Social Transition and Crime in China: An Economic Motivation Thesis
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| DOI | 10.1177/00048658040370S108 |
| Author | Jianhong Liu |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Social Transition and Crime in China:
An
Economic Motivation
Thesis
Jianhong Liu
Rhode Island College, United States ofAmerica
erspectives on crime and social change are limited because few
P
studies have examined the transition from state socialism to
a
market
economy. This article proposes an economic motivation thesis, arguing
that the introduction of market institutions in the transition from
state
socialism to a market economy generates vast economic motivation
as
well as fundamental institutional change. The massive expansion
of
economic motivation
is
a
primary source of increased crime in China.
The introduction of market institutions also creates conditions known
as ‘institutional incompatibility’ and ‘institutional disorganisation’, which
create unprecedented opportunities for economically motivated crimes.
This article provides historical evidence from China
to
illustrate the
processes and to substantiate the economic motivation thesis.
Explaining rising crime during rapid social change has long been a classic endeavour in
sociology. Durkheim’s anomie theory has been the dominant perspective. Durkheim
explains the rising crime and deviance during the French industrial revolution
by
applying his now classic concept
of
anomie, which he defines
as
the breakdown
of
the traditional value system (Durkheim, 1933, 1950). The topic
regained renewed attention in contemporary social research when international
comparative data became available in the 1970s. Contemporary theoretical work based
on variants of the anomie perspective continue Durkheim’s heritage; the most influen-
tial work includes Merton’s version
of
anomie theory (1938) and Shelley’s modernisa-
tion thesis
(1981),
and more recently, Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional anomie
theory (1994,
1997).
Other important theoretical theses include Elias’ (1978) ‘civilis-
ing process’, and Kick
&
LaFree’s (1985) ‘opportunity’ theory. Most empirical studies
apply some variant
of
the Durkheimian framework and use cross-national data
to
examine the relationship between levels
of
crimes and social change and development
(Bennett,
1991).
The vast bulk of the empirical work deals with homicide (Messner,
2001)
and findings have been mixed (see for reviews of the literature LaFree
&
Kick,
1986; Neuman
&
Berger, 1988; Neapolitan, 1997; LaFree, 1999).
Although these studies have contributed
to
understanding crime and social change,
important limitations remain to the theory. First, existing perspectives are largely based
on the Durkheimian anomie paradigm, and the development
of
alternative theoretical
Address for correspondence: Jianhong
Liu,
Department of Sociology, Rhode Island College,
Providence,
RI
02908,
USA.
E-mail:
afslOlt3etal.uri.edu
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SOCIALTRANSITION AND CRIME
IN
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frameworks has not been sufficiently considered. While anomie is important in
explaining crime during social transition, other social causes are also implicated.
Second, theoretical perspectives have been largely based on data from advanced
western capitalist societies and third-world capitalist developing economies after World
War
I1
and in the 1960s and 1970s. Little work has been done on crime and the
contemporary social transition from state socialist societies to market economies that
has occurred on a large scale in the 1990s in a number of previously socialist countries.
Important features of this new type of change suggest social processes that previous
theories have not sufficiently addressed.
Third,
theories have focused on exploring
factors that influence levels of crime and have paid little attention to the underlying
institutional sources. Little theoretical attention has been given to how fundamental
institutional change has affected patterns of crime during social change and how it
contributes to the crime production process in addition to all other sources of crimes.
China represents an important example of the social transition from a state socialist
society to a market economy. Rapid social change in China over two and half decades
has had profound social consequences. The introduction of market institutions has
brought about unprecedented economic growth, while engendering rapid increases in
crime. From
1978
to
2003,
China’s real
GDP
increased at an annual average of 9.47%
(China’s
2003
GDP
was $US1.4 trillion), catapulting China into the global economy
as the sixth largest in the world (China Statistical Yearbook, 2003). However, the
official crime rate reached
337.5
per
100,000
population in
2002
from a rate of
55.91
per
100,000
in 1978 (China Law Yearbook,
2003).
This article deviates from the dominant anomie tradition in proposing an economic
motivation thesis of social change and crime, arguing that the massive expansion of
economic motivation generated
by
institutional change, chiefly the introduction of
market institutions,
is
a
primary source of increased crime during the transition from a
state socialist to a market economy. The gradual introduction of market institutions has
created distinctive conditions, ‘institutional incompatibility’ and ‘institutional disor-
ganisation’. ‘Institutional incompatibility’ refers to the condition where market institu-
tions pose demands that are incompatible with the institutions of the socialist
command economy. ‘Institutional disorganisation’ refers to a condition where the insti-
tutional arrangement loses coordination, leading to confusion and malfunction in
social control. These conditions create unprecedented opportunities for economically
motivated crimes such
as
graft and corruption, and crimes for monetary gain such as
robbery and theft. Historical evidence from China
is
given to substantiate the thesis.
Theories
of
Social Change and Crime
As
noted, the origin of the research on crime and deviance during periods of social
change goes back to the work of Durkheim. Durkheim focused on the forces of social
integration, emphasising the central role
of
collective consensual values in maintaining
social integration and social control. He argued that in a time of rapid social change
the integrative force of the collective conscience
is
disrupted and consensus on social
values breaks down, resulting in social disintegration
-
a normless condition he
termed ‘anomie’ and which he theorised was the source of increased crime (Durkheim,
1933, 1950; Hinkle, 1976).
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