This book outlines how community sentences and early release options are administered in China. Chen provides empirical insights into the emerging community sector of the Chinese penal system, and illustrates how Chinese criminal courts decide between imprisonment and community sentences. Drawing on interviews with government and non-governmental supervisors, this methodological and rigorous study offers an in-depth discussion of the enforcement of these community sanctions and measures (CSM). By using the CSM reform as an example, this book illustrates the adaptation of Chinese governance and social control. Ultimately, Chen argues that the current model of governance in China (disciplinary governance) cannot guarantee an effective state-agent relationship; it also denies local governments sufficient legitimacy to secure social stability. Finally, proposing that only the rule of law and an active judiciary can complement these two deficiencies, this book will be of great interest to scholars of criminology, law, and penology, as well as anyone who is interested in how China is held together in a socio-legal sense.

Winner of the Asian Criminological Society's Distinguished Book Prize 2019 Explores how community sanctions and measures (CSM) operate in China and why China is motivated to pursue this strategy Draws on hard-to-reach information from in-depth interviews, on-site observations and questionnaire surveys Addresses broader topics in Chinese criminal justice, such as how to ensure an effective state-agent relationship

Autorentext
Qi Chen is Lecturer in Law and Criminology at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Liberal Governance, Social Control and CSM.- Chapter 3. Disciplinary Governance and Social Control in China.- Chapter 4. The Imposition of CSM in China.- Chapter 5. The Implementation of CSM in China.- Chapter 6. Reshaping Disciplinary Governance through Legal Reform: Lessons from CSM and beyond