The program in which staff members and participants were involved used 12-step programming and cognition and behavior training. The program lasted 180 days. Interviews were conducted with 18 participants, 2 administrators, and 5 counselors over a 4-year period (1998-2001). Transcriptions of the interviews were analyzed and coded by using Lofland and Lofland's (1995) techniques for qualitative data analysis. Several themes emerged across all three types of interviewees. Staff members and participants agreed that most participants' primary motivation for participating in the substance abuse programs was for the parole opportunity it provided. Staff and participants also agreed that they sometimes experienced difficulty in communicating with each other; still, both groups described the overall staff-participant relationship as a positive one. Regarding differences in perceptions between staff and participants, staff identified race (racial differences between staff and participants and too few minorities on staff), a lack of support from the larger prison system, and understaffing as the primary challenges facing the program. Most participants, on the other hand, indicated that the two difficulties facing the program were counselors' lack of understanding of participants and the limited opportunities for participants to receive one-on-one counseling. 28 references