Called the Detention Avoidance Program, it features a link among the court, the juvenile, and the family, using crisis intervention techniques to maintain the child in the community. The study analyzes differences in family background and family interaction patterns between the recidivists and nonrecidivists in the program. The pattern of variables that distinguished the recidivist-prone offender from the not-yet recidivist suggested that these individuals maintained greater emotional disturbance, characterized especially by impulse disorder. In addition, they had greater educational handicaps as characterized by nonattendance, poor performance, and early school dropout rates. The current educational deficits also presage subsequent occupational difficulties. One table and three references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)