FOLLOWING A DISCUSSION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS, LABELING THEORY AND STEREOTYPING ARE ADVANCED AS POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR MUCH OF THIS DIFFERENCE. A SERIES OF QUESTIONNAIRES WAS GIVEN TO STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS A STEREOTYPE OF THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT, THE NATURE OF THIS STEREOTYPE AND THE EFFECTS OF HOLDING SUCH STEREOTYPED BELIEFS ON THE EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF HYPOTHETICAL CASES OF DELINQUENCY. THE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE EXISTENCE OF A STEREOTYPE FOUND THAT 68 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS FELT THAT JUVENILE DELINQUENTS COME FROM A LOW SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS, 42 PERCENT DESCRIBED A BROKEN OR UNSTABLE HOME, 35 PERCENT FELT THE FAMILY HAD A LACK OF DIRECTION OR DISCIPLINE, AND 34 PERCENT DESCRIBED A LACK OF LOVE OR CLOSENESS. USING THIS DATA A SERIES OF HYPOTHETICAL CASE STUDIES WAS DEVELOPED. HYPOTHETICAL DELINQUENTS PRESENTED AS AGGRESSIVE AND FROM BROKEN HOMES RECEIVED LOWER EVALUATIONS AND MORE SEVERE SUGGESTED TREATMENT THAN OTHERS WHEN OFFENSE SEVERITY WAS HELD CONSTANT. HOWEVER, NO CLEAR RELATIONSHIP WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE SEVERAL ASPECTS OF STEREOTYPING AND THE CASE EVALUATION. A SOCIAL DISTANCE SCALE ALSO FAILED TO CORRELATE WITH EITHER STEREOTYPING OR CASE EVALUATION AND SUGGESTED TREATMENT. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE CONCEPT OF STEREOTYPING BE USED TO COMPLEMENT THE LABELING THEORY IN STUDIES OF JUVENILE HANDLING. TABLES AND GRAPHS PRESENT SURVEY DATA. THE MATHEMATICAL CORRELATIONS ARE DISCUSSED. APPENDIXES PRESENT THE QUESTIONNAIRES AND CASE HISTORIES AS WELL AS A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (GLR)