THIRTY-SIX VOLUNTEER-OFFENDER PAIRS FROM OAR WERE TESTED AND EVALUATED. MULTIPLE RATINGS WERE COLLECTED ON THE QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VOLUNTEERS AND OFFENDERS AND DATA WERE OBTAINED ON THE FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF RECIDIVISM DURING A 6-MONTH INTERACTION PERIOD. DEMOGRAPHIC, ATTITUDINAL, AND PSYCHOMETRIC INFORMATION WAS ELICITED BEFORE PAIRS BEGAN WORKING TOGETHER. PSYCHOMETRIC DATA WERE COLLECTED AGAIN AT THE END OF THE INTERACTION PERIOD TO ASSESS CHANGES ATTRIBUTABLE TO COUNSELING. VOLUNTEERS AND OFFENDERS WERE INTERVIEWED SEPARATELY AFTER INTERACTION AND WERE ASKED TO EVALUATE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. RATINGS WERE ADDITIONALLY MADE BY RESEARCHERS AND OAR STAFF. STUDY RESULTS REVEALED CORRELATIONS BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHIC, ATTITUDINAL, AND PSYCHOMETRIC VARIABLES AND RATINGS OF VOLUNTEER-OFFENDER RELATIONSHIPS AND RECIDIVISM. QUALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH VOLUNTEERS IN MORE HIGHLY RATED PAIRS INCLUDED SUCCESS ANTICIPATION, PRETRAINING IN COUNSELING OR CORRECTIONS, GREATER EDUCATION, AND PREVIOUS VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE. TWO PERSONALITY TRAITS, UNDERSTANDING AND NURTURANCE, WERE STRONGLY RELATED TO VOLUNTEER RATINGS. VOLUNTEER RATINGS WERE POSITIVELY RELATED TO THE VARIETY OF ASSISTANCE OFFERED AND THE NUMBER OF OFFENDER RELATIVES AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS CONTACTED. CHARACTERISTICS OF OFFENDERS IN MORE HIGHLY RATED PAIRS INCLUDED BEING OLDER AND MORE EDUCATED AND COMING FROM SMALLER FAMILIES. HIGHER SCORES FOR THE PERSONALITY TRAIT OF ENDURANCE AND LOWER SCORES FOR EXHIBITION, AGGRESSION, HARM AVOIDANCE, AND INDIRECT HOSTILITY WERE ALL RELATED TO A MORE FAVORABLE RESPONSE TO VOLUNTEER COUNSELING. SHARED TRAITS PREDICTIVE OF A BETTER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOLUNTEERS AND OFFENDERS INCLUDED SIMILAR MARITAL STATUS, SEX, AND RACE, AND LARGER DIFFERENCES IN AGE (VOLUNTEERS WERE OLDER). SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENHANCING VOLUNTEER-OFFENDER COMPATIBILITY ARE OFFERED. A MULTIPLE REGRESSION EQUATION IS INCLUDED THAT EVALUATES A NUMBER OF VARIABLES TO INCORPORATE IN THE PROCESS OF SELECTING AND MATCHING VOLUNTEER COUNSELORS AND CRIMINAL OFFENDERS. SUPPORTING DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED, AND STUDY FORMS ARE APPENDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)