DATA ON ALL SUBJECTS WERE COLLECTED FROM THE REGISTERS OF VESTRA HOSPITAL, WHICH HAD BEEN REGISTERING ALL PERSONS ARRESTED FOR DRUG ABUSE SINCE 1965. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS, POLICE REPORTS, THE PEOPLES' REGISTER, AND THE PSYCHIATRIC DEMOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE OF AARHUS UNIVERSITY. IN ADDITION, A SUBSAMPLE OF 216 SUBJECTS WERE PERSONALLY INTERVIEWED. THE GOAL OF THE STUDY WAS TO IDENTIFY SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE EX-OFFENDERS AND, FOR THOSE WHOSE LIFE STYLE AND CIRCUMSTANCES HAD IMPROVED, THEIR EXPERIENCES AFTER INCARCERATION WHICH AIDED SUCCESS. THREE HYPOTHESES ADDRESSED IN THE EMPIRICAL-POSITIVE STUDY WERE THAT DRUG ABUSERS' LIFESTYLE AND ACTIVITIES ARE INFLUENCED BY THEIR SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES; THAT THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES ARE INFLUENCED BY THEIR DRUG USE--THE KINDS OF DRUGS AND INTENSITY OF USE; AND THAT THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN DEVIANCY AND SOCIAL CONTROL DETERMINE, TO A DEGREE, THE ABUSERS LIVING SITUATION. INFORMATION ON FAMILY BACKGROUND, HOME LIFE, AND FAMILY PROBLEMS SUCH AS ALCOHOL, ON DRUG ABUSERS' PRESENT SALARY, HOUSING, RELATIONSHIP WITH FAMILY, PARENTS, FRIENDS, AND OTHER DRUG ABUSERS, AND ON THEIR SICKNESSES, CRIMINALITY, DRUG USE, AND TREATMENT FOR DRUG USE WAS COLLECTED AND ANALYZED ACCORDING TO AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DIFFUSION MODEL AND A STEP OR CAREER MODEL. RESULTS SHOW THAT MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF THE INTERVIEWED SUBJECTS (OR THE SUBSAMPLE) HAD IMPROVED THEIR LIVING SITUATION SINCE 1968. HOWEVER, THEIR SITUATIONS WERE NOT COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION FOR THEIR AGE GROUP. NEARLY 45 PERCENT WERE EMPLOYED, ALTHOUGH MOST OF THEIR JOBS HAD LOW SOCIAL STATUS. MANY ADMITTED THE CONTINUED USE OF DRUGS AND A STEADY INCOME FROM CRIMINALITY. ABOUT 45 PERCENT HAD UNDERGONE SOME KIND OF TREATMENT FOR THEIR DRUG ABUSE PROBLEM, SUCH AS DETOXIFICATION, METHODONE TREATMENT, AND PSYCHIATRIC COUNSELING. FIGURES FOR THE TOTAL SAMPLE WERE SOMEWHAT LOWER FOR ALL ITEMS. OVERALL, BOTH THE SUBSAMPLE AND THE TOTAL SAMPLE CONTINUED TO LIVE A LIFE SCOURGED WITH MANY DRAWBACKS. MOST IMPORTANT, THEY ALL APPEARED TO SUFFER FROM THE LABELING PROCESS, BEGINNING AT A YOUNG AGE, AND ARE UNABLE TO RETURN TO THE MAINSTREAM OF SOCIETY.