Asian Journal of Criminology最新文献

Recent scholarship on plea bargaining has long debated whether lenient sentencing for defendants who plead guilty should be interpreted as “plea discounts”—rooted in reduced culpability and procedural efficiency—or as “trial penalties” driven by the shadow of the trial perspective. China’s formalized plea-leniency system, introduced by the 2018 Criminal Procedure Law, presents a novel context for testing these theories. Analyzing a large dataset of DUI (driving under the influence) cases from 2016 to 2021, this study finds no marked shift in overall sentencing severity after the law’s enactment. Yet case-level comparisons show that defendants who plead guilty receive lighter sentences, whereas those who reject pleas face harsher outcomes. These offsetting effects produce minimal net change, underscoring the system’s nuanced balance between incentivizing guilty pleas and penalizing trials in contemporary Chinese criminal justice.

Drug crimes have long been one of the most impactful and prevalent types of crime in Taiwan, with drug offenders being the largest group in prisons. Therefore, the rehabilitation effectiveness of drug offenders has become a primary concern for correctional institutions. Past treatment plans have mainly focused on male offenders, often neglecting the needs of female offenders. To more accurately assess the treatment needs of offenders of different genders, this study employed a questionnaire survey conducted from January to March 2024, targeting 779 male offenders in Taoyuan Prison, Taichung Prison, and Kaohsiung Second Prison, as well as 747 female offenders in Taoyuan Women’s Prison, Taichung Women’s Prison, and Kaohsiung Women’s Prison. The aim is to explore the treatment needs of offenders of different genders within the prison. Research results show that female inmates generally adapt better in prison than male inmates, and women have a greater need for courses on family relationships, conflict resolution, and emotional adjustment. In terms of treatment activities, both male and female inmates expressed a high demand for family visitation days, festive activities, and skills training, with males particularly hoping for more opportunities for dynamic ball sports. Additionally, inmates who bring their children into prison need more resources and planning to support their needs. Based on these results, the study recommends developing more targeted treatment courses and activity arrangements according to gender differences, thereby enhancing the rehabilitation effects and treatment quality for drug offenders.

Meta-analyses conducted over time have consistently revealed that high levels of commitment are significantly related to work productivity, innovation, employee retention, and the recruitment of high-quality employees. However, commitment research on policing is understudied. Thus, the current study aims to analyze the correlates of job and organizational commitments among personnel police officers in Taiwan, along with the difference in the antecedents between the two types of commitment. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses of a sample of 480 Taiwan personnel police officers indicated that job commitment and organizational commitment have similar predictors. More specifically, both workplace fairness and the nature of the personnel police job are positively related to commitments. Implications for future research are discussed in the end.

The focal concerns perspective is one of the dominant frameworks for explaining sentencing decisions. This study examines the limitations of this perspective in addressing sentencing disparities within the unique sociopolitical context of China. While the framework emphasizes three primary factors influencing judicial decisions—blameworthiness, protection of the community, and practical constraints—it assumes that judges make decisions autonomously and largely overlooks the influence of broader sociopolitical factors. Using qualitative methods, including participant observation and semistructured interviews, this study introduces “stability” as an additional and distinct focal concern. Stability encompasses both the maintenance of social order and the consistency of the criminal justice system, reflecting the state’s emphasis on preserving social harmony and institutional unity. This factor plays a critical role in judicial decision-making, particularly in cases where maintaining public trust and projecting coherence within the justice system are prioritized. Unlike prior studies that relied predominantly on quantitative methods, this research provides a qualitative analysis of how this expanded focal concerns perspective shapes sentencing decisions in China.

Existing research has examined the effect of parental migration and resulting caretaking arrangements on children’s well-being in rural China, including children’s exposure to abuse and neglect. However, to date, no research has examined the impact of parental migration on custodial interference—a type of parental abuse that has become increasingly prevalent in rural China. Using a sample of 426 middle-school students whose parents were divorced or remarried in Guizhou province, this paper delves into the relationship between parental migration and custodial interference in divorced households. Our bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses indicate that maternal migration and paternal care significantly increase the likelihood of custodial interference. The findings reveal the penalty of maternal migration and underscore the gendered labor division, which aligns with the dominant patriarchal values in rural China. Additionally, they shed light on the complex challenges faced by left-behind children in rural China and suggest that split households induced by parental migration may impede the child’s access to both parents, hindering their rights to familial contact, care, and intimacy development.

The (re)discovery of restorative justice (RJ) in Indigenous history assumes that this reputedly new justice initiative is actually “really not new.” Indigenous peoples’ philosophies and justice practices carry specific elements almost identical to RJ’s essentials. This article focuses on the Indigenous narrative of RJ, spotlighting De Gu mediation, a form of traditional justice practiced by ethnic Yi people in China. Drawing on empirical evidence obtained in Liangshan, a significant highland inhabited by Yi people, three cases are refined and demonstrated. They highlight that the hybridity of justice in Liangshan created spaces where De Gu justice and the Chinese state justice systems can work in mutually constitutive ways in which social justice, due process, and Indigenous cultures, to an extent, are manifest. This article not only contributes to RJ literature with its signpost to the Indigenous RJ in China, but it also extends the lens when viewing China of today.

This study examines potential relationships between police leadership styles and perceptions of policing issues in Kuwait. Police station leaders (n = 60) completed a Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-6S) to assess their leadership styles—transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire. This accompanied a survey assessing their attitudes on prominent themes in policing, including cultural constructs unique to the Middle East—specifically wasta (favoritism). Linear models were used to identify demographic predictors of leadership styles and to explore potential links between leadership traits and perceptions on policing themes. The findings revealed significant relationships in both sets of analyses. Officers with college degrees strongly correlated with transformational leadership, while transactional traits showed only minimal significance; additionally, experience in the position was associated with higher levels of laissez-faire leadership. Further analysis showed leaders who adopted laissez-faire mentalities hold more favorable views on the use of overtime, whereas transactional leaders expressed more favorable opinions of the public yet were less inclined to acknowledge the negative influence wasta has on police work. This study addresses substantial gaps in the literature, offering valuable insights into the current state of police leadership in Kuwait. It is also the first to explore wasta in the policing and criminal justice context in the Middle East, providing discussion to the cultural dimensions influencing law enforcement in the Arab region. Future research should expand on these cultural dimensions, as well as examine the potential benefits of leadership assessment and its alignment with desirable organizational outcomes in policing.