About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

15 Asian J. Criminology 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/asjrcrm15 and id is 1 raw text is: Asian Journal of Criminology (2020) 15:1-24 https://doi.org/10.1007/si 1417-019-09291-2 Social Disorganization Theory in Contemporary China: ck for a Review of the Evidence and Directions for Future Research Dan HeY - Steven F. Messner' Received: 9 October 2018 /Revised: 14 March 2019 /Accepted: 10 May 2019/ Published online: 1 June 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract This paper assesses and synthesizes the cumulative results from the empirical research on social disorganization and crime-related phenomena at the neighborhood level in China. Our review identified 17 relevant quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies published in journals and books from the late-1990s to date. Our goal is to take stock of the cumulative knowledge to inspire future research in China, thereby advancing social disorganization theory. We synthesize the main findings about the effects of structural factors and intervening mechanisms from quantitative studies, summarize briefly conclusions from qualitative and mixed methods research to crosscheck our synthesis, and identify methodological and theoretical limitations. Our conclusions point to promising directions for future research with special attention to prospects for theory development through comparative criminological inquiry. Keywords Social disorganization theory - China - Empirical research - Literature review Introduction According to the formulation from the classical Chicago School, social disorganization emerges when social change undermines and destroys the authority and influence of an earlier culture and system of social control (Park 1985:47). For the last three decades, social changes in China resulting from economic reform, an open-door policy, urbanization, and housing reform have altered the traditional system of social relations (Curran 1998) and generated increasing crime rates (Liu and Messner 2001). Criminologists have accordingly recognized the potential utility of China as a strategic setting for the application of social disorganization theory, and the empirical research has been accumulating for over two decades. When looking to the past, it is perhaps too 2 Dan He dhe5@albany.edu Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 351 Arts & Science Bldg, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA 4 Springer

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most