Neighborhood Social Control and Perceptions of Crime and Disorder in Contemporary Urban China*

Abstract

KEYWORDS: neighborhood organization, social control, perceptions of crime and disorder, urban China By drawing on the two streams of Western literature on "neighborhood effects" and perceptions of neighborhood disorder adapted to the distinctive organizational infrastructure of neighborhoods in contemporary urban China, we examine the contextual effects of different forms of neighborhood social control (i.e., collective efficacy, semipublic control, public control, and market-based control) on different types of perceived disorder (i.e., criminal activity, social disorder, physical disorder, and total disorder) across neighborhoods. The analyses are based on data collected in the year 2013 from a survey of approximately 2,500 households in 50 neighborhoods across the city of Tianjin. Collective efficacy as a form of informal control has a significant effect only for perceived social disorder. Public control as measured by the activities of neighborhood police stations has a significant contextual effect on all forms of perceived disorder, whereas the role of market-based control as represented by contracted community services is limited to perceived physical disorder. Finally, semipublic control as measured by the activities of neighborhood committees significantly affects all forms of perceived disorder, but the direction of the effect is positive. We interpret this positive effect with reference to the complex processes surrounding the "translation" of neighborhood disorderly conditions into perceptions of disorder.A key development in criminology over the course of the past few decades has been the resurgence of interest in "neighborhood effects" to understand disorderly conditions, including criminal activity (Sampson, Morenoff, and Gannon-Rowley, 2002). As Skogan (2012: 174; has observed, the accumulated evidence is difficult to summarize succinctly because the concept of disorder encompasses a wide range of concrete

Neighborhood context, police legitimacy and willingness to help the police in Shanghai, China

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“…The systemic community-level social disorganization theory thus puts human agency in the spotlight. It underlines the "neighborhood effect" reacting to structural challenges caused by industrial development or changes in economic activities (Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Media Consumption and Fear of Crime in a Large Chinese City

“…Empirical research on perceptions of crime among Chinese people has developed encouragingly during the past decade. Several studies have examined public perception of crime and/or disorder conditions (Jiang et al., ; Zhang et al., ), the effect of individual sociodemographics and neighborhood characteristics on fear of crime (Liu, ; Zhang et al., ; Liu et al., ; Liu et al., ), and the effect of fear of crime on bystander intervention (Zhong, ). Additional research includes a comparison between Chinese and American college students’ views on crime (Lambert and Jiang, ).…”

Восприятие Беспорядка И Социальный Контроль В Новых Жилых Массивах: Опыт Социологического Исследования

“…Исследователи показывают, что восприятие бес порядка резидентами одного и того же соседства может различаться, что зависит как от характеристик соседства (как это было показано в исследовании выше), так и от самих индивидов. Возраст, раса, длительность проживания, опыт виктимиза ции, участие в делах соседства -это те характеристики индивидов, которые могут оказать влияние на «заметность» беспорядка для горожан [Sampson, Raudenbush, Earls, 1997;Sampson, 2009;Zhang, Messner, Zhang, 2017]. Горожане, живущие в социально сплоченных кварталах, как правило, «видят» меньше меньшинств и сообщают о меньшем беспорядке, чем те, кто живет в менее сплоченных со седских сообществах [Wickes et al, 2013].…”

“…Л. Джанг и коллеги на основе исследования китайского опыта восприятия соседского беспорядка выделяют схожие с уже описанными выше формы соседского социального контроля: -«коллективное участие» -коллективная инициативная деятельность соседей; -полупубличный контроль -деятельность соседских комитетов; -публичный контроль -активность районных полицейских участков. Однако авторы добавляют принципиально новую форму -рыночный контроль, который осуществляется с помощью предоставления жильцам услуг обеспечения порядка по коммерческому контракту [Zhang, Messner, Zhang, 2017].…”