The articles in this volume were originally reports conceived as Germany's contribution to the 6th International Congress of Criminology in Madrid. Impressions gained at this world congress, prompted our decision to make these papers available in the English language. In this way we hope to make accessible to an international audience the most recent reflections, approaches and research findings of criminologists in the Federal Republic of Germany. We are adding to this collection a bibliography listing all criminological It seems to us monographs published in German within the last five years. that a systematic survey of the literature is highly suitable for completing the picture outlined in the various articles. This should provide some idea of the focal points and tendencies of the present thinking and of the efforts at institutionalization in German criminology. Last but not least, this col­ lection may help to revise the opinion that criminology in the German­ speaking world is still largely biologically oriented. The editors are aware of the scholarly and editorial risks connected with the publication of such a volume. Nevertheless they believe that these risks have to be faced in order to provide information about the present crimino­ logical thinking in the Federal Republic of Germany and to illustrate its close links with the international scene. We hope that this book will be accepted by the international public as a contribution to a "comparative criminology". Should this venture find an interested audience, similar volumes could follow in regular intervals.