Crime and Social Control in a Changing China

Jianhong Liu, Lening Zhang, Steven F. Messner, Jianhong Liu, Lening Zhang, Steven F. Messner

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780313316524
• eBook ISBN: 9780313075032
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

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.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Impact of Market Transition—Changing Crime and Social Control in China Jianhong Liu, Lening Zhang, and Steven F. Messner
• Part I. Social Transition and Crime in China
• Part II. Chinese Perspectives and the Social Sources of Crime
• Part III. Social Control and Crime Prevention in a Changing Chinese Society
• Part IV. Social Transition and the Changing Criminal Justice System
• Index
• About the Editors and Contributors