice audience. Other results are also discussed. The study concludes that the entire social audience in Jefferson County was able to agree on the meaning of the juvenile acts as acceptable or unacceptable, and the social audiences are able to distinguish whether certain acts are delinquent or nondelinquent. Future research should consider replication of this study in other areas of the Nation, and should include numerous controls such as sex, age, educational level, ethnic group, socioeconomic class, marital status, and parenthood. Tables, footnotes, and bibliography of approximately 100 references are provided. The questionnaire is appended.