THE FURLOUGH PROGRAM HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF MASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS SINCE 1972. A TOTAL OF 41,563 FURLOUGHS WERE GRANTED BETWEEN THE PROGRAM'S INCEPTION IN 1972 AND DECEMBER 1977. ESCAPES RESULTED FROM 439 OF THOSE FURLOUGHS (A RESIDENT FAILING TO RETURN TO HIS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY WITHIN 2 HOURS OF HIS DESIGNATED TIME), THUS YIELDING AN OVERALL ESCAPE RATE OF 1.06 PERCENT. A STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FURLOUGH PROGRAM FOR 1977 IS GIVEN AS WELL AS A TREND ANALYSIS OF THE PROGRAM SINCE ITS INCEPTION. ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF FURLOUGHS GRANTED OVER THE YEARS HAS FLUCTUATED, THE ESCAPE RATE HAS DECREASED FROM 1.9 PERCENT IN 1972 TO 0.5 PERCENT IN 1977 AND HAS REMAINED RELATIVELY STABLE DURING THE LAST 2 YEARS. THE NUMBER OF FURLOUGHS GRANTED FROM LOWER SECURITY PRERELEASE CENTERS INCREASED, AS FEWER FURLOUGHS WERE GRANTED FROM HIGHER SECURITY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS. FREQUENCIES AND ESCAPE RATE OF FURLOUGH GRANTEES ARE GIVEN, AS WELL AS INFORMATION ON OFFENSE VARIABLES, PERSONAL BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS, CRIMINAL HISTORY STATISTICS AND FURLOUGH VARIABLES. TABULAR MATERIALS FORM THE BULK OF THE REPORT. (MJW)