One week was spent in each site interviewing administrators, school officials, teachers, students, and parents. At their best, alternative programs represented, both organizationally and programmatically, a set of conditions conducive to warm interpersonal relations, academic success, positive images of the future, and enhancement of self-concept. The programs tended to be small, intimate schools with a low student-adult ratio, individualized instruction, competent and caring teachers, extensive support personnel, and a pragmatic vocational thrust. The environments contributed not only to a diminution in aggressive behavior, but also to the development of emotionally healthy individuals. Negative features related to these alternatives' tendencies to label and stigmatize youths, to track and segregate a disproportionate number of minority students, and to prepare these youths for the lower rungs of the economic ladder in society. These programs are frequently dependent for their survival on the largesse of outside benefactors. To mitigate these negative factors, a district's administration must be committed to a comprehensive system of public school options, adequate financing, and sufficient autonomy for the programs to experiment and diverge from standard operating procedures. Eighty-two reference notes are provided. (Author abstract modified)