This study investigated the temporal orientation of delinquents and nondclinquents while adequately controlling institutionalization. For this purpose, four groups were selected: institutionalized delinquents (prison inmates) ; institutionalized nondelinqucnts (soldiers); noninstitutionalized delinquents (delinquents on probation); and noninstitutionalized nondelinquents (vocational students). The findings support most of the hypotheses: Although all subjects were basically future oriented, the institutionalized subjects (mainly prisoners) were more present oriented than their noninstitutionalized counterparts. As the prisoner approached release, there was a decrease in the salience of the present and an increase in the salience of the future in his life space. Delinquents (both in and out of prison) perceived the past as more negative and the future as more positive than did nondelinquents. Institutionalized subjects (especially prisoners) perceived the present as more negative than their noninstitutionalized counterparts. The affective attitudes of the nondelinquents toward the past, present, and future were much more balanced and realistic than that of the delinquents.In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the dimension of time in the behavioral-science literature, relating it to factors such as personality (