This overview begins with a brief description of Iceland's demographics, its criminal justice system, its legal environment, and the state of the field of criminology. This is followed by a review of crime and corrections statistics. The next section discusses the principal topics addressed in criminological research in Iceland over the past 5 years. These topics are the formation and maintenance of moral and social boundaries, the fear of crime, problems in the city center, recidivism, the social status of inmates, youth crime, and long-term trends in penal sanctions and violent offenses. The concluding section of the article focuses on the following issues that have emerged in criminal policy and public debate in Iceland: the status of crime victims, whether restorative justice concepts apply to adult offenders as well as juvenile delinquents, utilitarianism and the theory of retribution, the role of drug offenses in the increased severity of punishments, the response to sexual offenses under the influence of the sex market and the feminist movement in Iceland, and the influence of public debate on the courts. The discussion of criminal policy notes that at the end of the 20th century, public attitudes toward crime and punishment were characterized by a consensus in attitudes toward the suppression of drug offenses through more severe sentencing; however, political divisions have recently emerged in the discussion of sexual offenses. 2 tables and 75 references