From a population of incarcerated delinquents coming from an urban minority community, 60 subjects with a history of heroin usage did not differ significantly from 60 controls on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, the Culture Fair Intelligence Test, or in reading grade level on the Wide Range Achievement Test. The two groups were also similar in intactness of family and type of offense. Controls were more deviant than users on the Alienation subscale of the Jesness Inventory (p less than .05). Unique traits of adolescent heroin users from a high risk area may not be found if social variables are controlled.