Current economic conditions have created additional sources of stress in the correctional setting. Often, recreation professionals employed in these settings also add to inmate stress. One of the major factors limiting stress management in correctional settings is a lack of understanding of the value, importance, and perceived freedom, of leisure. Inmates' perceived freedom of leisure includes their perceptions of: (1) leisure competence; (2) leisure control; (3) satisfaction of leisure needs; (4) depth of leisure involvement; and (5) barriers to leisure involvement. Negative leisure freedom in each of these aspects relates to stress, but all aspects of negative stress can be changed into positive stress. The Continuum of Perceived Leisure Freedom shows that inmates should be moved from: (1) competence in few leisure activities to competence in many; (2) low leisure control to high leisure control; (3) few satisfied leisure needs to many satisfied leisure needs; (4) little depth of leisure involvement to indepth involvement; and (5) a reduction in leisure barriers. Only after the inmate has advanced along the continuum from a negative perception of leisure freedom to a positive perception of leisure freedom can stress be reduced. (JMK)