The first section defines juvenile delinquency, linking it to such factors as culture and legal order, and explains the negative effects of deinstitutionalization on prisoner's and patients' rights. It suggests that deinstitutionalization and diversion are myths -- that youths leave public facilities only to be admitted to private ones. The second section highlights methodological considerations affecting program evaluation, initiation, and use and identifies net widening and relabeling as consequences of deinstitutionalization. It reports the mixed results of the California Subsidy Probation Program and the positive features of the Community Restitution Program Costa Mesa, Calif., including reduced recidivism. The third section examines juvenile justice systems in Israel and Japan; reduced rates of delinquency in Japan are highlighted, but the need to avoid over-intervention is noted. The text also reviews patterns of delinquency in Nigeria and suggests that the system must be consistently informed by the patterns of criminal deviance. This section also reviews juvenile processing in the Netherlands and aspects of discretion in England's juvenile criminal justice system. The last section highlights problems with West Germany's use of crime statistics in establishing criminal policy, considers crime prevention policies in Latin America, and describes criminalization of participants at public gatherings in Great Britain. Approximately 400 references are included.