THE STUDY ADDRESSES TWO ISSUES: (1) WHETHER LEGAL PROCESSING CREATES AND/OR PROMOTES AN INCREASED ORIENTATION TOWARD DELINQUENCY AND (2) WHETHER ENVIRONMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL FACTORS SUCH AS PEER GROUP AFFILIATIONS AND SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AFFECT THIS PROCESS. THE STUDY DATA, GATHERED THROUGH STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRES, INCLUDED BASIC SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC MATERIAL AND INFORMATION ON DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, FRIENDSHIP NETS, STUDENTS' FEELINGS ABOUT THEMSELVES AND OTHERS, PERCEIVED ASPIRATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES, AND INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. THE POPULATION OF STUDENT RESPONDENTS WAS STRATIFIED INTO TWO GROUPS, THOSE HAVING ONE POLICE ENCOUNTER AND THOSE HAVING MULTIPLE POLICE ENCOUNTERS. THE SOCIALIZATION SCALE (SO) WAS USED TO MEASURE DELINQUENT ORIENTATIONS. A THREE-WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE ON SEX, CLASS, AND RACE DEMONSTRATED THAT SEX WAS SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED BOTH TO THE INITIAL AND FINAL (SO) SCORES, BUT NONE OF THE VARIABLES WERE RELATED TO RESIDUAL GAIN SCORES. ONLY POLICE CONTACT WAS RELATED TO GAIN SCORES. NEITHER THE AMOUNT OF SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY NOR THE LEVEL OF DELINQUENCY PRESENT IN THE PEER GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON CHANGE IN SO SCORES. POLICE CONTACT WAS A FACTOR IN INCREASING DELINQUENCY ORIENTATION AMONG ANGLO-SAXON YOUTH. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE SO GAIN SCORES ARE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AMONG SUBJECTS WITH VARYING NUMBERS OF POLICE CONTACTS OR AMONG SUBJECTS WHO WERE PROCESSED AT VARIOUS TIMES DURING THE STUDY. ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DELINQUENT ORIENTATIONS AND LEGAL PROCESSING, THE STRENGTH OF THE ASSOCIATION WAS QUITE LOW. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)