Asian Journal of Criminology最新文献

This analysis of data collected from a nationwide survey in 2021 focused on the prevalence and importance of different forms of social control particularly semiformal social control in community order maintenance within rural China. Scholars have a growing interest in China’s semiformal control. However, prior studies lack quantitative research on the prevalence and importance of this semiformal control. Employing quantitative analysis, this study found that China uses a trinary (formal, semiformal, and informal) control system to maintain social order as contrasted with a Western binary (formal vs. informal) control system. Overall, semiformal organizations—village committees—are more prevalent and important than formal control mechanisms such as government and police and informal control mechanisms such as xiangxian or kin or kin-kind community leaders. Furthermore, the relative prevalence and importance of semiformal organizations and control are found to be associated with types of social order maintenance activities. These findings are meaningful for testing the generalizability of social disorganization theory and developing a China- or Asian-centric control theory.

Unlike other counterfeit products, automotive components are hidden from view and, at least by the lay person, little understood. While the potential scale, scope and impact of the problem is vast, knowledge of this illicit trade is limited. In seeking to contribute to the existing literature on the counterfeiting of auto components, this article focuses on China, a major and growing economy with an expanding vehicle market, a ready internal market for counterfeits and a frequently identified source country of counterfeit goods. Rested upon empirical data from published court judgments in China and open source materials, this article critically explores the counterfeiting of motor vehicle parts inside the country, from manufacture to sale, including identifying the parties involved in the illegitimate business, the counterfeiting process and what motivates the players to engage in it, to gain insights into the social organisation of the illicit trade. Our findings suggest that the trade in counterfeit automotive components does not appear robust from an organisational viewpoint, which tends to be carried out by individuals on the basis of necessity and opportunity rather than authority and formal rationality. The article’s findings forge a link between counterfeiting and social inequality and help argue that given the current socio-economic settings and a booming market of used vehicles, the dirty economy is likely to persist. Furthermore, as the empirical data shows, currently, the nature of the trade in dangerous counterfeit goods is not duly recognised in law enforcement and legal practices.

Extensive evidence shows that repeat victimization is common and widespread, but studies on the prevalence of repeat victimization in Asia are limited. This study examines the extent and patterns of repeat and near-repeat burglary victimization in Taiwan using both 2015 Taiwan Area Victimization Survey data and police recorded burglary data. Results indicated that: (1) burglaries against the same household in Taiwan are highly concentrated (with the top 10% most burgled households making up around 30% of reported victimizations), more so than is often found in many Western countries; (2) the risk of (repeat) burglary is not consistently spread over space and time, particularly within the 100-m range of an initial burglary incident; and (3) the levels of near repeat burglaries identified in this study are notably lower than was observed in prior studies both in China and in many western countries. The findings highlight the value of developing prevention strategies specifically targeting repeat burglary victimization.

This study examines the relationship between the role of the society at large and the code of silence in China and South Korea. Although both countries embrace Confucianism and have similar geographic, political, and cultural traditions, they have developed quite distinctly in recent years. The data for this study were collected from police officers attending in-service training at national training academies in both countries using the police integrity methodology. The respondents evaluated four scenarios describing examples of police corruption. Our multivariate models demonstrate that, once the police integrity measures and demographic characteristics are controlled for, the country has an independent effect on the respondents’ adherence to the code of silence in all four scenarios. These results suggest that, despite many commonalities in their cultural and political traditions, two countries create different integrity environments.

The application of GIS in the public security industry is generally called “Police Geographic Information System (PGIS)” in Mainland China. Although China’s PGIS play important roles in protecting public safety and smart policing, no publications on this subject are found in English. This paper provides an overview of the four main development stages of PGIS in public security agencies in mainland China: the early exploration stage; the multi-department PGIS system development stage; the centralization stage; and the spread and improvement stage. Successful GIS applications and practices in local police departments are also introduced in this paper. At the end of this paper, three problems and challenges faced in the development of PGIS are introduced, involving the current PGIS application depth; the support of crime mapping and crime analysis theoretical research on policing practices; and the introduction and localization of mature foreign crime analysis and prediction technology. Additionally, we point out that the implementation of smart policing strategies under the context of big data has created favorable conditions for subsequent crime analysis, research, and application, encouraging police departments to more frequently take initiative by cooperating with research institutions in crime analysis and prediction technology research. These new opportunities will inevitably promote the rapid development of PGIS and the geography of crime in China.

Abstract

Abstract 

Recently, Chinese government implemented and tested a trial waiver system in 18 large cities during 2016–2018. Using data collected from surveys of prosecutors and defense lawyers in one of the cities, the present study examines the main challenges in the implementation by comparing prosecutor and defense lawyer views. The main issues examined include the legal scope of trial waivers, the lawyer and victim roles in trial waivers, and the risk of corruption and power abuse. The findings indicate that lawyer respondents significantly differed from prosecutor respondents in their views on the issues. Defense lawyers were more likely to adopt a liberal stance and took a critical attitude toward the issues than prosecutors were. Their characteristic responses may well reside in their legal statuses and related interests in the Chinese legal context.