THE FOLLOWING HYPOTHESES WERE TESTED: (1) THE OVERCONTROLLED HOSTILITY (OH) SCALE, THE SOCIALIZATION (SO) SCALE, AND THE HAND TEST MAY BE USED TO DIFFERENTIATE DANGEROUS FROM NONDANGEROUS INMATES; (2) AN INSTRUMENT CAN BE CONSTRUCTED TO DIFFERENTIATE DANGEROUS FROM NONDANGEROUS YOUTHS; AND (3) THERE IS A NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN STAFF'S PERCEPTION OF A YOUTH'S DEGREE OF DANGEROUSNESS AND THEIR DESIRE NOT TO WORK WITH DANGEROUS YOUTHS. THE SO, OH, AND HAND TESTS WERE ADMINISTERED TO THE YOUTHS, AS WAS A 25-WORD ADJECTIVE CHECKLIST (THE 'TB') WITH 4 RESPONSE LEVELS SO THAT LOW SCORES SIGNIFIED DANGEROUSNESS. A QUESTIONNAIRE PRODUCED LISTS OF SUBJECTS WITH WHOM STAFF WANTED TO WORK AND WITH WHOM THEY DID NOT WISH TO WORK. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE SO SCALE, THE OH SCALE, AND THE HAND TEST COULD DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN DANGEROUS AND NONDANGEROUS SUBJECTS WAS NOT CONFIRMED. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT AN INSTRUMENT COULD BE CONSTRUCTED TO DIFFERENTIATE DANGEROUS FROM NONDANGEROUS YOUTHS WAS CONFIRMED. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT STAFF'S PERCEPTION OF DANGEROUSNESS AFFECTS THEIR WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUTHS WAS SOLIDLY CONFIRMED. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)