This Prospectus discusses strategic challenges currently addressed by many of NIJ's research and development activities, research and development opportunities NIJ generates to address those challenges, different perspectives reflected by NIJ-supported projects, and methods by which NIJ disseminates research and development results to the field. Five strategic challenges drive much of NIJ's work. The challenge of "Rethinking Justice" pertains to efforts that will develop a deeper understanding of the processes that create safe and just communities. NIJ seeks to "Understand the Nexus" between crime and other social concerns by illuminating the relationships between criminal activity and its broader context. NIJ is meeting the challenge of "Breaking the Cycle" of crime by designing and evaluating research-based interventions to reduce crime, a logical extension of understanding the nexus between crime and social conditions. The challenge of "Creating the Tools" is being met by developing, testing, and evaluating new and transferable techniques, practices, and technologies that address practitioners' needs. In "Expanding the Horizons," NIJ is looking beyond traditional boundaries, both geographical and intellectual, and thereby developing a full understanding of crime and justice issues in an era of rapid change and global communication. Exhibits show the sources of NIJ funds for fiscal years 1994-97, the allocation of NIJ funds as a percentage of total expenditures for fiscal year 1997, and the allocation of NIJ Crime Act funds by research and development area for fiscal year 1997.