The relationship between participation in sport and juvenile delinquency has recently generated considerable interest. Several studies of both a theoretical and empirical nature have sought to determine whether participation in organized programs of sport is likely to prevent the onset of deviant behavior (see Segrave, 1983, for a review). Particular em- phasis has been put on analyzing the relationship between participation in interscholastic athletics and delinquency on the grounds that athletics play such a powerful role in the lives of high school adolescents. Coleman, for example, has argued that "if it were not