ONE ELEMENT IN THE FAILURE OF MANY REHABILITATIVE EFFORTS IS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN INITIATED IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF CRISIS. BECAUSE OF A WIDESPREAD FEAR OF CRIME, A FLOOD OF NEW PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN SET UP; PEOPLE WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE PROBLEM, NO MATTER WHAT. CONSEQUENTLY, ILL-CONCEIVED PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN HASTILY SET UP AND POORLY ADMINISTERED. LITTLE, IF ANY SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF RESULTS HAS BEEN ATTEMPTED, AND FOLLOWUPS HAVE BEEN MOSTLY CURSORY. THE INITIAL ENTHUSIASM FOR THESE PROGRAMS HAS BEEN FOLLOWED BY DISENCHANTMENT. EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SOCIETAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SUCH AS HOUSING AND EDUCATION, AS WELL AS PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF CRIMINALS WITH THE SAME METHODS USED TO CORRECT ANY MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR, HAVE ALL FAILED. CRIMINALS HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS, TOLD SOCIETY WHAT IT WANTED TO HEAR, AND REMAINED CRIMINALS. A COMPREHENSIVE, 16-YEAR STUDY OF THE CRIMINAL, BEGUN IN 1961, HAS RESULTED IN THE CONCLUSION THAT PRIOR ATTEMPTS TO REHABILITATE CRIMINALS WERE BASED ON A MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE OFFENDERS WITH WHOM THEY WERE DEALING. THE RESEARCHERS INVOLVED IN THE STUDY SPENT UP TO 8,000 HOURS WITH 255 CRIMINALS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS. THEY BEGAN TO STUDY CRIMINALS' THINKING PATTERNS AND FOUND AN ACTUAL CRIMINAL PERSONALITY. THEIR PROFILE OF THE EXTREME CAREER CRIMINAL APPLIES ACROSS EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, SOCIAL CLASS, FAMILY STRUCTURE, AND RACE, AS WELL AS ACROSS DIFFERENT KINDS OF CRIME. FIFTY-TWO THINKING PATTERNS WERE IDENTIFIED WHICH WERE PRESENT IN ALL CRIMINALS. THE PROFILE OF THE CRIMINAL IN TERMS OF HIS THINKING PATTERNS HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF PROVIDING THE DATA NECESSARY FOR THE PROCESS OF CHANGING CRIMINAL THINKING TO RESPONSIBLE THINKING. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT 'REHABILITATION' WAS A MISNOMER, AS IT IMPLIES RESTORING A PERSON TO AN EARLIER, CONSTRUCTIVE CONDITION. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO PRIOR CONDITION TO WHICH TO RESTORE THE CRIMINAL, BECAUSE HE HAS NEVER DEVELOPED THE PATTERNS OF THOUGHT NECESSARY TO LIVE RESPONSIBLY. THE CRIMINAL MUST BE HABILITATED, NOT REHABILITATED. THE AUTHORS HAVE CONSTRUCTED A PROGRAM DESIGNED TO TEACH THE INCARCERATED OFFENDER NEW PATTERNS OF THINKING. SPECIFIC METHODS ARE NOT DISCUSSED IN THIS ARTICLE. SOCIETY FACES ITS GREATEST PROBLEMS WITH THOSE CRIMINALS WHO RESIST ALL EFFORTS AT HABILITATION. PUNISHMENT BY IMPRISONMENT OR EVEN BY RESTITUTION OFTEN SERVES ONLY TO REINFORCE CRIMINAL THINKING AND THE OFFENDER'S ESSENTIALLY POSITIVE OPINION OF HIMSELF. CRIME PREVENTION AND SECURITY MEASURES OFTEN WORK TO DETER ONLY MINOR CRIMINALS, BUT PRESENT A CHALLENGE TO THE HARDCORE ONES. FURTHER RESEARCH INTO CRIMINAL THOUGHT IS ESSENTIAL. ONCE SOCIETY UNDERSTANDS THE NATURE OF THE CRIMINAL WITH WHOM IT HAS TO DEAL, SOME PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED, AND OTHERS CAN BE PLACED IN BETTER PERSPECTIVE. (VDA)