The developmental factors (e.g., parental behavior) which are important in determining whether a young person becomes involved in crime did not appear to be potent influences on the frequency with which a young person offends. Factors more immediately related to the offender's lifestyle appeared to be the most important influence; however, the precise combination of lifestyle factors seemed to vary from offense to offense. Some factors, such as the need to obtain money to buy drugs, appeared to influence the frequency of more than one offense. Some of the factors which might have been expected to exert a general influence on offending frequency, however, did not do so. The perceived severity of legal sanctions, for example, did not appear to influence offending frequency in any of the offense categories examined for the report. Study results call for a fresh appraisal of strategies for tackling juvenile offending. Tables, notes, figures, references, appendixes