This research examines the relationship between bonds to one’s work unit (danwei) in China and official criminal status, as reflected in placement in a correctional facility. The authors describe the distinctive features of the Chinese work unit and hypothesize that the strength of the worker’s bonds to his or her work unit is negatively related to the likelihood of being officially identified as a criminal. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis for a sample of young workers from Tianjin support the hypothesis. Workers who have strong bonds to their work unit are at significantly lower risk of becoming official criminals (inmates) than are their counterparts with weaker bonds.
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