In trying to develop a combined and comprehensive approach to crime control and prevention, the extent to which a free society can, or should, control the aberrant behavior of some of its members is explored. The problems involved in combining efficiency, liberty, and human rights in planning crime prevention policies within the judicial system are discussed. Other related topics, such as individual and political analysis of criminogenic factors; social engineering; societal attitudes toward crime and criminals throughout history; and criminological theories (e.g., labeling, environmental crime determinants) are reviewed. Crime prevention planning at the national level, and in urban and rural settings with reference to different countries, as well as the correlation (or lack thereof) between housing and crime, and the concept of defensible space developed by the American architect Oscar Newman, are also examined. Planning should take place at several levels, national, sectoral (i.e., within a sector such as health, education, industry, agriculture, or even the police, prisons, and courts), as well as at the regional level. Five endnotes include bibliographical references.