Citation

Yen CY. Am. J. Sociol. 1934; 40(3): 298-308.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1934, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/216743

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the old Chinese society, individuals were confronted with very powerful traditions, which determined behavior to the minutest detail, and were assured of swift punishment in case of nonconformity. Consequently crime, in the Western sense, was not a serious problem. But recently China's social equilibrium has been so disturbed by the Western influence that the old rules are no longer effective. The result has been a destruction of the old social institutions; different types of crimes have developed and increased along with other social problems. An analysis of the available material suggests that crime in China has been intimately involved with three distinctive aspects of social change. These three aspects are: (1) crime as conflict between law and the mores; (2) crime as the only practical way of making a living; (3) crime as a positive reaction to the failure of social control and as a response to social disorganization.