Changing crime trends and their association with inequality among provinces in mainland China over 35 years

TY - CHAP

T1 - Changing crime trends and their association with inequality among provinces in mainland China over 35 years

AU - Li, Yijing

AU - Qiu, Geping

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Stephen Farrall and Susan McVie 2025. All rights reserved.

PY - 2025/1/1

Y1 - 2025/1/1

N2 - Against the background of rapid social change in mainland China since the economic reforms of 1978, this chapter investigates changes in crime levels and types at provincial scales. Using official data and quantitative analysis techniques (i.e., spatial--temporal analysis, Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis) from a geographical perspective, it aims to test criminological and social theories about the relationship between crime and inequality developed in western countries in the context of China. It finds that, on average, crime levels in China have increased dramatically regardless of scale, but crime patterns have varied by region over time. It examines the macro-level relationships between crime rates and a set of selected social, economic, demographic and cultural indicators of inequality as suggested by different criminological theories, using statistical techniques such as co-integration test and regression. The results show that, in line with theory, some measures of inequality have consistent relationships with crime that are either criminogenic or crime mediating, whilst, for others, the association with crime varies according to region, spatial scale and temporal change.

AB - Against the background of rapid social change in mainland China since the economic reforms of 1978, this chapter investigates changes in crime levels and types at provincial scales. Using official data and quantitative analysis techniques (i.e., spatial--temporal analysis, Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis) from a geographical perspective, it aims to test criminological and social theories about the relationship between crime and inequality developed in western countries in the context of China. It finds that, on average, crime levels in China have increased dramatically regardless of scale, but crime patterns have varied by region over time. It examines the macro-level relationships between crime rates and a set of selected social, economic, demographic and cultural indicators of inequality as suggested by different criminological theories, using statistical techniques such as co-integration test and regression. The results show that, in line with theory, some measures of inequality have consistent relationships with crime that are either criminogenic or crime mediating, whilst, for others, the association with crime varies according to region, spatial scale and temporal change.

UR - https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-crime-and-inequality-9781800883598.html

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105000716237&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4337/9781800883604.00019

DO - 10.4337/9781800883604.00019

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781800883598

T3 - Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025

SP - 221

EP - 238

BT - Handbook on Crime and Inequality

A2 - Farrall, Stephen

A2 - McVie, Susan

PB - Edward Elger

ER -