THE COMPARISON INVOLVES THREE TYPES OF SOCIETIES: (1) WESTERN LAISSEZ-FAIRE, (2) WESTERN WELFARE-ORIENTED, AND (3) WESTERN WITH TRIBAL FEATURES, WITH ALL THREE HAVING COMMON SOCIAL DENOMINATORS OF URBANISM AND SOMEWHAT SIMILAR LEGAL CODES. AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE SHAW-MCKAY FINDINGS ARE TRANSCULTURAL IN TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: (1) THE ZONAL AND AREA MODELS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS IN THE URBAN COMMUNITY; (2) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION OF ETHNIC GROUPS AND THE TRANSMISSION OF DELINQUENT ORIENTATIONS IN THE RECRUITMENT AND ACCULTURATION OF DELINQUENTS; (3) THE GROUP EXPERIENCES AND DEVIANT SUBCULTURES AMONG DELINQUENTS; AND (4) THE FUNCTION AND INFLUENCE OF THE FAMILY. BASIC SIMILARITIES IN THE RISE AND EXPRESSION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN THE UNITED STATES AND GHANA IDENTIFIED SEVERAL TENTATIVE CROSS-CULTURAL HYPOTHESES. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)