"Social Justice and Social Policy" is a new and hopefully regular section of Crime and Social Justice. Each of us has no doubt been asked -- by students in our classrooms, by friends in our living rooms, by activists in our communities, and by government and media representatives -- for solutions and progressive alternatives to the very real problems of crime and punishment.

In Crime and Social Justice No. 17, we included an article by Bertram Gross, "Some Anticrime Proposals for Progressives. " In this article, Gross said, "nothing is clearer than that crime is too important to be left either to the law enforcement establishment or to the repressive right." As a preliminary step toward remedying the Left's neglect of issues concerning crime, Gross proposed an anticrime program that incorporates "liberal bromides but goes beyond them." Specifically, he sketched out a program of community self-help, a Victim's Bill of Rights, and community-based planning for full employment.

We invited our readers and our Editorial Advisory Board to comment on the issues raised by Gross. The response was very gratifying. We received comments from Europe, Australia, Latin America, and North America. In fact, we have so many interesting comments that we plan to continue the debate in Crime and Social Justice No. 19. In this issue, we include two articles from England (by Ian Taylor and Alan Hunt) and three articles from the United States -- a persuasive call for detente between liberals and radicals (by Francis Cullen and John Wozniak), insights into local initiatives by a community organizer (Joseph Bute, Jr.), and a critical reassessment of "radical criminology " (by Tony Platt).

We plan to continue this debate in future issues of Crime and Social Justice. We invite and welcome your contributions.