AN INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED INVOLVING 50 BOYS (37 WHITE AND 13 NEGRO) UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE WHO LEFT SCHOOL AND WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY OBTAINING OR KEEPING JOBS. THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT WAS TO DISCOVER THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD SCHOOL LIFE, AUTHORITIES AND PARENTS AS WELL AS THEIR PERSONAL ASPIRATIONS AND PROBLEMS. IN RESPONSE TO A SERIES OF QUESTIONS ABOUT SCHOOL, THE BOYS INDICATED THAT THEY WERE PUSHED OUT OF SCHOOL, DUE TO TEACHER MISINTERPRETATIONS. A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA WAS RECOGNIZED AS A NECESSARY CREDENTIAL FOR MANY JOBS, THOUGH NOT AS AN AID IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE JOBS. THE DROPOUTS FOUND GREAT DIFFICULTY IN LINKING THE "NOW" WORLD, THAT OF PRESENT CONDITIONS, TO THAT OF THE "IF" WORLD OF POSSIBLE CONDITIONS. PARENTS SHARED THE SAME ORIENTATION TO JOBS AS DID THE BOYS. THE BOYS FELT THAT EXTERNAL CAUSES OVER WHICH THEY HAD LITTLE CONTROL WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROBLEMS THEY FACED. THEY SEEMED TO RESPOND TO CRITICISM IN A VERY PERSONAL WAY.