NEW STRATEGIES ARE CONSIDERED FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF NONINSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS ON THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM AND ON THE OFFENDER. AN EXAMINATION OF IMPACT ON THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM APPLIES A TYPE OF ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS TO STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS WHICH INFLUENCE THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. AMONG THE ISSUES ANALYZED ARE THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS ON THE SIZE OF THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM AND ON THE USE OF INCARCERATION. THESE TOPICS ARE EXAMINED EMPIRICALLY BY FOCUSING ON SASKATCHEWAN CORRECTIONS COMMUNITY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. CONSTRAINTS AND PRESSURES ON SASKATCHEWAN COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING ARE IDENTIFIED FROM A SYSTEM-WIDE, MACROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE. IT WAS FOUND THAT NONINSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS HAVE NOT REPLACED INSTITUTIONAL ONES; THE LATTER CONTINUED TO EXPAND WHILE THE FORMER WERE DEVELOPING. MOREOVER, COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS HOMES AND CAMPS RESEMBLE SCALED-DOWN INSTITUTIONS IN MANY IMPORTANT RESPECTS. HOWEVER, THE EXISTENCE OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS HAS IMPACTED INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS SUCH AS THE CONCENTRATION OF MORE SERIOUS OFFENDERS REQUIRING INTENSIVE SECURITY AND CONTROL STRATEGIES. COMMUNITY TREATMENT IMPACT ON INDIVIDUAL OFFENDERS IS EXAMINED FROM THE MICROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE IN CASE STUDY OF 138 OFFENDERS IN 5 SASKATCHEWAN COMMUNITY-BASED RESIDENTIAL CENTERS. A NOVEL MEASURE OF PROGRAM IMPACT WAS USED, BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF 'SOCIAL INTEGRATION.' RESULTS SHOWED THAT SOME RESIDENTS ARE PREDISPOSED TO HIGH LEVELS OF EXTERNAL INTEGRATION EVEN BEFORE ENTERING COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. THE USE OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION AS A MEASURE OF PROGRAM SUCCESS IS WARRANTED, NOT ONLY BECAUSE CONVENTIONAL STUDIES OF RECIDIVISM RATES HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTING, BUT BECAUSE THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS. TABULAR DATA DERIVED AND INSTRUMENTS USED IN THE STUDY ARE INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIXES. REFERENCES ARE ALSO PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--RCB)