GANG CRIME AND ITS PUNISHMENT IN CHINA

Using data from an inmate survey in Tianjin, China this study examines selected characteristics of youth gangs, gang crime, and official pun ishment in contemporary China, and compares them to those commonly rep orted in the United States. The findings indicate that the organizatio nal level of Chinese youth gangs is low, that the age distribution of offenders committing gang-related crime increases rapidly in the age-r ange of the mid- teens and then levels off through the early twenties, and that there is a significant association between prior offenses an d involvement in gang crime. These findings are consistent with the U. S. research. The data also indicate some differences across nations as well. Fellow workers and ''provincials'' are, for instance, a relativ ely common source of gang members in China, which reflects the unique employment and life circumstances in Chinese society. There does not a ppear to be an association between the gang-related crime and the seri ousness of the offense for which the inmate was incarcerated, which is contrary to U.S. research indicating such as association. Finally, ga ng-related crime increases the severity of official punishment. This f inding is consistent with the official Chinese policy of severely crac king down on gangs and gang crime. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.