The conference featured an opening address that highlighted previous research conferences and outlined the scope and potential of the current conference. Research reports were presented on the design and implementation of successful correctional programs, panelists discussed community needs and political realities relative to corrections, and workshops examined successful treatment approaches and programs. The conference paper on juvenile justice considered the level and nature of statutory changes nationwide, explored the status of State correctional incarceration policies and practices, analyzed what is currently known about correctional confinement and release, and presented ideas on what constitutes a promising and innovative sanctioning framework that punishes juveniles fairly and enhances public safety. The conference paper on restorative justice provided an entirely new framework for understanding and responding to crime and victimization, the emphasis in restorative justice being to elevate the role of crime victims and community members through more active involvement in the criminal justice process, to hold offenders directly accountable to the people they have violated, and to restore emotional and material losses of victims. The conference paper on assessment methods in corrections looked at the role of a systematic assessment process in identifying appropriate correctional program targets, particularly with respect to intervention, prison adjustment, and post-release recidivism. This paper considered case need areas such as personal and emotional problems, employment, and substance abuse to be dynamic risk factors that should be incorporated in effective offender management. References, tables, and figures