Crime Control: Insights from the Dynamic Equilibrium Theory

Author: Zhai Zhongdong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: In contemporary China, the issue of crime has become increasingly prominent, emerging as a fundamental social problem. How to control crime? How to control crime in the context of transformation? How to control crime without hindering social transformation? This is not only a major practical issue but also a significant theoretical one. Based on an analysis of current crime control practices in China and drawing on important existing research in academia, this book proposes the principle of dynamic balance in crime control. It argues that crime control should involve constructing countermeasures based on the causes of criminal behavior, seeking an antagonistic balance between the causes of criminal behavior and crime control strategies. The fundamental characteristic of this principle lies in seeking pathways for crime control within social governance. Its advantage lies in its ability to not only maintain social order but also support social transformation and ensure the development of new models of social stability.
Around the theory of dynamic balance, this book elaborates on seven aspects:
In the first part, the book strives to use detailed and reliable data to reflect the crime issues in contemporary China. In this part, the book primarily employs empirical methods, analyzing crime from three dimensions: crime quantity, crime types, and crime scale.
In the second part, the book uses historical methods to review the practices of crime control in China after the reform and opening-up, particularly policy adjustments. In this part, the book argues that current crime control practices in China have three characteristics: emphasis on the construction of specialized organizations for crime control; focus on public security as the main domain of crime control, with increasing attention to crime prevention; and the fundamental driving force of crime control originating from the state.
In the third part, the book summarizes the main crime control proposals put forward by scholars in contemporary China and analyzes them one by one. In this part, the book uses the method of literature review to examine important crime control proposals in China in recent years, conducting a value analysis of these proposals—such as the theory of comprehensive improvement of public security governance, the theory of crime costs, the theory of social security, and the theory of resolution and blockage—combined with crime control practices.
In the fourth part, the book derives the theory of dynamic balance in crime control from the fundamental issues of crime. In this part, the book primarily uses deductive methods, deriving six propositions from three a priori premises: the social phenomenonality of crime, the extrinsic basis of action, and the universality of the dynamic balance state. These six propositions are the foundational concepts of the theory of dynamic balance in crime control: crime cannot be designed or formulated to eliminate crime; crime control is the best choice for the state and society to address crime issues; crime control should primarily be implemented by controlling external factors that trigger crime; the social action goal of crime control is to keep the external causes of crime within the framework of social balanced development; crime control is a form of gray control; and crime control is a dynamic activity. These six propositions form the basis for the validity of the theory of dynamic balance in crime control.
In the fifth part, building on the previous chapter, the book comprehensively elaborates on the basic propositions of the theory of dynamic balance regarding crime control. In this part, the book employs multiple methods, including historical and deductive methods, to unfold the basic propositions of the theory of dynamic balance from three levels:
First level: Constructing crime-resistant relationships, which addresses the perspectives of how crime occurs and how it is resisted.
Second level: Constructing a balanced relationship in crime resistance. In this level, the book explains the reasons for constructing a balanced relationship in crime resistance from three aspects: philosophy, history, and the ontology of the theory of dynamic balance.
Third level: Constructing a dynamic balance in crime control, which further elaborates on the previous discussions. Based on this, the book summarizes the characteristics of the theory of dynamic balance in crime control: integrating direct and indirect control, and balancing micro and macro control.
In the sixth part, the book elaborates on the views of the theory of dynamic balance regarding crime control measures. In this part, the book first analyzes the main external factors and relationships that trigger criminal behavior, dividing them into direct and indirect factors and relationships. On this basis, it proposes nine categories of crime-resistant measures for contemporary Chinese society:
- Countermeasures against the "property-related external factors and relationships" that induce criminal behavior.
- Countermeasures against crime caused by the alienation of the "individual-society connection."
- Countermeasures against crime caused by the decline of "moral standards."
- Countermeasures against the "unfairness" factors that induce crime.
- Countermeasures against the "high-consumption" factors that induce crime.
- Countermeasures against crime increases due to the "decrease in crime exposure."
- Countermeasures against crime increases due to the "imbalance in cultural development."
- Countermeasures against unhealthy personalities that lead to crime.
- Countermeasures for the recidivism control of released prisoners.
In the seventh part, the book conducts a comprehensive evaluation of its value from the perspective of social transformation. In this part, the book addresses the problems that may arise in China's social transformation and argues that the theory of dynamic balance has the following transformative values: maintaining social order, supporting social transformation, promoting the development of new models of social stability, and reducing the costs of maintaining social order.