The countries covered in the survey are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Criminality trends in each country are treated separately; however, several patterns in the general trends in criminality can be discerned. Increasing crime trends have been observed in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, with different degrees of gravity. In Bangladesh and the Philippines, the crime trends reached their apexes in the early 1970's when law and order confronted a real crisis, but they have been on the decrease since then. A similar tendency was seen in Afghanistan and Singapore. On the other hand, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Republic of Korea have shown somewhat stable or fluctuating trends in criminality, while Japan has experienced declining rates of crime. Interpretations of the crime trends consider the significance of urban life; they posit that the presence of urban slums is associated with a high incidence of crime and juvenile delinquency and the complexity of urban life has encouraged organized crime. Also, the rapid social change from simple rural life to complicated urban life, economic hardships and unemployment, markedly pluralistic societies that have been plagued by unsolved minority problems, and the disruption of traditional social controls have contributed to the growth of crime. Effective measures for reducing criminality are community development programs, stronger police services, community involvement in crime prevention, intensified criminal sanctions, and public participation in the criminal justice process. Background statistical data are provided.