The contemporary world is saturated with aggression, brutalization of life and various forms of crime. Its reduction is difficult in spite of application of multi-dimensional approaches, from the cognitive to operational. Brutalization and criminal behavior have become widespread phenomena. To a large extent the problem regards young people, which forces undertaking preventive action. The article relates to these issues and provides a critical look at the mechanisms of social life. The work consists of an introduction which covers the reasons of brutality and crime, and a text dealing with projects designated to prevent them. The introduction provides an overview of causative categories, initiatives and social trends concerning perseverance of brutality and criminal activity. To illustrate the problem, the author quotes a selection of facts as well as the results of an experiment conducted by A.T. Poffenberg, which was used to reflect on two competing ideas to combat crime, namely, restrictive vs. reliability penalty. In contrast to criminal behavior some attention is paid to the issue of values and constructed hierarchies. Causes of brutality and crime are discussed on the example of surveys conducted by OBOP (Why is brutality increasing? N = 1056) and studies on the perception of 19 factors (People commit evil acts because ...). At the end of this section the author presents a model of conditions conducive to deviant behavior developed by Herbert and quoted by D.J. Wamsley and G.J. Lewis. Crime prevention projects are discussed by dividing organizational and methodological approaches into three blocks: hierarchization demands, original scripts and system solutions for a wider territory (here, for example, the package – Scottish School Anti-Bullying Initiative). In conclusion, the author makes an attempt of a more general perspective on the organization of social life and notes that the activities of regulatory bodies that are responsible for a given sphere are characterized by reactiveness/fragmentation – as 1) a working method and 2) a reaction to the facts. In addition, the article classifies three issues, with an explanation of their meaning, namely that: 1) There is a general agreement (awareness) as to the deficiencies in the education sphere. 2) There is a tendency to label some violations of law as acts of minor social harm. 3) Social and organizational mechanisms attenuate the elite force and the requirements of existing codes. With regard to action against the brutalisation and criminality, they are summarized by a statement concerning the prevalence of visible pathology intervention compared to the efforts to foster positive traits. Thus, the author addresses the deficit in the sphere of education and the use of valuable ideals.