The functional competencies of 131 women offenders incarcerated in Texas were assessed and than compared to the functional competencies of 868 free-world women in Texas surveyed during the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project. The findings support the following conclusions: (1) women in the free-world are more functionally competent than women offenders, (2) the needs of women offenders in the area of functional competency appear to far surpass those of free-world non-offender women, (3) whites are generally more functionally competent when tested on the performance of tasks which reflect cultural values similar to those held in the United States today, (4) there is a possibility of ethnic bias in the APL survey instrument, (5) there is a positive relationship between APL scores and educational level, (6) there is a possibility of an educational bias in the survey instrument, (7) there is no relationship between age and APL scores, (8) there is no relationship between APL scores and vocational education background, and (9) there is no relationship between criminal history and adult functional competency. (EM)