The findings provide some support for the importance of individual cognitions and meaning systems (subjective factors) prior to release from prison, in accordance with the proposed subjective-social model. The findings suggest that subjective changes may precede life-changing structural events; this means the individuals can act as agents of their own change in addressing problems and prioritizing social structures that enhance their subjective goals and envisioned changes in lifestyle. A negative subjective mindset, on the other hand--which blames society, parents, and not getting the "breaks" as an inevitable sealing of one's destiny of failure in normative endeavors--precludes the exertion of efforts to build a new social/environmental structure for a new noncriminal lifestyle. This subjective framework, energy, and discipline for change is needed for ex-inmates to overcome tremendous handicaps just to survive, let alone succeed, in mainstream society. Thus, these findings suggest that measures of the mindset of men about to leave prison are predictors of the likelihood of persistence in or desistance from offending in the coming years. The in-prison Wave One interviews focused on the men's aspirations and expectations for life after prison and what they viewed as the chief stumbling blocks to desistance from further offending. Ten years later, 126 of the original 130 men in the sample were traced through their official criminal records. The dependent variables were convictions and reimprisonment over the 10-year period. In the Wave Two interviews, respondents were asked to describe their social situations and life circumstances. 5 tables and 65 references