Asian Journal of Criminology最新文献

Throughout most of the twentieth century, Western criminological thought was preoccupied by theories of modern criminology, which were concerned with the question of why individuals commit crime. Since the late 1970s, however, the Western world has experienced new reconfigurations in the crime control field, one of which is the transformation of Western criminological thought. New crime theories have emerged in which the focus has shifted from the ‘criminal’ to the ‘criminal activity’. Despite their importance, these developments have had no impact on the criminological thought in the Arab world, which is, to this day, is dominated by Western theories of modern criminology. This paper has three purposes. First, it discusses the status quo of criminology in the Arab world. Second, it suggests plausible explanations that help understand the current status of criminology in this region. Third, it discusses the relevance of some criminological developments (notably crime theories and environmental criminology) in the Arab context. In that eventuality, it argues that the Western developments might bring insightful crime prevention lessons for the Arab world.

In the Chinese mainland, restorative justice is closely related to “people’s mediation” and “victim-offender reconciliation.” These two terms reflect the content of restorative justice from different perspectives. Restorative justice was first introduced to the Chinese mainland in 2002, followed by some preliminary research. In-depth evaluation was conducted, and restorative justice later caught high-level attention and developed intensively. Restorative justice has become a hot topic in the Chinese mainland, with a lot of research conducted, many papers published, and a few books released, especially in the subfields of environmental crimes, juvenile cases, and corrections. At the same time, various criminal justice agencies have incorporated restorative justice at different stages of the criminal justice system, including criminal investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and corrections. Restorative justice has been well-established in legislation and widely practiced in law enforcement. It is built upon consensus, Chinese culture, and people’s mediation. It therefore has the potential to be applied continuously and effectively in the justice system.

In China, courts review and determine commutation petitions proposed by prisons. However, the judicial process and procedures of commutation decisions tend to be rubber-stamping and symbolic, with more than 98% of petitions being approved. This study focuses on judges’ attitudes toward current trial practices and proposed commutation reforms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 judges responsible for handling commutation cases in a northern Chinese province. Findings suggest that the dispositions of commutation cases are highly ceremonial and routinized, supporting the street-level bureaucratic and bounded rationality arguments in judicial behavior. Besides high workload, inadequate resources, legal and procedural constraints, the judicial culture of emphasizing inter-agency collaboration over adversary processes, and the concern about the management of inmates are instrumental in shaping judges’ decision-making. Moreover, judges have reservations about the recently proposed reforms of commutation practices because of the staffing shortage, waste of trial resources, and excessive interference of judicial power into administrative power. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

This study examines the predictors of tolerance for different forms of sexual harassment among Chinese nationals, both students and non-students, residing in mainland China and abroad (N = 2094). The forms of harassment comprise unwanted sexual attention, gender harassment, and sexual coercion. Drawing from Sykes and Matza’s theory of techniques of neutralization (e.g., denial of injury and denial of responsibility), we hypothesize that respondents—especially non-students—who employ neutralization techniques are more likely to tolerate sexual and gender harassment. Multiple regression models find mixed support for this hypothesis. Overall, being a woman and endorsement of traditional gender roles consistently shape students’ and non-students’ tolerance of sexual harassment behaviors, regardless of the subtype of harassment. For Chinese policymakers, we suggest that change must start by giving women a voice and recognizing the necessity of gender equality in education. Limitations are also discussed.

In recent years, individuals study and work from home with some degree of normality. Technology and the Internet have become an essential part of life. This increased reliance on technology and constant engagement with the online world has its negative repercussions. However, it has increased the number of offenders involved in cybercrimes. Considering the aftermath of cybercrimes and the need to address the impact of cybercrimes on victims, this paper reviews the existing mechanisms, such as legislation, international frameworks and conventions. The main purpose of this paper resides in the discussion of the possible use of restorative justice in supporting the needs of the victims. Taking into consideration the cross-border nature of many of these offences, other solutions have to be considered in order to give the victims a chance to be heard and to heal the wounds caused by the crime. This paper argues for the use of victim-offender panels, which are meetings between a group of cyber victims and a group of convicted cyber offenders, allowing victims to express the harm caused by the crime, to be healed and giving room for the offenders to feel remorse, lessening thus the likelihood of recidivism, under the umbrella of reintegrative shaming.