How Do I Start a Career in Sociological Criminology?

The so-called criminal sociology, also known as "social criminology" or "criminal criminology," is the use of sociological perspectives and methods to study the phenomenon of crime and the social causes, conditions, and social mechanisms of crime, as well as prevention, control, and elimination The science of ways and methods of criminal phenomena. Criminal sociology is a study of social causes and social prevention systems. It is the intersection of the two disciplines of criminology and sociology. It is not only different from sociology or criminology, but a marginal discipline that intersects the two. It has its own research scope and content. An independent theoretical system and structural framework is a discipline that has both systematic theory and application value. In short, the sociology of crime is a social discipline that studies the relationship between crime and human society by using sociological theories and methods. ^[1]

In the 1830s, Belgian statisticians first used statistical methods to study the criminal phenomenon of capitalist society and the age, gender, race, occupation of the perpetrators, and the economic, geographical, seasonal, and climate conditions of the society in which they live. The relationship points out that the occurrence and elimination of crime, increase and decrease, and the type of crime are all affected by the social environment, and puts forward the social cause of crime. He believes that society itself is the breeding ground for crime, and any society will inevitably produce a certain number of criminal acts. Affected by this view, a group of scholars with social reasons for crimes, such as German criminal jurist F.von Liszt and Italian criminologist E. Ferry, formed the history of criminal law thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The important school of criminal sociology has created and developed criminal sociology. In 1884, Ferry published the book "Sociology of Crime", which marked the formation of the sociology of crime. In the 1890s, the Criminal Sociology School established the International Criminal Law Institute.

Since the 20th century, the sociology of crime has further developed. In this process, general sociological theories, social psychology of violations, and theories of such branch disciplines as sociology of marriage and family all played an important role. Sociology of crime has become an active interdisciplinary research area that integrates knowledge in a variety of disciplines including criminology, sociology, psychology, and biology. In contemporary times, criminal sociologists have strengthened international exchanges and comparative research. ^[2]

Western sociology of crime has formed a variety of different theories around the cause of crime, including:

Social reason

Representatives are French criminologist, sociologist and French forensic professor A. Lacassagne. They emphasized that the individual reasons for the crimes could not be denied, and that they should pay more attention to their social reasons. Tarde criticized the theory of criminal anthropology proposed by the criminal anthropology school represented by Italian criminologist C. Rombroso, and believed that crime is essentially a social phenomenon, which can be explained by general social laws. Lacassanne compared crime to bacteria and society to culture. French sociologist Durkheim also used the study of crime to consider that crime is a normal and inevitable phenomenon, not a pathological phenomenon of society, because the society itself has lost control. When the dignity and sacredness of a society are gradually weakened or lost, the cohesion and cohesion of the society also collapse. This social situation is the mother of the crime.

Triad Cause of Crime

The representative is Ferri. He analyzes crime from three aspects: personal, natural and social. He focuses on the impact of social conditions such as economic conditions, industrial and agricultural production, social education, public opinion, and habits on crime, and advocates social improvement. Ferri was the head of the Italian Criminal Law Amendment Committee, which enabled his sociological theory of crime to be reflected in criminal legislation and criminal law reform, which affected the development of later criminal law.

Dual crime cause

The representative is Liszt. He criticized Rombroso's theory of inborn crimes, and did not fully agree with Ferry's theory of ternary crimes. He advocated analyzing crimes from both personal and social reasons. He does not deny the impact of genetic qualities on crime, but emphasizes the economic and social causes of crime.

Anomie theory

The concept of "disorderliness" was first proposed by Durkheim. American structural functionalist sociologists developed this concept and analyzed the causes of criminal behavior from the perspective of social structure. It is believed that on the one hand, society strongly emphasizes success, on the other hand, it does not provide proper means for success, or it limits the possibility of success for some people, and people have to adopt the most effective, albeit illegal, methods to cause crime.

Talk with different people

Proposed by American scholar EH Sutherland in 1939. He believes that people's crimes and other abnormal behaviors are not innate, but learned through out-of-social interaction. A person learns crime through the process of cultural communication because of frequent and close contacts with individuals or groups with a tendency to commit crimes. The likelihood of committing a crime depends on his age, the intensity of his contact with others, and the rate of contact with law-abiding and offenders. Western scholars also explain crimes from social conflicts and other aspects. The sociology of crime in the Soviet Union affirmed that social factors were the main cause of juvenile delinquency and was committed to proposing specific preventive measures. ^[2]

The basic contents of the sociology of crime are:

The actual crime status, crime type, and regional distribution of crime;

Subjective and objective factors that cause crime, including individual physiological factors, psychological factors, social factors, geographical factors, etc .;

Social prediction of crime, social prevention, social control, and various punishment countermeasures. The sociology of crime requires society to try to prevent crimes together and prevent individuals from committing crimes due to circumstances. It emphasizes that the offenders are treated differently, the probation is emphasized, and the traditional revenge and intimidation are critical. The study of criminal sociology has a direct impact on the formulation of criminal law and criminal policy in various countries, and the improvement of prison and prison administration, and plays a positive role in preventing and reducing the harm caused to society by crime. ^[2]

The sociology of crime is closely related. It absorbs and draws on each other theoretically. It has many things in common in the research objects and research methods. The difference is that the sociology of crime is to find the cause of crime from the social environment. It acknowledges the links between anthropological, biological and psychological factors and crime, but does not consider these to be the main causes of crime. It uses sociological methods to study the social nature of crime. Criminal psychology is a discipline that studies the relationship between a person's psychological state and crime, and pays special attention to studying the internal relationship between the motivation, purpose and criminal behavior of the criminal. It pays attention to discovering the connection between the criminal's psychological state, mental state, and subconscious activity and the social environment, so as to explain the criminal phenomenon and reveal the relationship between criminal motivation and behavior. It relies more on the knowledge and technology of natural sciences such as medicine and physiology.

What we usually see on television is criminal psychology. ^[2]

China has offered sociology of crime courses in the 1930s. Sociologists personally experienced life behind bars, went deep into the prisoners, collected first-hand information on crime issues, and made in-depth investigations and investigations into the phenomenon of crime. His representative works include "Social Analysis of Crime in Beijing" (1928), "Relationship between China's Crime Problem and Social Change" (1934), and so on. Since the 1980s, sociologists have worked hard to find the social causes and comprehensive management schemes of juvenile delinquency and crime by investigating the correlation between juvenile delinquency and family, school, environment, communication, employment, cultural life and other factors from a sociological perspective. He also explored some experiences in education and probation of adolescents. This is a good start for the development of criminal sociology in China.

In essence, a harmonious society means that various organizations and strata of society can operate in harmony and develop in harmony with each other. However, reality shows that in the operation and development of society, there are often various contradictions and conflicts that affect the harmony of society, and the most intense manifestation of such conflicts and contradictions is crime. In this sense, it can be said that the level of crime in a country reflects the degree of social harmony in a country. Therefore, as a criminology with the responsibility of eliminating social conflicts and preventing crimes, in the current goal of constructing a harmonious society in China, it is shouldering an important historical mission to make due contributions to the construction of a harmonious society, and at the same time is facing great opportunities for its own development. : "Any discipline in its mature form, the opportunity for it to enter the science palace and the basis for establishing its academic status, of course, the social needs are of first priority." Therefore, in the process of building a harmonious society in China, what should Chinese criminology do? Develop to better serve reality? The author believes that under the current social opportunity, Chinese criminology should reflect on and review existing research, expand its horizons, and change its methods in order to break the shackles of traditional theoretical frameworks, get out of the predicament that is lingering and linger, and promote its development. Development in depth. ^[3]

Shift in research focus

I. Attention should be paid to the gradual shift from "post-sin" research to "pre-sin" research

Chinese criminology theory holds that criminology is a discipline that studies the phenomenon of crime, its causes, and its countermeasures. It is based on this understanding that criminology has always adhered to the syllogism system of criminal phenomenon theory-cause theory of crime-crime countermeasure theory. Its core is centered on the cause of crime. This is because the cause of crime is a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of crime, and it is also the basis of crime countermeasures. Its core role naturally becomes the central position of the theory of criminology. Some scholars even think that criminology is the study of the cause of crime. science. Under the control of this criminological theory system, Chinese scholars have always pursued a single-line research model in the study of crime, that is, thinking about crime in the framework of syllogism. The biggest shortcomings of this research model are: First, the lack of sensitivity to social problems in social reality. In the syllogism system, the cause of crime is the core position. Therefore, the main force of the investigation of crime is basically the analysis of the cause of crime. As for the study of the phenomenon of crime, it only serves the cause of crime, and crime The study of countermeasures is just a simple extension of the investigation of the causes of crimes. Because the study of the cause of crime is a discussion of a causal mechanism after the emergence of crime, there is a lack of insightful attention and analysis of the symptoms before the emergence of the phenomenon and the pathological mechanism of its evolution. As a result, criminology has become a post-hoc study of the response to criminal phenomena, and sometimes even the scene appears: criminology only responds a long time after a large number of new-type criminal phenomena have emerged. The second is the lack of scientific prediction of crime in society. In the syllogism system, the problem of crime prediction is not given due attention, and sometimes it is even neglected. As a result, in reality, there is no scientific prediction of the evolution or development of crime in a certain period of time in society, so that the establishment of a society's crime prevention mechanism is often limited to the actual state of crime and is based on the current emergence of crime. In the target of effective punishment, there is a lack of foresight and strategy of "preventing problems before they occur". It can be seen that under the current criminological framework in China, the study of crime is mainly a "post-sin" research approach and method.

Objectively speaking, this research approach and method is undoubtedly of practical value for punishing crimes, but in the process of building a harmonious society in China, it has great shortcomings. Because, in pursuing the goal of a harmonious society, the important aspect is that it should have a keen response mechanism and scientific prediction ability for various contradictions and conflicts and possible problems in the real society, so that it can be effectively eliminated. In order to prevent the formation of a large wave of crime, we can ensure that the society operates harmoniously and develops harmoniously. Therefore, under the concept of a harmonious society, if China's criminology is to shoulder its historical mission, under the current research framework, it should realize a shift from focusing on "post-sin" research to "pre-sin" research. Specifically, the following two aspects should be strengthened in theory and practice:

Strengthen research on the pre-illness phenomenon of social structure. Just as the same person had some kind of symptoms before the illness, and there was a period of incubation, a society had a period of conflict and accumulation in the social structure before the fluctuation of the crime rate. It had a tense performance in the previous period. [Iv] Because of the causal mechanism of this intrinsic process, some scholars simply think: "The crime situation in a society is often the highest good measure of the stability of the social organization. Rising crime rates often mean that the degree of integration within society is decreasing; If there is a significant change in the type and form of crime, it is likely that the social structure or composition is undergoing major changes. Therefore, one of the most ideal windows or perspectives to observe and study a transitioning society is that society The dynamics of crime. From the concentration trend of the number of crimes in the spatial distribution, we can infer the sharpness of social changes in local areas of the society; according to the distribution of crimes in different areas of social life, we can detect the scale and speed of social mobility in different lives. Field differences; significant changes in the circumstances of the subject of the crime You can observe the major changes and existing weak links in the social composition and structure; from the new characteristics of crime methods and types, you can explore the key control points in the new social system that is being formed "[v]. It should be said that reading the state of social structure and analyzing its social essence through the change in the structure of criminal phenomena is a traditional criminological thinking based on causality. Under the concept of a harmonious society, we should achieve a change in this paradigm: this is the mechanism by which we should use the above-mentioned internal processes of the existence of crime and social structure, as well as the knowledge gained in criminology and sociology research for a long time Through the research on the pre-illness phenomenon of social structure, we can gain insight into the underlying pathological process of social structure, so as to promote the improvement of social structure and achieve the effect of preventing and curbing the breeding and development of crime. This "pre-illness" phenomenon of social structure can be understood through the following dimensions based on the achievements that social science has made today: one is to understand the retardation of social movement by measuring the speed of social movement; the other is It is to understand the polarization of society and the imbalance between the rich and the poor by calculating the Gini coefficient of social differentiation. The third is to understand the failure of organizational structure and function in society through a comprehensive assessment of the operation of social organizations. The fourth is through social individuals. To the degree of identification of social norms, to understand the anomie, softening status of social norms and so on. The risk range of its various indicators can be established by changing the historical evaluation of historical comparisons that have evolved solely from domestic crimes, and through the comparative study of the compatibility of the above indicators and crime status indicators in other countries in the world. It is obtained from the index evaluation system and frame of reference of social structure evaluation. Of course, this requires Chinese criminologists to further strengthen communication and exchange with foreign criminology and participate in the international dialogue of criminology; on the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen close attention and research on the evolution and development of extraterritorial crime issues and make forward-looking Analysis. In short, the formation of its own unique theory through this kind of research will motivate people to reflect on society, make criminology independent and critical, and change the embarrassment of past criminal research following social opinion and criminal justice. Can make better use of realistic preventive functions. This will undoubtedly play an important role in achieving the new students of criminology. In this regard, it is useful to listen to the voice of radical criminology: "Now the problem of crime is beginning to become a social problem .... If we only pay attention to the problem of crime itself, it is impossible to understand deeply the problem of crime in modern society In the same way, without seriously studying the social system and its internal contradictions, it is impossible to create a world where there is no oppression and no crime. This oppression phenomenon is rooted in social contradictions, and crime comes from this. This is a phenomenon of oppression. Therefore, to critically understand the problem of crime, we must link it to the larger context in which it can lead. "

Strengthening research on crime prediction As mentioned earlier, Chinese criminology has been very weak in the theory and practice of crime prediction. However, crime prediction occupies an important position in criminology, as some scholars have eloquently stated: " The study of crime prediction must be based on the study of the cause of the crime. Because of the study of the cause of the crime, "criminal anthropology with a bias on the physical characteristics of the criminal, criminal psychology with a bias on the psychological analysis of the criminal, and mentality on the criminal The etiology of criminal psychiatry has criminology that favors the social conditions of crime. "... The study of crime prediction is a multiple crime research method that meets this requirement .... It does not limit the cause of the crime to a specific direction, but uses a combination of various factors from various aspects. The 'cause complex' may be regarded as a new attempt for comprehensive research on the causes of crime. In addition, the study of crime prediction, in addition to comprehensive research on various causes of crime, further uses quantitative methods to make it The results are quantified, and a correlation table between the causes of crime and the danger rate of crime is made. More specifically, the amount and ratio of each crime factor are involved in the formation of criminality. The importance of the position of criminology in the study of the cause of crime towards a more specific and scientific approach cannot be ignored. [Vii] It can be seen that in China's criminology, the neglect of crime prediction is Extremely abnormal. It is precisely because Chinese criminology lacks an in-depth discussion of crime prediction in theory. Therefore, in the practice of Chinese crime prediction, the macro prediction of crime changes , Usually using the simplest extension method, which is to extend the chronological order of crime statistics from the past to the future, without using the simulation method of "associating various crime variables with various social and demographic variables" and comprehensive Institutional analysis and forecasting method, "Because the starting point of the extension method is to imagine that the social system is basically stable, the criminal tendencies and basic factors that have worked in the past and now will continue to work in the future" [viii], but it is in line with China s current society The reality of the transformation is inconsistent, therefore, its scientific nature is conceivable; as for the micro-prediction of individual criminal behavior, there is neither statistical prediction, clinical prediction, nor static and dynamic prediction. [Ix] Therefore, in the construction of a harmonious society, In the process, Chinese criminology should carry out in-depth research on the theory and practice of crime prediction, so as to finally provide a corresponding scientific basis for China to formulate long-term criminal policies and the treatment system of individual criminals.

Expanding research on crime assessment mechanisms

Second, we should expand the research on crime evaluation mechanism in the research field.

The phenomenon of crime is a complex social phenomenon, which involves deep-seated issues such as politics, economy, and culture of society. Therefore, the crime analysis of a society should be analyzed from multiple levels, not just at the level of its harmfulness to society. In this respect, Durkheim's rational understanding of the value of crime has reached a certain theoretical depth. He believes that crime is not only a normal phenomenon in society, but also a phenomenon that society needs. Crime plays an important role in society and plays a beneficial role in social progress. This beneficial effect is manifested in: promoting the development of law, promoting social progress, strengthening social solidarity, clarifying moral boundaries, and reducing social tension. aspect. Obviously, Durkheim saw that the moderate crime rate has some inherent logical relationship with social development, and therefore concluded that the moderate crime rate is a normal social phenomenon. In fact, the practice of human history also shows that during a period of strong control in a country, the crime rate is usually low, but this is usually at the cost of stagnant social development, and in a period when a country gives society excessive freedom, Although it can greatly stimulate the creative enthusiasm of the people and promote rapid economic development, it often comes at the cost of higher crime rates. Therefore, in the process of building a harmonious society, how much and how to control crime has become a question worthy of further discussion. This is because: First, as a post-developing country, the realization of a harmonious society is premised on the rapid development of society and economy. This is because it can only be provided on the basis of strong material guarantees for socio-economic development. The solid material conditions for building a harmonious society, but in a social environment where the supply of social supporting systems is insufficient and people's ability to withstand social changes is poor, the violent social shock caused by the pursuit of rapid social and economic development will lead to high crime rates. It seriously undermines the sustainable development of society and economy. Therefore, how to determine the coordination degree of the center of socio-economic development and the comprehensive development of society is a realistic problem that must be solved to build a harmonious society. Second, at the individual level of society, a harmonious society means that individuals can be fully and fully developed. This requires a country to tolerate the individual's lifestyle to the greatest extent and provide citizens with a maximum of self-development. Space and create a platform for the broadest display of talents, but if over-emphasis on individual reason will lead to the loss of social rationality and society to disorder and lead to the initiation of crime, on the contrary, if the emphasis on social reason is excessive, The tight control of society will also bring limitations to the development of individuals. Therefore, the rational definition of the margins of individual reason and social reason is a contradiction that must be properly handled to build a harmonious society. Obviously, the reasonable determination of the "minimum moral line" of society, that is, the social scope regulated by criminal law, should be the core content of resolving this contradiction. Third, crime is a function of the degree of social conflict and contradiction. In the process of building a harmonious society, how to effectively deal with and resolve social conflicts and contradictions in order to minimize crime is an effective way to finally achieve social harmony, and In the resolution mechanism of social contradictions and conflicts, how to scientifically play the active role of justice is the most critical. In short, in the process of building a harmonious society, it is important to find the best balance point to promote social development, protect public freedom, and maintain normal social order. Undoubtedly, this should be a major subject for joint research in the humanities and social sciences. Specifically in terms of criminology, the task faced is to expand the horizon of China's current criminological research and carry out a series of studies on the scientific evaluation mechanism of crime issues, that is, to focus on in-depth discussions in the following two aspects:

Research on the degree of crime control. Although many scholars in the field of criminology have made a rational understanding of the rising crime in a specific period, they have proposed that certain crime rates are a normal phenomenon, and crime is the price that must be paid for social development. Scientific viewpoints, but most of these viewpoints remain on abstract philosophical propositions, and they lack scientific practical guidance. For example, in what range or limit is the crime rate normal in a country? To what extent can a country endure the cost of crime in order to pursue rapid development? It is precisely because of this lack of in-depth discussion and theoretical research that whether the criminal countermeasures or the social countermeasures provide the scientific theoretical basis for the actual determination of criminal countermeasures or social countermeasures. Undoubtedly, comprehensive governance as a nation's idea of controlling crime and with fundamental macro policies is scientific. However, it is by no means the universal truth of crime control. In fact, in the prevention and control of crimes in different social situations, not only in the use of criminal and social countermeasures, but also in criminal and social countermeasures. How to resolve and coordinate conflicts in order to exert the maximum effect requires criminology to provide theoretical proof and support, otherwise the concept of comprehensive governance will become a short-term behavior of social control at the expense of quick success when faced with sudden crime. Or emotional impulsive behavior-a variant of "strike hard", the result of which is a heavy price paid by society with little effect. Therefore, for the crime situation of a period, how to evaluate whether it is a crime in the normal range or a crime in the abnormal range is very important. This is because if it is a crime in the normal range, in the response to the crime, we should focus more on the design and effectiveness of criminal policy; if it is a crime beyond the normal range, it should affect the stability of society. Greater emphasis will be placed on social policies such as adjustments to social development goals. Therefore, the theoretical research on the degree of crime control is urgently carried out in criminology, and the core is to solve the problem of what scope or limit a country controls crime to be appropriate and reasonable. The author believes that around this issue, criminology needs to conduct in-depth discussions in the following three aspects: First, crime control has a negative impact on socio-economic development. "Crimes limit the freedom of victims, but strict and effective crime control policies and methods limit the freedom of all of us", and this kind of restriction or deprivation of public liberty restricts the opportunities and enthusiasm of their talents to varying degrees This has affected the social and economic development. For example, during the planned economy period in China, the state restricted the movement of the population by means of the household registration system to achieve strict control of the society. Demand and normal economic exchanges undoubtedly have a retarding effect on economic development. Therefore, at this level, we should specifically study the size of the constraints imposed by crime control on economic development. In particular, we should explore the cost of socio-economic development by determining the ways and means of crime control. Second, the sense of public safety and the ability to bear the "risks" of public order. The public's sense of security is the reflection of the actual public security situation in the public's mind, that is, the public's perception and evaluation of the social security situation. In the process of social reform and development, if the public is not safe or not safe, that is, the "risk" of public order is beyond the range of the public's ability to bear, it will not only bring great harm to the normal social life of the public Threats, and the more serious consequence is that the public will gradually lose trust in national government departments and enthusiasm for supporting the reforms carried out by the state. Therefore, understanding the degree of public security in a certain period of time, and determining the extent to which the public can bear it, is an important reference standard for determining whether social crime is normal or abnormal. Therefore, in criminology, we should explore the various factors that affect the public's sense of security and their ability to withstand the "risk" of social order and their influence, in order to determine the specific indicators that they measure. Third, the degree of alienation of crime control. Although strengthening social control can reduce and curb crimes, improper social control may also lead to new crimes. Therefore, exploring the situation of crime directly triggered by the alienation of social control is also an important reference dimension for determining the "degree" of social control. In short, through in-depth research in these areas, a multi-dimensional comprehensive evaluation index system is constructed, thereby providing a scientific basis for the "degree" of crime control.

Study on the scientific evaluation of the operation and effectiveness of criminal justice. In a modern society ruled by law, judicial forces play an increasingly important role in social life, and they play a decisive role in punishing and curbing crime. Therefore, in western criminology, criminal justice issues occupy an important position in criminology research. For example, American scholars D. Stanley Azien and Doug A. Timer have co-authored their work in Criminology. Among the four editions of the book, one of them is a criminal justice system, focusing on Judicial institutions, operations and the existence of crises were analyzed in depth. The famous German criminologist Hans Joachim Schneider has a special chapter in his "criminology", "Formal Response to Criminal Actions", the legislation on criminal law, the application of criminal law, especially the verdict. Issues such as implementation were discussed in depth. Recently, the famous American criminologist Freda Adler wrote in the final chapter of "criminology" "criminological exploration of criminal justice system" on the operation process of criminal justice, the function of criminal justice system, criminal justice A comprehensive and systematic analysis was made on issues such as corrections, revealing its impact on the reality of crime and how to better play its role in preventing and controlling crime. In contrast to western criminology's emphasis on criminal justice research, Chinese criminology has always paid insufficient attention to this issue. This is manifested in the following: in Chinese criminology, criminal justice issues have always had no independent status in the criminology system. Only recently, some scholars have recognized this deficiency before they started to engage in it. To realize the communication and interaction of criminology and criminal law, some scholars discussed the impact of legislative and judicial responses on crime in the social response to crime. [xvii] Weak research in this field During the period of China's implementation of strong administrative control, we will not yet feel this lack of theory, but with the further deepening of China's market economy construction, scientific criminal justice design is punishing, Crime prevention plays a decisive role, and the lag of this kind of research will lead to blind movements and even mistakes in our work. Some scholars have found through comparison that the social structure of countries with low crime rates has three main characteristics:

Informal controls implemented by social groups, such as families, neighbours, schools, work units, and recreational organizations, play an important role in preventing crime.

The spirit of citizens' enthusiasm for public welfare is very important. In countries where citizens are enthusiastic about public welfare, the typical feature of their social structure is the low crime rate. (3) In the social structure of low crime rate, the criminal justice system is highly respected. The police work hard to get closer to the community, while citizens actively assist the police, courts or prisons in their work. [xviii] Then, in the transition period when China s current social structure and integration mechanism have undergone great changes, how to scientifically design the criminal justice system to promote active public participation and help to exert informal social control in crime prevention? In this regard, we stay more at the response level of the positive political slogan, but lack the theoretical "discovery" and discussion in combination with China's reality. What is more serious is that due to our lack of in-depth research in this field and lack of scientific theoretical guidance, it has led to adverse consequences for judicial practice. For example, China once used the number of cases handled as an indicator of the performance of the judicial organs. In fact, such an evaluation mechanism is extremely detrimental to giving full play to the judicial organs' role in preventing crime and mobilizing its enthusiasm. [xix] Therefore, strengthening in-depth research in the field of criminal justice and providing theoretical guidance for the construction and scientific operation of China's criminal justice system should be an important task for Chinese criminology. In the process of building a harmonious society, the research on the following four aspects should be strengthened: First, how to scientifically deploy and deploy police forces can not only save judicial control costs to the greatest extent, but also achieve timely and effective punishment. crime? Second, how can the powers of the judicial organs be scientifically allocated and how can they better play their role in preventing and controlling crime? Third, how to promote the organic combination of formal control and informal social control of criminal justice, and exert their joint strength? Fourth, how to scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of the operation of criminal justice?

Conduct macro research

Third, in the methodology of research, we should insist on macro-research from the schema of social dynamics.

In traditional criminological theoretical thinking, people are accustomed to individual explanation of crime problems from the microscopic level in the scheme of social statics. For example, in the study of criminology, although Durkheim proposed in the 19th century that "personal phenomena are different from social phenomena, individual consciousness cannot explain social phenomena, and to explain social phenomena, only according to the nature of society itself" [xx] , And pursued the position of criminological holistic methodology to try to explain the problem of social crime at that time, but the empirical individual theory with Lombrosso as the initiator had long monopolized the theory of criminology. [xxi] So far, in the theory of social anomalies, the theory of opportunity, the theory of differential communication, the theory of cultural conflict, the theory of social disintegration, the theory of relative deprivation, and the theory of illegal subculture group theory in western criminology, It is still the model or the main theoretical resource for the interpretation of national crime problems in today's social changes. [xxii] Since the theory of individual theory of criminology explains the cause of individual crimes, its theoretical tentacles hardly involve the macro-institutional level of society, and even if it is involved, it only examines various social structural factors at the micro-level. Therefore, this theory does not pay enough attention to the impact of changes in social systems or social structures on the crime rate or the structure of criminal phenomena and lacks the tension of theoretical explanation. "They (the above-mentioned criminological theory, Author's note) They did not examine the changes in rural crimes or the drastic changes in crimes caused by changing from rural to urban areas, nor did they provide a comprehensive theoretical system to explain new types of crimes such as juveniles and female offenders since the Industrial Revolution. " [xxiii] Of course, with the rise of contemporary calibration theory and radical criminology theory, the traditional criminology paradigm has been challenged, but its theoretical system is not yet complete. In the study of contemporary Chinese criminology, despite insisting on the Marxist dialectical materialism as the guiding ideology and pursuing a macro dynamic and analytical way of thinking, academic accumulation has not formed a macro discourse system to explain crime for a long time. Therefore, he carried out cross-level explanations consciously or unconsciously, which suffocated his academic vitality. However, at the level of social reality, social changes have a profound impact on the crime of a country. "The process of social development can promote changes in the nature and number of crimes, and can also cause changes in the characteristics of criminal populations" [xxvi ]. In particular, China's current society is undergoing a dramatic transformation from a planned economy to a market economy and a political country to a civil society. The social structure and its integration mechanism are undergoing major changes, and the various interests of society are constantly being adjusted. Chinese society can be said to have entered a period of high risk after the acceleration of economic development. In this social change of deconstruction and reorganization, the increase in crime rate and the change in the structure of crime phenomenon are often no longer merely a manifestation of individual morbidity at the micro level, but are more contradictions and contradictions at the macro level of the social structure or social system. The direct manifestations or consequences of conflicts have even evolved into unfair and irrational social structures and forms of social resistance and expression of interests in social systems in specific circumstances. [xxvii] Under this social reality, to effectively prevent and control crime and achieve social harmony, it is obvious that it is not enough to stick to the traditional criminological theory. This is because, in a modern sense, a harmonious society refers to the dynamic harmony in the development of a society, rather than the stability of the society in the traditional sense. What the society needs is the continuous adjustment of the social structure and system in development. China promotes coordinated operations. Therefore, for the study of current crimes, it is necessary to conduct macro research from the schema of social dynamics, so that its results can be helpful at the institutional level to eliminate crimes inspired by the current social development. It also provides a powerful reference dimension for the determination of national development goals and the formulation and adjustment of important national policies. Specifically, in building a harmonious society in China, research needs to be carried out in the following two aspects:

The relationship between the adjustment of national policy and crime. Now that China is undergoing various reforms, some important systems, policy adjustments, and changes will directly affect the major changes in the interests of many groups, thereby affecting and restricting collective behaviors. For example, the adjustment of industrial structure and the reform of state-owned enterprises will cause structural unemployment in some industries. Then, how will this structural unemployment affect the structure of China's criminal phenomenon? For another example, some scholars have shown that in some rural areas in China, the formation of "black" and white penetration is closely related to the predatory township system and cadre pressure system. Then, after the current exemption of agricultural taxes in the vast countryside, the underworld will What happened and so on. At present, in building a harmonious society in China, China will continue to implement a series of reform measures and will also carry out a series of policy adjustments. Then, how will this change affect crime? This is undoubtedly our urgent need for research. In short, analyzing its impact on the scale of crime, distribution of crime, and form of crime from the perspective of changes in national policy will provide a scientific consideration for the adjustment, formulation, and implementation of China's national policy, as well as institutional considerations. Crime prevention provides a realistic basis.

The relationship between social structural changes and crime. Under the dual forces of a market economy and globalization, China's social structure is changing at multiple levels. It mainly manifests in the dimensions of the relationship between the state and society, the stratum structure, the regional structure, and the organizational structure. Practice has shown that such changes in the social structure at different levels will affect and restrict the changes in China's crime to varying degrees. Therefore, analyzing the impact of changes in social structure on crime will have practical significance for promoting the rationalization of social structure and the regeneration of its functions to reduce crime. For example, after the reform of the unit system, the interpersonal relationship of unit personnel gradually changed from the primary relationship to the secondary relationship, and the traditional unit s ability to control crime decreased. In this case, it is possible to establish community-friendly communities through community public activities. The interpersonal communication space for spontaneous interaction among members, to enhance the cohesion and affinity of the community, and the sense of mutual identity and community belonging of community members, so as to achieve the natural deterrent effect of the "acquaintance community" on illegal behavior.

It should be said that the study of the above two aspects requires Chinese criminal scholars to have some "news sensitivity" to changes in the country's policies and policies, and to pay close attention to and carefully observe changes in social reality. In this sense, It is said that Chinese criminal scholars should bid farewell to the "easy chair" and "Liao Zhai life", devote themselves to the boiling life of China's reform cause, and discover, analyze, and study crime problems in China's actual life to form their own "society" The unique theory of criminology in the "transition period" not only contributes to China's realization of social harmony, but also contributes to China's criminology standing in the forest of criminology in the world. ^[2]