THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY WAS THAT CRIMINAL SUBJECTS PARTICIPATING IN GROUP ENCOUNTER SESSIONS LED BY MINIMALLY TRAINED CITIZENS WOULD CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR IN THE DIRECTION OF GREATER SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY. THE 86 SUBJECTS WERE SELECTED FROM AN INITIAL POOL OF 125 VOLUNTEERS WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED AS MENTALLY DISORDERED SEX OFFENDERS PRIOR TO THE INITIATION OF THE EXPERIMENT. TWELVE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS BETWEEN 24 AND 51 YEARS OF AGE WERE CHOSEN FROM A GROUP OF 19 INDIVIDUALS. TRAINING OF THESE VOLUNTEERS PRIMARILY CONSISTED OF PRESENTING ENCOUNTERTAPES (BERZON, 1968) WHICH INVOLVED 10 SESSIONS OF TRAINING, EACH LASTING 1.5 HOURS. A MALE-FEMALE PAIR OF VOLUNTEERS WAS RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO LEAD AN ENCOUNTER GROUP (EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT) FOR ONE GROUP OF SUBJECTS AND TO LEAD A HOBBY AND GAME SESSION (CONTROL TREATMENT) FOR A DIFFERENT GROUP OF SUBJECTS. EACH CITIZEN PAIR ADMINISTERED BOTH EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL TREATMENTS. THE PURPOSE OF USING THE SAME VOLUNTEERS FOR BOTH GROUPS WAS TO AVOID ANY EFFECTS RESULTING FROM DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITIES, ABILITIES, OR CHARACTERISTICS OF VOLUNTEERS THAT MIGHT BIAS RESULTS. TEN CRIMINAL SUBJECTS COMPRISED EACH GROUP. A CRIMINAL ATTITUDE SCALE WAS CONSTRUCTED TO OBTAIN SUBJECTIVE AND SPECIFIC DATA ABOUT ATTITUDES OF OFFENDERS TOWARD FIVE FACTORS: CONCURRENCE (ATTITUDE TOWARD DETENTION, SENTENCING, POLICE, AND CRIME), RESTLESSNESS, APPROPINQUATION (REACHING OUT TOWARD OTHERS); DESPONDENCY; AND SELFFISHNESS. OTHER SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES WERE ALSO EMPLOYED TO EVALUATE OFFENDERS. RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION INDICATED A MODERATE DEGREE OF SUPPORT FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS THAT NONPROFESSIONALS FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY AS LAY THERAPISTS TO MENTALLY DISORDERED SEX OFFENDERS. ON 74 DIFFERENCE AND POSTSCORE MEASURES, ENCOUNTER SUBJECTS WERE SLIGHTLY SUPERIOR IN 55 CASES. NINE INDIVIDUAL COMPARISONS WERE SIGNIFICANT. ENCOUNTER GROUP SUBJECTS WERE SLIGHTLY SUPERIOR ON ALL 16 QUESTIONS CONTAINED IN A BEHAVIOR RATING SCALE. CRIMINAL SUBJECTS RATED THE GROUP ENCOUNTER SESSIONS HIGHLY, WITH ATTENDANCE DATA DEMONSTRATING THEY PREFERRED A THERAPEUTIC EXPERIENCE OVER A HOBBY AND GAME EXPERIENCE. SUPPORTING DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)