The emphasis of this NIMH report is to improve our understanding of the origins of violence and to suggest ways of acting on that knowledge to reduce the incidence of crime and violence in American society. Also included in this volume are details of work aimed at reducing the toll of such problems as alcoholism and suicide among our citizens; a new approach in treating alcoholics; and efforts to understand and prevent adolescent suicides. Avenues for reducing the effects of cultural deprivation are explored in a study of young children from disadvantaged families. New efforts designed to meet the special mental health needs of Americans in contrasting settings--urban and rural--are also described. This volume also contains reports of the Institute's continuing efforts in basic biological and behavioral research--efforts aimed at helping to understand, for example, the genetic bases of mental illness, and the neurophysiological background of man's intellecutal and emotional functions. (Author/NG)