CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ARE CONDUCTED FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC AND INFORMATION NEEDS OF POLICE, CRIMINOLOGISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS AND COURTS. BIOGRAPHIES ARE USED TO EVALUATE THE CRIMINAL CAPACITY AND THE ADAPTABILITY OF OFFENDERS. INFORMATION IS DESCRIPTIVE, WITH A CERTAIN DEGREE OF SELECTION EVEN AT THE GATHERING STAGE SO THAT FACTS CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. DATA RELATES TO ANAMNESIS (E.G., FAMILY, SOCIALIZATION DISTURBANCES IN SCHOOL AND WORK), CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR (E.G., NATURE AND GRAVITY OF CRIMES, ATTITUDES TOWARD CRIMES), LIFE-STYLE (E.G., ASSOCIATES, ESTABLISHMENTS FREQUENTED), AND PERSONALITY (E.G., SURFACE TRAITS SUCH AS VANITY OR WEAKNESS AND VARIABLE CRIMINAL TRAITS). THEORETICAL BASES FOR THE INVESTIGATIONS ARE THE POSITIVIST APPROACH ACCORDING TO WHICH OBSERVATIONS OR REGULAR PHENOMENA PERMIT FORMULATION OF LAWS, THE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH WHICH REQUIRES INTUITIVE AND RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY, AND THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH WHICH PROVIDES A GENERALIZED VIEW OF SOCIAL EFFECTS. INTERPRETATION SYSTEMS CONSIDER THE CRIMINAL PROCESS, THE INDIVIDUALS' CRIMINAL MATURATION, AND LABELING. THE MODEL ALSO MAKES POSSIBLE TESTING OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES, E.G., THE GENETIC THEORY AND THE PSYCHODYNAMIC VIEW OF HOW THE CRIMINAL PROCEEDS TO CRIMINAL ACTS (THE BORN BANDIT, INDIVIDUALS REACTING TO ENVIRONMENTS, INDIVIDUALS REACTING AT CRITICAL PHASES). THE EFFECTS OF CRIMINAL GROUP DYNAMICS ON INDIVIDUAL CAREERS ARE ALSO STUDIED. THE PRACTICAL POLICE ASPECTS OF THIS MODEL AND THE NEED FOR COURTS TO DERIVE INFORMATION FROM A VARIETY OF EXPERT SOURCES ARE EMPHASIZED. FOR RELATED DOCUMENT, SEE NCJ # 55984. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)