Correlates Of Criminal Behaviors In The Broad Background Of Social Transition

Since the 1980 s,the social productivity has been greatly improved at a time of economic transition.The comprehensive national strength has been greatly enhanced,and the people's living standard has been significantly improved.Meanwhile,social stratification has got more pronounced.The mobility of the population has been up while traditional values and moral norms have been weakened.Individualism,money worship and vulgar pragmatism become more popular today.In addition,the formal and informal social control mechanisms are weakening.This leads to a significant increase in the total amount of crime.The types and forms of crime show obvious characteristics of the times such as the prominent of violent crime incidents and property crime incidents increasing.Similarly,drug abuse is a serious social problem,and the number of drug-related crimes continues to increase substantially.Exploring the correlates of criminal behavior is extremely vital significance in the broad background of social transition.By reviewing the relevant literature,it is self evident that the literature is mainly from the perspective of Sociology,Psychology,Criminology,Law,Economics and other disciplines.In addition,the predominant research method is qualitative and often at the macro level.The shortcoming of the policy recommendation derived from such study is problematic.The empirical research on the correlates of criminal behavior from the micro individual level is relatively scarce.Most of criminology studies drew conclusions based on conventional samples,especially school-based youth,which tended to capture minor or more conventional forms of criminal behavior,and neglected the adult offenders.Research on the factors influencing serious criminal offending behavior is very limited.Therefore,this study attempts to adopt interdisciplinary integration research model,applies the theories and research methods of Sociology,Psychology,Criminology and other related disciplines to conduct multidisciplinary analysis,and takes three theoretical frameworks,General Theory of Crime,Social Learning Theory,and General Strain Theory,to examine the influence of factors on violent offenses,property offenses,and drug offenses.It has been hypothesized that the individuals who have lower self-control,association with delinquent peer,experienced more intense strains reported higher levels of offending.A Mixed method approach was used in this study by combining both qualitative and quantitative methods.The data used in the analysis were collected from three prisons in G City with a large sample of over 1,500.More specifically,the sample included offenders of floating population as well as offenders oflocal residence.A qualitative approach was used including semi-structured interviews of 62 offenders.The findings partially support of the general hypothesis.The results show that individuals who have lower self-control,association with delinquent peer,experienced more intense strains reported higher levels of offending.The findings revealed the following points:Firstly,four dimensions of self-control,association with delinquent peer,and four types of strain have effects on criminal behavior.Secondly,there is a significant difference between offenders of local residence and offenders of floating population in the risk-seeking and self-centeredness,impulsive,volatile temper,the experience of property victimization,education level,family economic status,the location of residency,and age at the time of committing crime.There are some differences between offenders of local residence and offenders of floating population in the influencing factors related to criminal behaviors.Thirdly,There is no significant difference between offenders of local residence and offenders of floating population with respect to the incidences of violent offenses,property offenses,and drug offenses reported in the survey.Based on the empirical findings of the study,this study suggests constructing the mutidimension social support system,improving the individual's self-control level,reducing association with delinquent peers,reducing criminogenic strains,improving the ability of emotion management,to prevent violent offenses,property offenses,and drug offenses.The study had some theoretical and practical contribution.Firstly,this study reveals the correlates of criminal behavior,and enriches the existing literature of the correlates of criminal behavior in the broad background of social transition.Secondly,this is the first attempt to comprehensive test the above three criminology theories original arising from western countries using the survey data of Chinese adult offenders.This study can provide a specific direction for further enriching and perfecting the above criminology theories.Thirdly,it can provide a way of thinking about the formation and implementation of criminal justice policies and social policies for the relevant government departments to effectively prevent and reduce crime.