THE 200 INMATES OF A WEST GERMAN PRISON WERE SURVEYED IN TERMS OF THEIR MOTIVATIONS FOR COMMITTING THE CRIME, PRIOR CONVICTIONS, CRIMINAL CAREERS, AND PERSONAL AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS, IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH IF AND WHICH SIMILARITIES EXIST AMONG PERSONS GUILTY OF MURDER, IRRESPECTIVE OF IDEOLOGICAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL DIFFERENCES. THE GROUP WAS COMPARED WITH THE SAME NUMBER OF YOUNG ADULT GERMAN MAKES IN THE SAME AGE GROUP (20 TO 30 YEARS OF AGE). CLASSIFIED UNDER FIVE CRIME MOTIVATIONS (SEX, FINANCIAL GAIN, VIOLENCE, RESOLUTION OF A PERSONAL CONFLICT, AND NAZI IDEOLOGY), THE GREATEST NUMBER WERE FOUND TO BE SEXUAL OFFENDERS, FOLLOWED BY PROFIT MURDERS, VIOLENT CRIMINALS, THOSE MOTIVATED BY A PERSONAL CONFLICT, AND THE NAZIS. IN TERMS OF PRIOR CONVICTIONS, THE PROPORTION WAS THE SAME AS ABOVE, WITH THE NAZIS SHOWING NO PREVIOUS CRIME HISTORY. IN TERMS OF CONSISTENT PROGRESS TOWARD CRIME, THE PROFIT KILLERS SHOWED THE ONLY LINEAR DEVELOPMENT, WHILE SEXUAL OFFENDERS AND VIOLENT KILLERS HAD NO CONSISTENT CRIMINAL DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS. THOSE MOTIVATED BY A PERSONAL CONFLICT AND THE NAZIS INDICATED THAT THEY HAD 'JUMPED INTO CRIME.' THE MOST STRIKING FACT ELICITED FROM THE COMPARISON WITH THE CONTROL GROUP WAS THE LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN MURDER AND COMING FROM A BROKEN HOME. (LGR)