THE REGIONAL PSYCHIATRIC CENTER IN ABBOTSFORD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, IS A 138-BED HOSPITAL FOR THE TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS. SOON AFTER IT OPENED IN 1972, THE CENTER PILOT-TESTED AN EVALUATION APPROACH CALLED GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING. ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR A LARGE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH OUTPATIENT PROGRAM, GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING CALLS FOR PRETREATMENT GOAL SETTING, TIME-SPECIFIC FOLLOWUPS, AND A STATISTICAL PROCEDURE THAT PRODUCES A SCORE INDICATIVE OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH EACH PATIENT'S TREATMENT GOALS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED. WITH A MODIFICATION OF THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF PATIENT INFORMATION RECORDING, GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING PROVED APPLICABLE IN AN INPATIENT SETTING. (THE MODIFICATION INVOLVED LISTING EACH PATIENT'S PSYCHIATRIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS, PAST AND CURRENT, AND RELATING ALL SUBSEQUENT DATA--TREATMENT PLAN, PHYSICIAN'S ORDERS, PROGRESS NOTES, DISCHARGE SUMMARY--TO THE PROBLEM LIST.) A SECOND, MORE CRITICAL FINDING OF THE PILOT PROJECT WAS THAT BEFORE ANY LARGE-SCALE EVALUATION IS UNDERTAKEN, THE READINESS OF THE ORGANIZATION TO ACCEPT EVALUATION MUST BE ASSESSED. IN A SECOND EXPERIMENT, THE CENTER TESTED A TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS AVICTORY MODEL ANALYSIS, WHICH PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF AN ORGANIZATION'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND OF STAFF MEMBERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD PROGRAM EVALUATION. DETAILS OF THE AVICTORY ANALYSIS ARE PROVIDED. ISSUES IN THE EVALUATION OF PRISON PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES (E.G., WHETHER IT IS REALISTIC TO EXPECT TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL MENTAL HEALTH IN A PRISON SETTING, AND WHETHER REHABILITATION AND REDUCTION OF RECIDIVSM ARE APPLICABLE STANDARDS IN THE EVALUATION OF PRISON PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES) ARE DISCUSSED. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)