The same the whole world over? A review essay on youth offending from the 1980s and youth justice in contemporary China

The Role of the Study–Work School: A Chinese Case Study on Early Intervention and Child-Centred Juvenile Justice

“…Secondly, like many other jurisdictions, China is experiencing the common tensions between care and control in juvenile protection and crime prevention and between the protection of children from criminal offending through early intervention and the protection of them from arbitrary state interference. In this context, as this article shows, China shares with Western jurisdictions the same difficulties in attempting evaluate the effectiveness of various policies, models, and projects (Shen and Hall, 2015) but has its own problems and an array of challenges. A fundamental problem for China is the lack of an evidence-based approach in the process of child protection and crime prevention and a practice without assessment and evaluation often results in arbitrary decision-making, a policy without a clear vision, and inconsistency in practice.…”

“…However, youth justice in China is an exception and operates on similar core principles based on social reintegration Shen and Hall, 2015).…”

“…Confucianism emphasises human agency to be guided by moral rules which are thought to be possibly brought about by education (Dikötter, 2002). Over the years, the function of education in shaping individuals' thoughts and behaviours has been widely recognised in the Chinese society (Shen and Hall, 2015).…”

“…Although legally defining deviance or risk factors may incur some contestation in culture and theoretical difficulties in legal and academic circles, Chinese culture and law together adopt a pragmatic approach governed by the principle that a consensual view of deviance helps to solve problems in practice -an approach that prioritises problem-solving above both retribution and deterrence (Shen and Hall, 2015). In this legal and political context, the law specifies that juveniles who have displayed seriously unhealthy behaviours may be subjected to the study-work school for their education and rescue.…”

“…Under this strategy, informal educational and supervisory programmes are the most important means and thus the study-work school is inevitably a common measure for juveniles (Shen and Hall, 2015). In 2006 a Bill was proposed to amend the Law on the Protection of Minors, in which the study-work school was emphasised and formally recognised as an effective measure for juvenile crime prevention and a supplementary facility in school education.…”