DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM INDIVIDUAL PRISON RECORDS AND THROUGH PERSONAL INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED PRIOR TO PARTICIPANT RELEASE FROM PRISON AND EACH MONTH DURING A 12-MONTH FOLLOWUP PERIOD. OFFICIAL COURT RECORDS SERVED AS THE SOURCE OF REARREST INFORMATION. A MULTIPLE REGRESSION EQUATION WAS COMPUTED IN WHICH MEAN CRIME SERIOUSNESS SCORES FOR RESPONDENTS CONSTITUTED THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE. CRIMES WERE RANKED IN TERMS OF THEIR ORDER OF SEVERITY AS FOLLOWS: CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON (MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER), CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON (ASSAULT, RAPE, AND OTHER SEX CRIMES), CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON (CRIMES INVOLVING PERSONAL INJURY OR THE THREAT OF PERSONAL INJURY NOT CLASSIFIED IN THE PRECEDING CATEGORIES, SUCH AS ROBBERY), PROPERTY CRIMES (CRIMES INVOLVING NO PERSONAL INJURY OR THREAT), VICTIMLESS CRIMES (CONTEMPT AND HOMOSEXUALITY), CRIMES AGAINST THE ORDER (DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND LOITERING), AND NOT REARRESTED. DATA ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ON CRIME SEVERITY AFTER RELEASE, THE SEVERITY OF CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM, THE EFFECT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT EXPERIENCES ON THE SEVERITY OF CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT HISTORY AND INCARCERATION ON CRIME SEVERITY AFTER RELEASE FROM, AND SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC (EMPLOYMENT) EXPERIENCES AFTER RELEASE. AN INDIVIDUAL'S SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND CRIMINAL HISTORY; LIVING ARRANGEMENTS; AND TYPE OF ASSOCIATIONS AFTER RELEASE WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT IN PREDICTING CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM, WHEN THE NATURE AND FORM OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AFTER RELEASE WAS CONSIDERED. TWO INDEPENDENT ECONOMIC SYSTEMS WERE OPERATIVE IN URBAN GHETTOS TO WHICH MEN IN THE STUDY RETURNED, THE LEGITIMATE ECONOMIC SYSTEM AND THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY. PARTICIPATION IN THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY OPERATED IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS INVOLVEMENT IN THE LEGITIMATE ECONOMIC SYSTEM; BOTH ECONOMIES WORKED TO LIMIT REARREST DURING THE FIRST YEAR AFTER RELEASE FROM PRISON BY PROVIDING THE INDIVIDUAL WITH THE ABILITY TO MEET BASIC ECONOMIC NEEDS SUCH AS RENT PAYMENT. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY FINDINGS FOR SOCIAL THEORY, PUBLIC POLICY, AND FURTHER RESEARCH ARE DISCUSSED. AN APPENDIX DETAILS THE STUDY DESIGN, SAMPLING PROCEDURES, AND METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUPPORTING DATA ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)