Crime Control (Perspectives on Dynamic Equilibrium Theory)

Author: Zhai Zhongdong
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not Available
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 existing important research in academia, this book proposes the concept of dynamic balance in crime control. It argues that crime control should involve constructing countermeasures based on the causes of criminal behavior, seeking a balanced relationship between the factors that trigger crime and crime control strategies. The fundamental characteristic of this proposal lies in seeking pathways for crime control within the framework of social governance. Its advantage lies in its potential 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, the 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: the quantity of crime, the types of crime, and the scale of crime.
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 identifies three characteristics of current crime control practices in China: emphasis on the construction of specialized organizations for crime control; focus on social security as the primary 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, examining important crime control proposals in China in recent years, and conducts a value analysis of these proposals—namely, the theory of comprehensive improvement of social security governance, the theory of crime costs, the theory of social security, and the theory of resolution and blocking—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 phenomenon nature of crime, the external basis of action, and the universality of the dynamic balance state. These propositions are: it is impossible to design a system aimed at eliminating 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 control 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 foundational concepts 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 the relationship of crime resistance, which addresses the perspectives of how crime occurs and how it is resisted.
Second level: Constructing the balanced relationship of crime resistance, where the book explains the reasons for constructing this balanced relationship from three aspects: philosophy, history, and the ontology of the theory of dynamic balance.
Third level: Constructing the dynamic balanced relationship of 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 directly and indirectly trigger criminal behavior, dividing them into direct and indirect factors. On this basis, it proposes nine categories of crime resistance measures for contemporary Chinese society:
- Resistance measures against "property-related external factors and relationships" that induce criminal behavior;
- Resistance measures against crime caused by the alienation of "individual-society connections";
- Resistance measures against crime caused by the decline of "moral standards";
- Resistance measures against the "unfairness" factors that induce crime;
- Resistance measures against the "high-consumption" factors that induce crime;
- Resistance measures against crime rising due to the "decrease in crime exposure";
- Resistance measures against crime rising due to the "imbalance in cultural development";
- Resistance measures against unhealthy personalities that contribute to crime;
- Resistance measures for 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 issues easily arising from China's social transformation and argues that the theory of dynamic balance holds the following transformative values:
- Maintaining social order and supporting social transformation;
- Promoting the development of new models of social stability;
- Reducing the cost of maintaining social order.