This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first international gathering to ponder the extent, causes and the most propitious methods of dealing with crime. Since 1835 there have been more than 100 international gatherings attended by thousands of participants who presented papers, listened to reports, and argued over the same basic problems that bedevil us today. There is hardly an innovative program in criminology which has not drawn from the experience and the contributions of many nations and many cultures: probation, juvenile courts, fingerprinting, the rise of the penitentiary and the reformatory, parole, correctional staff training, the role of psychology and psychiatry, sentencing, prevention of crime, community alternatives to incarceration, all have benefited from the sharing of ideas -- and hopes. The United Nations today carries on the tradition inherited from the League of Nations of concern for those matters. A score or more of international organizations, five regional groups, and United Nations institutes in Tokyo, Rome and San Jose, Costa Rica, carry on the search for answers to the eternal questions of why crime exists, how to treat offenders effectively, and how to reduce the toll of crime in every society. (Publisher abstract)