Crime and Social Control in a Changing China

This important edited collection of articles by both Chinese and American scholars attempts to promote a more accurate and in-depth understanding of crime and social control in China, as it undergoes significant cultural, economic, and social change. The editors contend that as the economic system has been transformed, many other social institutions in China have also experienced unprecedented changes, including legal institutions and other organizations responsible for social control. The essays focus on crime in China and summarize the major structural changes in Chinese society and their effects on crime and justice over the last ten to fifteen years, offer an overview of Chinese perspectives on crime, examine socio-economic changes and their impact on social control, and discuss changes in adults’ and children’s courts and the new changes in Chinese policing in Chinese society.

Organized into four parts, this work addresses the nature, extent and special features of crime and delinquency in China under conditions of social change. It also investigates the question of the social correlation of changing patterns of crime. The impact of social transition on the changes in the grassroots level of social control is also discussed. Chinese law and criminal justice, with particular focus on the courts, police, and crime prevention are mentioned as well. This unique collection of essays is a timely and significant contribution to the fields of comparative criminology, social control, Chinese studies, and legal studies.

JIANHONG LIU is an Associate Professor at Rhode Island College. He has published numerous journal articles and is currently working on a project examining negative social capital and subculture values for Chinese offenders.

LENING ZHANG is Assistant Professor at Saint Francis College. He has published widely in both the United States and China.

STEVEN F. MESSNER is Professor and Chair of Sociology at State University of New York at Albany./e He has published extensively in professional journals and is co-author of Crime and the American Dream, Perspectives on Crime and Deviance, and Criminology: An Introduction Using ExplorIt.