DATA ON THESE ASPECTS OF THE PAROLE EXPERIENCE WERE GATHERED IN INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED AS PART OF AN EVALUATION OF A NEW PAROLEE PROGRAM IN ILLINOIS. THE RESPONDENT GROUP WAS 53-PERCENT BLACK, 43-PERCENT WHITE, AND 3-PERCENT CHICANO. THE MEDIAN TIME OUT OF PRISON WAS 6 MONTHS. THIRTY-TWO PERCENT HAD BEEN CONVICTED OF ASSAULT CRIMES, FIFTY-NINE PERCENT OF PROPERTY CRIMES (INCLUDING ROBBERY), AND NINE PERCENT OF NARCOTIC OFFENSES; TWENTY-SEVEN PERCENT HAD BEEN IN PRISON BEFORE, AND TEN PERCENT WERE MARRIED. APPROXIMATELY EQUAL NUMBERS OF PAROLEES DID AND DID NOT TELL POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS ABOUT THEIR PRISON RECORDS. ABOUT 40 PERCENT SAID THEY HAD NOT APPLIED FOR A GIVEN JOB (USUALLY CITY OR STATE JOBS REQUIRING BONDING) BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID THEIR POLICE RECORD WOULD KEEP THEM FROM GETTING IT. APPROXIMATELY 55 PERCENT OF THE 68 MEN FOR WHOM THE QUESTION WAS APPLICABLE SAID THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAD ENCOUNTERED DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYERS BECAUSE OF THEIR RECORD. RELATIVELY FEW PAROLEES REPORTED EXPERIENCING STIGMA IN SOCIAL SITUATIONS. THE PAROLEES TENDED TO HAVE UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ABOUT MAKING MONEY, BECOMING EXECUTIVES, AND OWNING THEIR OWN BUSINESSES. MOST OF THE PAROLEES DID NOT ATTEMPT TO RATIONALIZE THEIR SITUATION BY SAYING THAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE IN LIFE ARE CAUSED BY FATE. MOST WERE EXTREME IN THEIR VIEW THAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE ARE DETERMINED BY ONE'S OWN EFFORTS. RELATIVELY FEW OF THE PAROLEES HAD USED WELFARE OR PUBLIC AID, EVEN THOUGH NEARLY TWO-THIRDS HAD NO JOB WHEN THEY CAME OUT OF PRISON. ONLY 10 PERCENT HAD ENGAGED IN DAY LABOR, AN INDICATION THAT LOW-PAYING, LOW-STATUS WORK GENERALLY IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. DATA ON THE 87 BLACK PAROLEES AND WHITE PAROLEES SHOW THAT A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER PROPORTION OF WHITES WERE EMPLOYED, THAT WHITES MENTIONED JOB PROCUREMENT AS SOMETHING THE PAROLE SYSTEM COULD IMPROVE, AND THAT FEWER WHITES MENTIONED EMPLOYMENT IN THEIR ADVICE TO NEW PAROLEES. THERE WERE NO RACIAL DIFFERENCES AMONG EMPLOYED PAROLEES IN THE AMOUNT OF MONEY MADE OR IN JOB SATISFACTION. APPARENTLY RACE IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN OBTAINING A JOB, BUT BEING AN EX-OFFENDER MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN RACE IN DETERMINING WHAT TYPE OF JOB IS OBTAINED. SUPPORTING DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)