THE GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION OF CRIME INTO ILLNESS HAS OPENED UP POSSIBILITIES FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL. WITH MEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ACTING FOR THE STATE IN THE PARENTAL ROLE, SEEKING NOT TO DISCIPLINE THROUGH PUNISHMENT BUT TO REHABILITATE TO REMAKE THROUGH TREATMENT, THE INDIVIDUAL OFFENDER CAN BE HANDLED MORE IN HARMONY WITH REQUIREMENTS OF SOCIAL DEFENSE. THE DANGER OF THERAPEUTIC TYRANNY, HOWEVER, LIES IN THE FACT THAT HEALTH STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS CAN BECOME LITTLE MORE THAN TOOLS FOR POLITICAL COERCION AND OPPRESSION UNDER A PURELY THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO CRIME. IN THE CONTEXT OF RECENT AND PAST BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TO CONTROL CRIME, LITERATURE ON PSYCHOSURGERY AND THE CONTROL OF VIOLENCE, THE XYY CHROMOSOME CARRIER, LOMBROSIAN ANTHROPOMETRICS, BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND MIND CONTROL ARE REVIEWED. SOME WRITERS VIEW REHABILITATION AS ESSENTIALLY COERCIVE AND FEEL THAT, UNDER ITS GUISE, THE STATE HAS BEEN ABLE TO EXTEND ITS PUNITIVE POWERS. OTHERS MAINTAIN THAT REHABILITATION DOES NOT WORK, THAT THE 'NOBLE LIE' SHOULD BE ABANDONED, AND THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE LOCKED UP AS PUNISHMENT. IN THE PROCESS OF PURSUING THEIR DIVERGENT ASSAULT, THE ANTIREHABILITATION GROUP HAS MANAGED TO EXTEND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO MENTAL PATIENTS AND JUVENILES. POLICYMAKERS ARE LOOKING TOWARD POLITICAL SCIENTISTS AND ECONOMISTS FOR COST-EFFECTIVE ANSWERS REGARDING THE REHABILITATIVE IDEAL. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DP)