THE CONCEPT OF OPEN ESTABLISHMENTS, PARTICULARLY IN REMOTE AND ISOLATED PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AND ESPECIALLY FOR YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS, WAS DISCUSSED IN ENGLAND AS EARLY AS 1914. IT WAS FELT THAT AGRICULTURAL WORK IN A RUSTIC SETTING WOULD ENCOURAGE YOUTH TO APPRECIATE THE VIRTUES OF HARD WORK, HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND EXEMPLARY BEHAVIOR. THE IDEA OF OPEN PRISONS, HOWEVER, WAS NOT IMPLEMENTED BECAUSE OF THE INTERVENTION OF WORLD WAR I. AT THE END OF WORLD WAR II, THE OPPORTUNITY AROSE FOR ABANDONED SERVICE CAMPS, MILITARY HOSPITALS, AND DETERIORATING MANOR HOUSES TO BE MODIFIED TO FUNCTION AS OPEN PRISON FACILITIES. OPEN PRISONS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND HAVE BECOME A STANDARD SEGMENT OF THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR ALLOCATION TO AN OPEN PRISON, OFFENDERS MUST BE CLASSIFIED AS CATEGORY D PRISONERS, THE LOWEST RISK CATEGORY. ESCAPE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PROBLEM PARTICULARLY AT OPEN BORSTALS. THE RATE OF ESCAPE HAS DECLINED, AND, IN 1976, THE NUMBER OF ESCAPEES FROM ALL PENAL ESTABLISHMENTS WAS ONLY ABOUT 350. ESCAPE FROM OPEN PRISONS RESULTS IN AUTOMATIC RETURN TO WALLED PRISONS. OPEN PRISONS ARE VIEWED AS A FEASIBLE WAY OF INCREASING SECURITY AT WALLED INSTITUTIONS FOR MORE SERIOUS OFFENDERS. USING RECIDIVISM AS A MEASURE OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE, HOWEVER, OPEN PRISONS APPEAR TO BE NO MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN CLOSED PRISONS. OPEN PRISON FACILITIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM ARE DESCRIBED, AND THE USE OF OPEN PRISONS IN JAPAN, ISRAEL, NORWAY, AND DENMARK IS NOTED. FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)