THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE INMATES' SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS AND ASSESSMENTS OF THEIR FURLOUGH EXPERIENCES. FOCAL POINTS FOR THE STUDY WERE STRESS REACTIONS, INMATE-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, AND DRUG OR ALCOHOL ABUSE. DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM INTERVIEWS, QUESTIONNAIRES, AND DISCLIPLINARY RECORDS AND INSTITUTIONAL LOGS AT THE NEW YORK STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AT BEDFORD HILLS AND THE CONNECTICUT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION AT NIANTIC. A HIGH RATE OF PARTICIPANT REFUSAL SHEDS SOME DOUBT ON THE REPRESENTATIVENESS OF THE SAMPLE. OF THOSE SURVEYED, OVER THREE-FOURTHS WERE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 19 AND 39. ALMOST ONE HALF OF THE WOMEN WERE BLACK, AND ROUGHLY HALF WERE SINGLE. AFTER DATA WAS COLLECTED, INSTRUMENTS WERE SUBJECTED TO CONTENT ANALYSIS. EXAMINATION OF THE INSTRUMENTS REVEALED THAT INMATES EXPERIENCED ANY OF THREE LEVELS OF PERSONAL DIFFICULTY RELATING TO THE FURLOUGH EXPERIENCE. THE MOST SEVERE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IS LABELED 'DISRUPTIVE' AND IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY APPRAISING AN ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL EVENT AS THREATENING. THE SECOND LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY EXPERIENCED ON TEMPORARY RELEASE IS TERMED A 'MANAGEABLE' LEVEL. ALTHOUGH A STIMULUS MAY BE APPRAISED AS THREATENING, THE SITUATION IS ASSESSED AS A NORMAL RESULT OF THE FURLOUGH EXPERIENCE. FINALLY, A FURLOUGH MAY BE DESIGNATED AS PROBLEM FREE. AT THE POSTFURLOUGH POINT IN TIME, 4 INMATES EXPERIENCED STRESS CHARACTERIZED AS DISRUPTIVE, 24 EXPERIENCED STRESS CLASSIFIED AS MANAGEABLE, AND 26 EXPERIENCED NO STRESS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT TRANSITIONS ARE NOT INHERENTLY STRESS PROVOKING. A REVIEW OF THE FURLOUGH, STRESS, AND TRANSITION LITERATURE IS PROVIDED. TABLES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND QUESTIONNAIRES ARE INCLUDED. (MLC)