A SERIES OF STUDIES WAS CONDUCTED OVER A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS INVOLVING PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APPROXIMATELY 800 PRISON RELEASEES. AN INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED WITH EACH ONE PRIOR TO RELEASE AND AT 3-6 AND 12-18 MONTHS POSTRELEASE. A SET OF STANDARDIZED PREDICTIVE MEASURES WAS EMPLOYED TO SYSTEMATIZE THE DATA, INCLUDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEPRIVATION SCALE (EDS) AND MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR RECORD (MBR). A LAW ENCOUNTER SEVERITY SCALE (LESS) WAS DEVELOPED AS THE CRITERION OPERATIONALLY DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. IT WAS EXECUTED 18-24 MONTHS AFTER RELEASE ON THE BASIS OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. A FUNCTIONAL CHECKLIST THE PAROLE ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION SCALE (PASS) - WAS DEVELOPED FOR EXECUTION PRIMARILY FROM AVAILABLE RECORDS. DERIVING FROM THESE ANALYSES, A COMPREHENSIVE CHECKLIST WAS DEVELOPED THAT GENERATED CLOSE TO 95 PERCENT ACCURACY IN PREDICTING PAROLE SUCCESS. ITS 10 MAJOR CATEGORIES ARE: DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY, EMPLOYMENT RECORD, FINANCIAL AFFAIRS, CRIMINAL HISTORY, INSTITUTIONAL RECORD, INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY RELATIONS, PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT AND LEISURE-TIME UTILIZATION. THREE MAJOR VALIDATION STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED WITH THE PASS: ONE USING COMPREHENSIVE DATA, ONE BASED ON THE EDS AND MBR, AND A THIRD BASED ON PAROLE BOARD RECORDS. IN THE VALIDATION STUDIES, THE AVERAGE FOR POSTRELEASE 'SUCCESSES' WAS 60 PERCENT AND FOR 'FAILURES' ABOUT 35 PERCENT, WITH AN OVERALL RANGE FROM 10 TO 85 PERCENT. INDIVIDUALS WITH HIGH PERCENT ADAPTATION SCORES HAVE A HIGH PROBABILITY OF POSTPRISON SUCCESS AND MINIMAL LAW ENCOUNTERS. THOSE WITH LOW PERCENT SCORES SHOW A LOW PROBABILITY OF POSTPRISON SUCCESS AND HIGH CHANCES OF SEVERE LAW ENCOUNTERS. A TABLE IS PROVIDED FOR DETERMINING THE CHANCES OF POSTRELEASE SUCCESS FOR THE PASS PERCENT ADAPTATION SCORE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)...TWH