THE MIDWESTERN INSTITUTION WHOSE POPULATION IS STUDIED IS CONSIDERED END-OF-THE LINE AND IS INTENDED FOR OVERLY HOSTILE MALES RANGING IN AGE FROM 15 TO 20 YEARS. INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHARACTER AND EXTENT OF EXPLOITATION AMONG INMATES AND STAFF WAS OBTAINED THROUGH CONVERSATIONS WITH EACH OF THE 62 LINE-STAFF AND THREE-FIFTHS OF THE SEVERAL HUNDRED INMATES WHO PASSED THROUGH THE INSTITUTION DURING THE 4-YEAR STUDY PERIOD. ADDITIONALLY, THREE OF THE MOST EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF MEMBERS WERE INTERVIEWED IN DEPTH. STAFF QUESTIONNAIRES REVEALED THAT 72 PERCENT OF THE 149 INMATES STUDIED WERE EXPLOITED IN SOME FORM (MATERIALLY AND/OR SEXUALLY) BY OTHER INMATES AND THAT 90 PERCENT OF THE RESIDENTS WERE EITHER EXPLOITERS OR THOSE EXPLOITED. WITHIN THE 4-YEAR STUDY PERIOD, AT LEAST 12 OF THE INMATES REFUSED TO BE PART OF THIS MATRIX OF EXPLOITATION AND WERE POSITIVE ABOUT THEIR INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE. THESE RESIDENTS WERE BLACK, CAME FROM GHETTO AREAS, AND HAD EXTENSIVE CONTACT WITH THE JUVENILE COURT, USUALLY FOR SERIOUS CRIMES. THEY WERE WELL-DEVELOPED PHYSICALLY, WERE AT LEAST A YEAR OLDER THAN THE AVERAGE INMATE IN THE INSTITUTION, AND WERE GENERALLY IN THEIR SECOND OR THIRD STAY IN THE INSTITUTION. AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR STAY, THEY PREDICTABLY SCORED HIGH ON THE ASOCIAL INDEX OF THE JESNESS PERSONALITY INVENTORY. FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS, THESE INMATES WERE DESIROUS OF AN IDENTITY APART FROM THE EXPLOITATION MATRIX THAT PREVAILED AT THE INSTITUTION, AND WHILE REMAINING APART FROM THEIR PEERS, EACH DEVELOPED A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH A STAFF MEMBER WHO BECAME A MODEL FOR THE ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS THEY WISHED FOR THEMSELVES. THE FINAL STAGES OF THEIR INSTITUTIONALIZATION WERE CHARACTERIZED BY EXTREME ANXIETY ABOUT RETURNING TO THEIR COMMUNITIES WITHOUT BECOMING INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL PATTERNS AGAIN. AFTER RELEASE, ONLY 2 OF THE 12 FAILED TO FIND A NONCRIMINAL PATTERN OF ADJUSTMENT, AS COMPARED TO A 40- TO 60-PERCENT FAILURE RATE OF OTHER INMATES. AN INNER RESOLVE TO CHANGE AND A REINFORCING CHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH A STAFF MEMBER ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE MAJOR SUCCESS INGREDIENTS WITH THOSE WHO PROFITED FROM THEIR INSTITUTIONAL STAY. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STAFF MEMBERS WITH WHOM RELATIONSHIPS WERE ESTABLISHED ARE DESCRIBED. WHILE THE SUCCESSES ARE NOTED, THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE OF THE INSTITUTION IS DEEMED DESTRUCTIVE FOR THE RESIDENTS. (RCB)