The University of Hong Kong
Department of Sociology
Masters of Social Sciences (M.Soc.Sc) in Criminology
2nd Semester 2011-2012
SOCI8015
CRIME AND DEVIANCE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
CHINA
(Thursdays, 6:45 – 9:45 p.m., Room 1121, KK Leung Bldg.)
(NB: 8 March lecture is at KKL 1226 and 14 April at KKL 1118)
Dr. Børge Bakken (bakken@hku.hk)
Office: KKL1213. Telephone: 2859 2057. Email: bakken@hku.hk
The course offers an overview and introduction to the developments of crime and
deviance in China. The emphasis will be historical, comparative and contemporary. We
look at Chinese definitions of deviance and crime from the past, the Communist period,
and with a particular emphasis on the recent period of rapid modernization. The course
will also review issues and problems in the control of crime and public order in the
People's Republic of China. The content covers theories and practices of deviance, crime,
discipline, policing, and punishment.
Assessment:
A) I expect students to write a term paper of about 3000 words. I also expect each group
to edit a "newspaper" where the students sum up different aspects of each individual term
paper. This collective "editorial" work should not be considerably longer than an
individual term paper when it is finished. I will discuss the method in more detail with
the students during the course. The "newspaper" will highlight important aspects of the
term paper into a collective work, and this work will be taken into consideration when
overall marks are given. 40 %
B) There will be the normal credit for performance, attendance and presentations in class
(I need a written script from the presentations, approximately one signed page per person
since all should participate in the group work). You are not supposed to fail to attend
more than three courses without due reason. (Repeated late arrivals and early departures
are not good for your overall performance evaluation, and you must also be present
during your group presentation week). 25 %
C) There will be no formal exam for the course, but there will be an in-class test,
preferrably at the end of the term. 35 %
Deadlines to be discussed.
Timetable and key text readings:
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(There might be changes announced during the course)
Week 1: 19 January:
Introducing the Course.
Understanding Crime and Deviance in China
CHINESE NEW YEAR, NO CLASSES ON 26.JAN
Week 2: 2 February: CHINESE CONCEPTS OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE
Panics and Politics in Chinese Criminology
Readings: 3
* B.Bakken, ”The Exemplary Society. Human Improvement, Social Control, and
the Dangers of Modernity in China, Introduction pp. 1-13
* B.Bakken, ”Introduction, Crime, Control, and Modernity in China”, Chapter 1
in Crime, Punishment and Policing in China, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham,
Oxford, 2005, pp. 1-26
* Erich Goode & Nachman Ben-Yahuda, Moral Panics. The Social Construction
of Deviance, Oxford UK, Cambridge, US, Blackwell, 1994, pp. 22-24, (124) 135143.
* Scot Tanner, ”Campaign Style Policing in China and its Critics”, in B.Bakken
(ed.), Crime, Punishment and Policing in China, pp. 171-188
Week 3: 9 February: DEVIANCE
Deviance, Danger, and Modernity in the PRC
Readings:
* B.Bakken, ”Manifestation of Deviance and Modern Dangers”. Chapter 9 of
B.Bakken, The Exemplary Society, pp. 317-353
* Peng Xincai, "Trendiness and Juvenile Crime", in Chinese Sociology and
Anthropology, Spring 1995, pp. 79-87 (from 青少年犯罪研究 no.10, 1988)
Week 4: 16 February: DEVIANCE
The Only-Child. ”Premature Love”(zaolian 早恋);
First Chains in the Chinese Narrative of Disorder
Readings:
* B.Bakken, “Prejudice and Danger. The Only Child in China”, in Childhood,
No.1, 1993, pp. 46-61
* B.Bakken, ”Never for the First Time”: ”Premature Love” and Social Control,
Chapter 10 of B.Bakken, The Exemplary Society, Oxford University Press, 2000,
pp. 354-376
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Week 5: 23 February: DEVIANCE
Internet Addiction. The Medicalization of Deviance
Readings:
* Peter Conrad, Joseph W. Schneider, Deviance and Medicalization. From
Badness to Sickness, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1992, Chapter 2, (17)
28-37.
* Alex Golub and Kate Lingley, "Just Like the Qing Empire:: Internet Addiction,
MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games), and Moral Crisis in
Contemporary China, in Games and Culture, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2008, pp. 59-75
<http://gac.sagepub.com>
*Zan Jifang, "Hooked on Cyberspace: Chinese psychologists ouline criteria for
Internet addiction, Beijing Review Website, 22 Dec 2008:
http://www.bjreview.com.cn/health/txt/2008-12/16/content_170181.htm>
* Chinese media, advertising, and urban life:Traditional education treats Internet
addiction, Wuhan Morning Post, December 10, 2008 <http://www.danwei.org/>
Week 6: 1 March: HISTORICAL SOURCES OF VIOLENT CRIME
Revenge and the Politics of Harshness
Readings:
* Dane Archer and Rosemary Gartner , Violence and crime in cross-national
perspective, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1984 (Excerpts).
* Zhang Ning, “The political origins of death penalty exceptionalism. Mao
Zedong and the practice of capital punishment in contemporary China”, in
Punishment and Society, Vol. 10, No. 2, April 2008, pp. 118-136.
* Richard Madsen, The Politics of Revenge in Rural China during the Cultural
Revolution, Chapter 7 in Jonathan N. Lipman and Steven Harrell, Violence in
China. Essays in Culture and Counterculture, State University of New York
Press, 1990, pp. 175-198.
Week 7: 8 March: (NB: ROOM KKL 1226) THE CHINESE CRIME SCENE
Crime and its Measurements in the PRC
Readings:
* B.Bakken, ”Comparative Perspectives on Crime in China”, Chapter 3 in
B.Bakken (ed.), Crime, Punishment and Policing in China, pp. 64-99
* Zhou Lu, Cong Mei, ”Four Patterns of Crimes during the Period of Social
Transition. An Empirical Study”, in R.G.Broadhurst (ed.), Crime and its Control
in the People’s Republic of China, Symposium Proceedings of the University of
Hong Kong Centre for Criminology, 2004, pp. 94-106
* Zhu Hongde & others, "The International Crime (Victim) Survey in Beijing", in
UNICRI, Criminal Victimization in the Developing World, Publication no. 22,
Rome, 1995, pp. 67-81.
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Week 8: 15 March: THE CHINESE CRIME SCENE
Migration, Inequality and Crime. Macro Causes of Chinese Crime
Readings:
* Guoan Ma, "Population Migration and Crime in Beijing, China", in Jianhong
Liu, Lening Zhang, Steven F. Messner (eds.) Crime and Social Control in a
Changing China, pp. 65-73.
* Liqun Cao and Yisheng Dai, Inequality and Crime in China", in Jianhong Liu,
Lening Zhang, Steven F. Messner (eds.), Crime and Social Control in a Changing
China, pp. 73-85.
* Li Zhang, "Spatiality and Urban Citizenship in Late Socialist China, Public
Culture, Vol. 14, No.2, 2002, pp. 311-334
Week 9: 22 March: THE FUTURE OF CHINESE CRIME AND DEVIANCE
Readings:
* B.Bakken, "Chinese Crime and Punishment 1978–2020: Looking Back and
Making Forecasts" (manuscript under publication), 33 pages.
NO CLASSES OVER NEXT TWO WEEKS. (Reading week & Easter, Teacher
attending conference in Oxford). Next session to be held SATURDAY 14 April.
Week 10: SATURDAY 14 April :THE CHINESE CRIME SCENE
NB: This session will be moved to a workshop on corruption in China with
Professor Henry Pontell and others. The day is moved to SATURDAY 14 April at
KKL1118. You may attend the whole seminar, or stay the first three hours only.
Further notice will be given on exact time, but we plan to start at 10 am.
Crimes in the Streets and Crimes in the Suites: From Juvenile Delinquency
to White Collar Crime and Corruption.
Readings:
* B.Bakken, ”Crime, Juvenile Delinquency, and Deterrence Policies”, Chapter 11
of B.Bakken, The Exemplary Society, pp. 377- 408 (excerpts)
* Jan J.M. van Dijk, "Does Crime Pay? On the Relationships between Crime,
Rule of Law and Economic Growth", Forum on Crime and Society, Vol. 1, No. 1,
February 2000, pp. 1-12.
* Yanmin Yu, ”Corruption, Impact of Corruption, and Measures to Curtail
Corruption in China”, in Sujian Guo & Baogang Guo, China in Search of a
Harmonious Society, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, Chapter 10, pp. 229-246.
Week 11: 19 April : CRIME, DEVIANCE, AND SURVEILLANCE/CONTROL
Also repeating central themes on crime and deviance in China. Questions and
discussion. No required reading.
Week 12: 26 April : In-class test
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