Introduction to the Transaction Edition

Stanton Wheeler’s (with the assistance of Helen Hughes), Controlling Delinquents was a landmark publication in 1968. The volume provided a reasoned empirical evaluation of social programs designed to prevent and control delinquency. It deployed a truly sociological approach to the delinquency problem. The authors examined the interconnecting social structures and social organizations that impacted youth conduct. Many of the authors embraced the social constructionist, labeling theory approach to deviance, contending that the delinquency label is produced through a complex social process.