The kinds of behavior that reflect the developmental status of the young person are, at times, interpreted as evidence of a “generation gap.” There is a need to examine whether the problems of the youth are, in fact, merely the most recent version of perennial “growing pains” or whether they instead represent a major discontinuity with the cultural institutions of the past century, i.e., a true generation gap. If the latter is so, it would suggest that our cultural institutions are no longer adequate to the task of socializing children for their adult tasks and challenges. This paper will attempt to look at these issues.(68 pp.)