Juveniles in general are vulnerable because of the complex changes they undergo in a very short time while the demands made on them by society are increasing. Juveniles apprehended are most frequently 16-to-17 year-old males from socioeconomically deprived environments. To recognize and resolve delinquency problems, a systematic phenomenological approach is required to supplement purely diagnostic methods. In most early cases of occasional juvenile delinquency, delinquent behavior may be a failed attempt at adaptation or anticipation of adult roles, e.g., the 'machoman.' A desire to be independent of parents but to play the powerful role of consumer may prompt socially disadvantaged youngsters to steal. The uncertain values of the adult world contribute to juveniles' orientation difficulties, and the sociocultural confusion undermines parent-child relationships. Delinquency may also represent rebellion against changes in a society dominated by technology. Juveniles must be assisted through the tumultuous phase of maturation so that they are not stigmatized by a single reactional episode. To avoid labeling, the psychopathological approach should be limited to grave cases, and crime seriousness should be measured not by recidivism but by causes of the behavior. Society must gear penal reaction to the trial-error method of juvenile social reaction. Clinical psychologists must make the public aware of the crisis of such young 'delinquents.' Psychologists thus become mediators both in the interpersonal and the internal conflicts of juveniles. A brief 8-item bibliography is supplied. --in French.