Each of the 2 studies included in this report concerns a different aspect of utilizing volunteers as mental health workers. The first used a behavioral assessment technique (the Group Assessment of Interpersonal Traits [GAIT]) to measure the qualities of understanding, openness and accepting-warmth in college students. Subsequently, these students served as group leaders with chronic patients in a state mental hospital. Results indicate: (1) that the behavioral assessment technique is reliable; and (2) that there are significant relationships between these therapeutic qualities as measured and independent measures of patient ward improvement. The 2nd study used a control group design to examine the impact, on student attitudes, of their participation as companions or group leaders in state mental hospitals. The results show that, while the groups were initially quite similar on the attitude measures, following participation only the experimental group significantly increased in favorable attitudes toward mental patients. It is suggested that such programs may serve to promote constructive social change to improve the state mental hospitals. (TL)