THE OVERALL STRATEGY OF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHALS FOR DELIVERING BAD NEWS MAY BE TERMED 'NICE GUY IMPERSONALITY.' IF THE BEARERS AND THE RECIPIENTS ARE STRANGERS, THE EMOTIONAL LEVEL OF THE MEETING WILL BE LOWER THAN IF THE ACTORS HAVE A MORE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP. DISTANCING TECHNIQUES THAT MAKE THE NEWS SEEM BETTER THAN IT REALLY IS ARE OFTEN USED. THE U.S. MARSHALS OFTEN TRY TO BUILD UP TO, OR PRESAGE, THE NEWS THEY ARE ABOUT TO DELIVER. THEY ALSO TRY TO PLAY UP ANY AND ALL POSSIBLE POSITIVE ELEMENTS OF THE NEWS THEY ARE DELIVERING. THE U.S. MARSHALS FREQUENTLY DISPLAY A VERY BUREAUCRATIC OR A 'BUSINESS AS USUAL' ATTITUDE WHEN DELIVERING THE NEWS, FAILING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DISTRESSFUL NATURE OF THE MESSAGE FOR THE RECIPIENT. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE DEGREE OF BADNESS OF THE NEWS IS DETERMINED BY THE SHARED VALUE-SYSTEMS OF THE BEARER AND THE RECIPIENT. IT IS HOPED THAT THE GENERALIZATIONS OF THIS REPORT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A LONG-TERM STUDY OF THE GENERIC OR FORMAL SITUATION OF DELIVERING UNPLEASANT NEWS. REFERENCES AND DIALOG FROM REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS ARE PROVIDED. (JSP)