Public opinion surveys show that most Australians believe violent crime is on the rise, and public awareness of violence has been heightened by several murders over the past decade. In 1987, for example, two mass firearms killings in Melbourne resulted in 16 deaths and 22 injuries. A committee was established in 1988 to examine the extent of violent crime in Australia; social, economic, psychological, and environmental aspects of violent crime; gender issues in violence; the impact of mass media on the incidence of violence; effects of drugs and alcohol on violent behavior; attitudes toward violence among children and adolescents; the development of violence prevention strategies; the need to support and assist violence victims; and the need for special measures in the treatment of violent offenders. Book chapters specifically look at violence in Australian history, violence and public policy, homicide patterns in Victoria, Australia's National Injury Surveillance and Prevention Project, and hospital-reported violence cases. Other chapters consider the ecology of community violence, socioeconomic determinants of violence, situational and other causes of public violence, perceptions of violence on television, victims of violence and the criminal justice, system, psychiatric aspects of preventive intervention with victims of violence, and issues in the design and implementation of violence prevention programs and research. An annotated bibliography is provided. References, tables, and figures