OFFENDERS ARE OFTEN VOCATIONALLY IMMATURE IN THAT THEY HAVE NOT DEVELOPED BEHAVIORS NECESSARY FOR CHOOSING, LEARNING, ENTERING, AND ADVANCING A CAREER. THE ASPECTS OF VOCATIONAL MATURITY INVESTIGATED IN THE STUDY WERE THE DEGREE TO WHICH INMATES WERE AWARE OF THEIR VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND ABILITIES AND THE CHANGES PRODUCED IN INMATES' SELF-AWARENESS OF VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND CAPACITIES BY A PARTICULAR TYPE OF PREVOCATIONAL EDUCATION. TWO COMPARABLE GROUPS OF 60 INMATES (A TREATMENT GROUP OF INMATES ENROLLED IN AN 80-HOUR PREVOCATIONAL EDUCATION COURSE AND A COMPARISON GROUP OF INMATES INTERESTED BUT NOT ENROLLED IN A CAREER EDUCATION COURSE) WERE STUDIED. A PRETEST AND POSTTEST PROCEDURE WAS USED, EMPLOYING THE MINNESOTA IMPORTANCE QUESTIONNAIRE TO ASSESS VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND THE GENERAL APPTITUDE TEST BATTERY TO ASSESS VOCATION CAPACITIES. SUBJECTS ALSO COMPLETED A FORM THAT INVOLVED SELF-ESTIMATS OF THEIR OWN VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND ABILITIES. IN ORDER TO ASSESS CHANGES IN INMATES' ABILITIES TO JUDGE THEIR OWN VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND CAPACITIES, PRODUCE-MOMENT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE TEST ESTIMATES AND SELF-ESTIMATES ON THE PRETEST AND POSTTEST WERE COMPARED. FINDINGS SHOWED THAT BOTH GROUPS WERE SIMILAR REGARDING TEST ESTIMATES AND SELF-ESTIMATES OF VOCATIONAL NEEDS AND VOCATIONAL CAPACITIES. WHILE THE POSTTEST SHOWED HIGHER CONGRUENCY SCORES FOR BOTH GROUPS ON THE POSTTEST THAN ON THE PRETEST, INCREASES IN THE MEAN CONGRUENCY SCORES WERE HIGHER FOR THE TREATMENT GROUP. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE STUDY ARE PRESENTED. THE APPENDIXES CONTAIN A CHRONICLE OF DATA COLLECTION, A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAREER ORIENTATION AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM, A COPY OF THE SELF-ESTIMATE FORM, AND EXAMPLES OF TEST-ESTIMATE RESULTS. TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)