SUTHERLAND'S DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY, SUBCULTURAL THEORY, AND PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY WERE EXAMINED AS PREDICTORS OF PROBATION SUCCESS AND RECIDIVISM. DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY HOLDS THAT PERSONS ADOPT DEVIANT IDENTITIES AND BEHAVIOR BY BEING DISPROPORTIONATELY EXPOSED TO DEVIANT PATTERNS WHILE BEING RELATIVELY DETACHED FROM CONVENTIONAL PATTERNS. THE THEORY OF DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION WAS PREDICTED TO BE THE BEST INDICATOR OF PROBATION OUTCOME AND POSTPROBATION RECIDIVISM. CONVICTED FELONS WHO WERE REFERRED TO THE ELKHART COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT FROM 1972 TO 1976 SERVED AS THE STUDY POPULATION. A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING OF TWO-THIRDS OF ALL THE PROBATIONERS WHO HAD PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATIONS GAVE THE STUDY 134 ADULT MALE SUBJECTS. THE MAJOR DEPENDENT VARIABLES IN THIS STUDY WERE PROBATION SUCCESS AND VIOLATIONS. SUCCESS ON PROBATION WAS DEFINED OPERATIONALLY AS THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PROBATION WITHOUT VIOLATION. VIOLATION IS USUALLY A RESULT OF COMMITTING SUBSEQUENT FELONIES OR THE FAILURE TO ADHERE TO COURT-ORDERED RESTRICTIONS. MULTIPLE REGRESSION WAS THE MAJOR STATISTICAL TOOL USED IN THIS STUDY. IT WAS FOUND THAT NONE OF THE THEORETICAL SCHOOLS WERE PARTICULARLY USEFUL AS A GUIDE FOR THE PROBATION OFFICER. DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY WAS SUPERIOR TO THE OTHER SCHOOLS ONLY WITH RESPECT TO PREDICTION OF RECIDIVISM. THIS FINDING WAS ATTRIBUTED PRIMARILY TO ONE VARIABLE, PRIOR ADULT FELONIES. FURTHER RESEARCH IS ENCOURAGED. THE TESTING OF OTHER THEORIES, SUCH AS LABELING THEORY, IS SUGGESTED. THE USE OF MORE ADEQUATE DATA BASES IS ALSO ENCOURAGED. TABLES, DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS, AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED.