THE POSSIBLE CORRELATION OF TWO VARIABLES WAS ANALYZED: TTMSEN (THE TOTAL TIME SENTENCED DURING A FOLLOWING PERIOD AFTER RELEASE FROM INCARCERATION) AND WAGAR (ECONOMIC MEASURE OF LEGAL ACTIVITIES PAYOFF IN TERMS OF THE HOURLY WAGE RATE RECEIVED BY THE RELEASEE) TO PREDICT RECIDIVISM. DATA WERE COLLECTED ON THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES (OR LACK THEREOF) OF A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 641 MEN WHO HAD SERVED PRISON TERMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA FROM 1969 TO 1971. THE EFFECT OF TTMSEN ON WAGAR COULD NOT BE PROVED, BUT WAGAR WAS SHOWN TO INFLUENCE TTMSEN, TO THE EXTENT THAT EX-OFFENDERS WHO RECEIVED A REASONABLE HOURLY WAGE RATE IN THE FORM OF SOME GAINFUL OCCUPATION DID NOT COMMIT CRIMES AND HAD, THEREFORE, A TTMSEN VALUE OF ZERO. RACE APPEARED TO BE A FACTOR (BLACKS HAD LOWER TTMSEN VALUES) AS WELL AS MARITAL STATUS AND AGE (MARRIED MEN AND OLDER MEN ALSO SHOWED LOWER TTMSEN VALUES). CONSIDERING THE HIGH COST OF IMPRISONMENT, PROVIDING BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR RELEASEES (IN THE FORM OF MORE EDUCATION, AND ALCOHOL AND DRUG TREATMENT) LEADING TO HIGHER WAGAR VALUES APPEARS A DESIRABLE ALTERNATIVE TO MORE SEVERE PENALTIES INVOLVING LONGER (AND MORE EXPENSIVE) PRISON TERMS TO PREVENT RECIDIVISM. (LGR)