A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN EXPLORATORY AND CUMULATIVE DELINQUENCY. ALTHOUGH BOTH ARE RELATED TO THE SOCIOCULTURAL BACKGROUND IN WHICH ADOLESCENTS HAVE BEEN RAISED AND SOCIALIZED, EXPLORATORY DELINQUENCY REPRESENTS THE DESIRE OF ADOLESCENTS TO EXPAND THEIR UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION AND TO INCREASE AVAILABLE OPTIONS. WHILE CUMULATIVE DELINQUENCY SHOULD INCREASE IN FREQUENCY WITH AGE, EXPLORATORY DELINQUENCY SHOULD DECLINE AS ADOLESCENTS REACH ADULTHOOD, AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOCIETY INCREASES. THE NONDELINQUENT SAMPLE FOR THE STUDY OF GANG MEMBERS INCLUDED 429 ADOLESCENTS IN LOS ANGELES, CALIF. THE DELINQUENT SAMPLE INVOLVED 101 INCARCERATED DELINQUENTS. CULTURAL DISCONTINUITY WAS MEASURED BY AN INDEX CONTAINING FIVE STRUCTURAL VARIABLES (SUBJECT SOCIAL CLASS, OCCUPATIONAL RANK OF PARENTS, RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND, WEALTH OF PARENTS, AND ETHNICITY). ALL GANG MEMBERS, DELINQUENT AND NONDELINQUENT, CAME FROM LARGER HOUSEHOLDS, HAD A LARGER NUMBER OF SIBLINGS, HAD MORE FRIENDS OUTSIDE THE FAMILY, AND HAD MORE CLOSE VERTICAL FAMILY FRIENDS THAN PERSONS IN THE NONGANG GROUP. DATA INDICATE THAT DELINQUENT GANG MEMBERS, AS COMPARED TO INFORMAL GROUP MEMBERS, COME FROM AN ISOLATED ENVIRONMENT, WITH MOST REINFORCEMENTS DERIVED FROM CULTURALLY DISCONTINUOUS INDIVIDUALS CLOSE TO THEM. BECAUSE DELINQUENT GANG MEMBERS COME FROM A CIRCUMSCRIBED CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT, THEY LIVE IN A WORLD OF FEW ALTERNATIVES. THE REALIZATION, HOWEVER, THAT A LARGE PROPORTION OF GANG MEMBERS ARE NOT DELINQUENT CALLS FOR AN EXAMINATION OF POSITIVE ASPECTS RELATED TO ADOLESCENT GANGS. SUPPORTING DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)