The analysis focuses on homicide and robbery, including homicide during a robbery, robbery that results in death or bodily injury, and rape in the context of robbery. The paper examines the circumstances of these "heinous" offenses, analyzes their background and causes from diverse perspectives, and reviews the measures to counter them. Five chapters address crime trends in 2002, with an overview of special law offenses, traffic offenses, drug offenses, financial and economic offenses, election-related offenses, high-technology related offenses, and firearm offenses. Other chapters in this section consider trends in offenses by specific types of offenders, offenses committed by offenders with criminal histories, a comparison with crime trends in other countries, and offenses committed by and against Japanese nationals overseas. The six chapters on the treatment of offenders provide an overview of treatment, prosecution activities, trial-related data, corrections for adult offenders, rehabilitation services, and international cooperation in criminal justice. The two chapters of part 3, "Relief of Crime Victims," focus on injuries and death due to crime and victim services in the criminal justice system. Two chapters address trends in juvenile delinquency and the treatment of juvenile offenders. Seven chapters discuss the "Changing Nature of Heinous Offenses and Countermeasures Against Them." These chapters pertain to recent heinous offenses, changes in the nature of heinous offenses, findings from a survey on the conditions and problems of recent juvenile robbery offenders, findings from a survey on trends in serious heinous offenses in recent years, and circumstances of the criminal disposition and treatment of offenders who have committed heinous offenses. Extensive tables and figures