VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS IN THREE PRISONS WERE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE THE PROBABILITY OF RECIDIVISM AMONG OFFENDERS AFTER RELEASE AND AVERAGE LEGITIMATE EARNINGS AFTER RELEASE. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM TWO SOURCES, THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (DEMOGRAPHIC AND RECIDIVISM DATA, PRISON ACADEMIC RECORDS, AND INFORMATION ABOUT COSTS OF PROGRAMS AND INCARCERATION) AND THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (INCOME DATA). THE SAMPLE OF EX-OFFENDERS INCLUDED 772 MEN BETWEEN 17 AND 54 YEARS OF AGE AT THE TIME OF SENTENCING WHO WERE RELEASED BETWEEN JANUARY 1969 AND DECEMBER 1973. INCLUDED WERE 386 VOCATIONAL TRAINEES AND 386 CONTROLS. TRAINEES AND CONTROLS WERE MATCHED USING A NUMERICAL SCORE DERIVED THROUGH FACTOR ANALYSIS BASED ON 25 PREPRISON BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS. THE FOLLOWUP PERIOD EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 1974. IN USING MULTIPLE REGRESSION TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING, MANY PREPRISON AND PRISON EXPERIENCE VARIABLES WERE INCLUDED TO CONTROL FOR NONEXPERIMENTAL VARIATIONS. RESULTS OF REGRESSION ANALYSIS WERE USED TO EVALUATE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS, CONSISTING OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, DATA PROCESSING, ELECTRONICS, MACHINE DRAFTING, AND VOCATIONAL MUSIC, CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATED A FAVORABLE IMPACT ON TRAINEES. THEY REDUCED THE PROBABILITY OF RECIDIVISM AND INCREASED AVERAGE ANNUAL POSTPRISON EARNINGS. THE REDUCTION IN THE RATE OF RECIDIVISM AMONG PROGRAM COMPLETERS WAS FOUND AMONG PERSONS ENROLLED IN ONE PROGRAM FOR 7 MONTHS OR MORE. THE LARGEST GAIN IN AVERAGE ANNUAL POSTPRISON EARNINGS, HOWEVER, ACCRUED TO PROGRAM COMPLETERS ENROLLED IN ONE PROGRAM FOR 6 MONTHS OR LESS. THIS SUGGESTED THAT THE REDUCTION OF RECIDIVISM CANNOT BE EXPLAINED COMPLETELY BY GAINS IN LEGITIMATE EARNINGS. THE DECISION TO 'GO STRAIGHT' REFLECTED A WIDE RANGE OF FACTORS, INCLUDING JOB SATISFACTION AND CAREER POTENTIAL. IN CONTRAST TO PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS, PROGRAMS TEACHING CLERICAL, OPERATIVE, CRAFTSMAN, AND SERVICE WORKER SKILLS CONSISTENTLY FAILED TO DEMONSTRATE A FAVORABLE IMPACT ON TRAINEES THAT WOULD REDUCE THE PROBABILITY OF RECIDIVISM OR INCREASE POSTPRISON EARNINGS. ENROLLMENT IN THESE PROGRAMS AS A WAY OF EARNING CREDITS TOWARD A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE, HOWEVER, RESULTED IN HIGHER POSTPRISON EARNINGS. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS GENERALLY PREDICTED PATTERNS OF RECIDIVISM AND EARNINGS, AS EXPECTED, COST-BENEFIT RATIOS FOR THE ENTIRE TRAINEE GROUP COULD NOT BE ESTIMATED. WITH RATIOS CALCULATED FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINEES, SUCCESSFUL VOCATIONAL TRAINING WAS FOUND TO BE A COST-EFFECTIVE INVESTMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL TRAINEES, TAXPAYERS, AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE. SUPPORTING FIGURES AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)