NCJ Number
210601
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2005 Pages: 392-409
Date Published
August 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether the "communitarian" features of Chinese society provide social capital that reduces criminal recidivism.
Abstract
Braithwaite (1989) described "communitarianism" as the antithesis of individualism. He identified three elements of communitarian societies: densely enmeshed interdependency, mutual obligation and trust, and a focus on group loyalty rather than individual convenience. Compared with the United States, Chinese communities feature communitarian characteristics. In order to test the effects of Chinese communitarian variables on recidivism, the current study involved a random sample of 1,063 inmates admitted in 1991 to a prison housing offenders from urban neighborhoods of Tianjin. The focus of this study was on 279 of these inmates who were recidivists serving sentences for their most recent offense. These 279 inmates were regarded as a random sample of all recidivists in the inmate population in Tianjin prison. Information obtained from these recidivists included the date of release from prison for the last offense and the date of rearrest for the current offense. Using these two dates, the length of nonoffending time from release to rearrest was calculated. Social capital for each inmate was determined from variables related to family relationships, interaction with neighbors, and trusting and seeking help from other community members. The average period of nonoffending for the sample was 39.8 months. The impact of social capital variables was in the expected direction. Job support services in the community had the greatest impact on recidivism. Overall, social capital variables had significant effects on the length of time to rearrest. 2 tables and 64 references