THE DOCUMENT REVIEWS THE UTILITY AND PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN THE MEASUREMENT OF CRIME AND RECIDIVISM. THE USEFULNESS OF SPECIFIC CRIME AND RECIDIVISM IN INDICES ARE CONSIDERED, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RECIDIVISM INDEX APPLICABLE TO CANADIAN JURISDICTIONS IS OUTLINED. ADDITIONALLY, RECIDIVISM RATES FOR A SAMPLE SIZE OF 775 MALE FIRST OFFENDERS SENTENCED TO PROVINCIAL REFORMATORY BETWEEN THE PERIODS 1970-1972 ARE REPORTED. AFTER TWO YEARS THE RECIDIVISM RATES WERE LOWER THAN EXPECTED AS 60.9 PERCENT OF THE SAMPLE WERE NOT REIMPRISONED TWO YEARS AFTER RELEASE....KAP