Since China's new open door policy, major economic and social changes have occurred as well as a demonstrated increase in official and victim survey reports on crime. The patterns of crime and characteristics of offenders parallels that of Western societies, but the rate of crime is still very low. A major increase in crime is not necessarily an outcome of development, where cultural and social history and philosophy have established strong prevention roots. The most recent literature on changes occurring in China are reviewed within theoretical perspectives linking development and crime: Durkheimian Modernization, Marxist, and Victimological. Chinese programs and crime-prevention policies are discussed and evaluated based on individual and systemic correlates of crime and the theoretical needs for prevention. Chinese culture and tradition are seen as preventive mechanisms in and of themselves and, therefore, need to be reinforced as China experiences major social change.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adler, F.
(1983). Nations not obsessed with crime. Littleton, CO: Fred B. Rothman.
2.
Anderson, A. F.
, & Gil, V. E. (1998). China's modernization and the decline of communitarianism: The control of sex crimes and implications for the fate of informal social control. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 14, 248-261.
3.
Applebaum, R. P.
(1978). Marx's theory of the falling rate of profit. American Sociological Review, 43, 67-80.
4.
Bennett, R.
, & Lynch, J. P. (1990). Does a difference make a difference? Comparing cross-national crime indicators. Criminology, 28, 153-181.
5.
Berger, R. J.
, & Berger, C. E. (1985). Community organization approaches to the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 12, 129-153.
6.
Bracey, D. H.
(1988). Like a doctor to a patient, like a parent to a child: Corrections in the People's Republic of China. The Prison Journal, 58, 24-33.
7.
Cebulak, W.
(1997). Social turmoil in post-socialist Eastern Europe: A revolution gone astray?East European Quarterly, 31, 111-120.
8.
Chen, J.
(1990). Confucius as a teacher. Beijing: Foreign Languages.
9.
Cheng, C.
(1992). An introduction to China's legal and social systems. In A. Lodl & Z. Longguan (Eds.), Enterprise crime: Asian and global perspective (pp. 3-10). Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Office of International Criminal Justice.
10.
Clinard, M. B.
, & Abbott, D. (1973). Crime in developing countries: A comparative perspective. New York: John Wiley.
11.
Cohen, L.
, & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588-608.
12.
Dai, Y.
(1997, November). Crime wave and relative deprivation in China. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, San Diego.
13.
Durkheim, E.
(1933). The division of labor in society. New York: Free Press.
14.
Farrington, D.
(1992). Explaining the beginning, progress, and ending of antisocial behavior from birth to adulthood. In J. McCord (Ed.), Facts, frameworks, and forecasts (pp. 353-377). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
15.
Feng, S.
(1996, November). Confucian moral against crime: Crime and moral prevention. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Chicago.
16.
Friday, P.C.
(1980) International review of youth crime and delinquency. In G. Newman (Ed.), Deviance and crime: Comparative perspectives (pp. 100-129). Beverly Hills: Sage.
17.
Friday, P.C.
(1996, July). The underlying dimensions of prevention: A process, not a program. Paper presented at the International Symposium of Crime Control and Public Participation, Dalian, China.
18.
Groves, W. B.
, & Newman, G. (1986). Criminal justice and development: Some critical observations. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 10, 1-16.
19.
Haferkamp, H.
, & Ellis, H. (1992). Power, individualism and the sanctity of human life: Development of criminality and punishment in four cultures. In H.-G. Heiland, L. I. Shelley, & H. Katoh (Eds.), Crime and control in comparative perspectives (pp. 261-279). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
20.
He, B.
(1992). Crime and control in China. In H.-G. Heiland, L. I. Shelley, & H. Katoh (Eds.), Crime and control in comparative perspectives (pp. 241-257). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
21.
Hopkins, T. K.
, & Wallerstein, I. (1981). Structural transformations of the world economy. In R. Rubinson (Ed.), Dynamics of world development (pp. 233-262). Beverly Hills: Sage.
22.
Inkeles, A.
, & Smith, D. H. (1974). Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing societies. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press.
23.
Johnson, E.
(1984). Incarceration in the People's Republic of China: Functions and implications. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 8, 141-149.
24.
Joutsen, M.
(1993). Social defense and crime in Central and Eastern Europe. Cahiers de Defense Sociale, 92/93, 175-190.
25.
Junger-Tas, J.
(1996). Youth and violence in Europe. Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention, 5, 31-58.
26.
Lejins, P.
(1977). The field of prevention. In W. Amos & C. Wellford (Eds.), Delinquency prevention: Theory and practice (pp. 1-21). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
27.
Li, V. H.
(1978). Law without lawyers. Boulder, CO: Westview.
28.
Liu, H.
(1997, July). The community policing and crime prevention. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Controlling Crimes Through Public Participation, Dalian, China.
29.
Loeber, R.
, & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1986). Family factors as correlates and predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and Justice (Vol. 7, pp. 29-149). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
30.
Lu, X.
(1997, July). On ecological control over criminality in communities. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Controlling Crimes Through Public Participation, Dalian, China.
31.
Ma, Y.
(1995). Crime in China: Characteristics, causes and control strategies. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 19, 246-255.
32.
Marx, K.
(1967). Capital: Vol. I. New York: International. (Originally published 1867)
33.
Messner, S. F.
, & Tardiff, K.(1985). The social ecology of urban homicide: An application of the “Routine Activities” approach. Criminology, 23, 241-267.
34.
Munro, D. J.
(1977). The concept of man in contemporary China. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
35.
Newman, W. L.
, & Berger, R. J. (1988). Competing perspectives on cross-national crime: An evaluation of theory and evidence. The Sociological Quarterly, 29, 281-313.
36.
Radzinowicz, L.
, & King, J. (1977). The growth of crime: The international experience. New York: Basic Books.
37.
Ren, X.
(1997). Tradition of the law and law of the tradition: Law, state and social control in China. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
38.
Rutter, M.
, & Giller, H. (1984). Juvenile delinquency: Trends and perspectives. New York: Guilford.
39.
Shelley, L. I.
(1981). Crime and modernization: The impact of industrialization and urbanization on crime. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Press.
40.
Situ, Y.
, & Liu, W. (1996a). Comprehensive treatment to social order: A Chinese approach against crime. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 20, 95-115.
41.
Situ, Y.
, & Liu, W. (1996b). Restoring the neighborhood, fighting against crime: A case study in Guangzhou City, People's Republic of China. International Criminal Justice Review, 6, 89-102.
42.
Spitzer, S.
(1975). Toward a Marxian theory of deviance. Social Problems, 22, 638-665.
43.
Tang, J.
(1997, July). Comprehensive administration: Chinese principle policy for of prevention adolescent crimes. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Controlling Crimes Through Public Participation, Dalian, China.
44.
Wang, D.
(1996). A comparative research in the issue of victimization between China and other developing countries: Reflection on the UN victimization survey. Unpublished manuscript.
45.
Wang, X.
(1997, July). Crime control in the community and police reforms. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Controlling Crimes Through Public Participation, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
46.
Weisburd, D.
(1997). Reorienting crime prevention research and policy: From the causes of criminality to the context of crime. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
47.
Wolfgang, M.
(1996, May). Delinquency in China: Study of a birth cohort. National Institute of Justice Research Preview.
48.
Yu, L.
(Ed.). (1993). The study of the crime problem in modern China (General Vol.). Beijing: Chinese People's Republic Security University Press.
49.
Yu, O.
(1995, November). Crime in modern China and its approach to research and control. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Boston.
50.
Yuan, Y.
(1992). Shanghai's transient crime and its countermeasures. In A. Lodl & Z. Longguan (Eds.), Enterprise crime: Asian and global perspectives (pp. 42-51). Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Office of International Criminal Justice.
51.
Zhang, L.
, & Messner, S. (1995). Family deviance and delinquency in China. Criminology, 33, 359-385.
