Six mildly and moderately mentally retarded adults with chronic and severe emotional/behavioral problems participated in a study of the assumption that aggression and conduct disorders reflected self-managed coping skills deficits. The study was conducted in a vocational training workshop setting located in the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development at the University of Wisconsin. Measures of four variables were obtained for each subject: disruptive verbal and physical behavior, on-task behavior, work productivity, and generalization of intervention effects. Self-management training featured instruction in self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-consequation, and self-instruction. The six subjects were placed in three groups of two individuals each for treatment phases of the study. Results revealed that the treatment package had a statistically collateral increase in the percent of on-task behavior and in work productivity for two of the three groups. Visual inspection of data suggested little transfer of gains to an untreated setting. Implications for vocational rehabilitation practice are noted. Twenty-eight figures and a twenty-five-page reference list are provided. (CL)