Growing frustration with the Nation's high rate of violence has prompted a sustained movement to institute policies which will increase the number of dangerous offenders who will be incarcerated and the duration of their time behind bars. However, increased us of incapacitative and deterrent approaches is at best a partial solution to violent crime. A recent National Academy of Sciences Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violence confirmed the continuing knowledge gap in the treatment of violent offenders and underscored the need for more effective evaluations of existing programs. The Panel recommended that each treatment initiative should involve five steps: (1) Diagnose the problem; (2) Develop prototypes of several tactics for strategy implementation; (3) Compare the effectiveness of the alternative tactics; (4) Refine the tactics; and (5) Replicate the evaluation and refinement steps to sharpen the effectiveness of the interventions and adapt them to local community characteristics. The authors also discuss impediments to conducting successful program evaluations, and offer suggestions to improve program evaluation and planning. Figure, notes, appendix