INMATES ADMITTED TO THE OHIO PENITENTIARY IN 1969 WERE THE SUBJECTS OF THIS EVALUATION. ADJUSTMENT WAS MEASURED IN TERMS OF ESCAPE FROM CUSTODY AND/OR TIME SPENT IN A CORRECTIONAL CELL (SOLITARY CONFINEMENT) FOR INFRACTIONS OF PRISON DISCIPLINE. PANTON'S ESCAPE SCALE AS A DETERMINANT OF INSTITUTIONAL ADJUSTMENT WAS NOT VALIDATED; IT WAS FOUND 'POSTDICTIVELY' BUT NOT PREDICTIVELY RELATED TO ESCAPE. RACE (BLACKS HAD MORE TROUBLE ADJUSTING TO PRISON LIFE THAN WHITES), AGE (OLDER MEN ADJUSTED MORE EASILY), AND CLINICAL DATA PROVIDED BY PRISON PSYCHOLOGISTS WERE RELATED TO PRISON PSYCHOLOGISTS WERE RELATED TO PRISON ADJUSTMENT, BUT SCORES ON INTELLIGENCE TESTS, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, AND PANTON'S PRISON ADJUSTMENT SCALE WERE NOT EFFECTIVE PREDICTORS. A NEED FOR PREDICTIVE RATHER THAN POSTDICTIVE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF USEFUL TEST SCALES IS OBVIOUS. SEVEN REFERENCES AND SIX TABLES ARE PROVIDED. (LGR)