INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1974 WITH A STRATIFIED SAMPLE OF INMATES IN LARGE AND SMALL , OLD AND NEW, AND RURAL AND URBAN JAILS NEAR RICHMOND, VA. THE SUBJECTS WERE PREDOMINANTLY MALE. OVER HALF WERE BLACK. HALF WERE UNDER 23 YEARS OF AGE; FEWER THAN 15 PERCENT WERE OVER 40 YEARS OF AGE. OVER HALF HAD NEVER BEEN MARRIED; 21.1 PERCENT WERE MARRIED. HALF HAD 10 YEARS OF SCHOOLING OR LESS. ONLY 12.2 PERCENT REPORTED HAVING ANY EDUCATION BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL. NEARLY HALF HAD INCOMES OF LESS THAN $5,000 PER YEAR. TWO INMATES REPORTED INCOMES OVER $25,000. UNEXPECTEDLY, TWO-THIRDS OF THE INMATES REPORTED BEING EMPLOYED FULL TIME AT THE TIME OF THEIR ARRESTS, WHILE 7.6 PERCENT WERE EMPLOYED PART TIME, AND 27.4 PERCENT WERE UNEMPLOYED. TWO-THIRDS SAID THEY HAD BEEN EMPLOYED AS SEMISKILLED WORKERS OR MACHINE OPERATORS. NEARLY TWO-THIRDS REPORTED THAT THEIR CURRENT CONFINEMENT WAS THEIR FIRST TIME IN JAIL. ABOUT ONE-THIRD SAID THEY HAD SERVED FROM 1 TO 40 PREVIOUS JAIL SENTENCES. OVER HALF HAD BEEN ON PROBATION AT LEAST ONCE. OVER ONE-THIRD WERE ARRESTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY. REPORTED REASONS FOR ARREST INCLUDED BURGLARY (18.5 PERCENT); DRUNKENNESS, VAGRANCY, OR TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS (10.7 PERCENT); DRUG OFFENSES (12.7 PERCENT); MURDER AND KIDNAPPING (6.6 PERCENT); AND RAPE (2.5 PERCENT). A LIST OF REFERENCES AND A COPY OF THE STUDY INSTRUMENT ARE PROVIDED. TABULAR DATA ARE OMITTED.