The intervening factor of the socialization of law-abiding belief was also examined. Data are from a subsample from Wave 1 of the South Florida Youth Development Project that involved middle school students in Dade County public schools. The target group for the project consisted of all male students entering either a middle or junior high school in Dade County at the beginning of the 1990-91 school year, all of whom were to be followed up over 3 years. For the present study, resources were made available to collect data on a subsample of middle school girls to compare with a subsample of the boys. This analysis includes 596 females and 599 males. A significant direct relationship was found between family attachment and each of the deviant behaviors; however, family structure was not significantly related to any of the deviant behaviors. No significant interactions were found between gender or race with family structure and family attachment regarding any of the deviant behaviors. Family attachment had a direct effect on law- abiding belief, which also had a significant effect on the deviant behaviors. These findings substantiate the view that patterns of deviant behavior vary according to the degree of family attachment and to the extent to which the family has instilled law-abiding belief in their children. African-American and Hispanic households are more likely to be headed by females, and family structure is significantly related to family attachment; therefore, interventions might focus on the disadvantaged circumstances of these adolescents by improving their family relationships. Moreover, because gender was found to be significantly related to delinquent behaviors in addition to belief in the law even after controlling for family attachment, future research should try to discover why this difference exists in order to determine whether policy development and treatment of deviance should be different for male and female adolescents. Further, since family structure has been shown to have a direct effect on family attachment, structural variables may help identify the adolescents who are at risk; interventions, however, must be directed toward the relationship aspect of the family rather than just the physical structure. 5 figures and 26 references