SUBJECTS INCLUDED BLACK, MEXICAN-AMERICAN, AND WHITE INMATES DRAWN FROM A POPULATION BEING PROCESSED FOR PRISON PLACEMENT AT THE CALIFORNIA RECEPTION-GUIDANCE CENTER. SOCIAL DESIRABILITY WAS MEASURED USING THE MARLOWE-CROWN SOCIAL DESIRABILITY (M-C) SCALE, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENSE, RACE, INTELLIGENCE, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL, AGE, AND M-C SCORES WAS CALCULATED. IN ADDITION CORRELATIONS BETWEEN 13 MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI) SCALES WERE TESTED. AGE AND CRIMINAL OFFENSE WERE NOT CORRELATED AND INTELLIGENCE AND EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL WERE SIGNIFICANTLY NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE M-C. MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND BLACK SUBJECTS SCORED HIGHER THAN WHITE SUBJECTS ON THE M-C. THREE MMPI VALIDITY SCALES CORRELATED IN THE EXPECTED DIRECTION WITH THE M-C, AND ALTHOUGH 7 OF THE 10 CLINICAL SCALES HAD STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS, ALL OF THESE WERE OF LOW MAGNITUDE. CRIMINALS WERE FOUND TO BE MORE DEFENSIVE THAN NONCRIMINALS; BLACK AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN CRIMINALS ARE APPARENTLY EQUALLY DEFENSIVE, AND MORE DEFENSIVE THAN WHITE CRIMINALS. A TABLE DEPICTS CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MMPI SCALES AND M-C, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DAG)