THIS CALIFORNIA BASED PROJECT WAS UNDERTAKEN TO ORGANIZE THE RESULTS OF AN EXTENSIVE DATA COLLECTION ON THE YOUTHFUL OFFENDER AND TO PROVIDE A RESOURCE FOR THE CORRECTIONAL THEORIST WORKING WITH THIS MOST IMPORTANT OFFENDER GROUP. BACKGROUND DATA, PERSONALITY AND OTHER TEST RESULTS, ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES, AND PSYCHIATRIC FACTORS, AS WELL AS OFFENSE RELATED INFORMATION AND THE RATINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL STAFFS WERE OBTAINED ON 4,146 MALE CALIFORNIA YOUTH AUTHORITY PAROLEES. THIS EFFORT WAS ENVISIONED AS A PREREQUISITE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TYPOLOGICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS THAT MAY ULTIMATELY INFLUENCE THEIR TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION. AFTER PROVIDING A BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE ENTIRE STUDY AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON PAROLE DECISION-MAKING AND PAROLE PREDICTION, THIS VOLUME PRESENTS COMPARATIVE DATA ON PAROLE SUCCESS RATES OF OVER 4,000 CALIFORNIA YOUTH AUTHORITY WARDS CLASSIFIED ON THE BASIS OF PRIOR COMMITMENTS. FOUR CLASSIFICATIONS ARE USED: FIRST ADMISSION, FIRST RETURN, SECOND RETURN, AND THREE OR MORE RETURNS. PAROLE SUCCESS RATES ARE PRESENTED FOR EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES AS SUBCLASSIFIED BY A RANGE OF OTHER VARIABLES, SUCH AS CASE HISTORY, INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC LEVEL, VOCATION, PERSONALITY, PSYCHIATRIC FACTORS, AND OFFENSE-RELATED FACTORS. FOR OTHER DOCUMENTS ON PROJECT, SEE NCJ-19482-19485, AND 38967-38971...DMC