Thèse de doctorat en Études extrême-orientales
Sous la direction de Marie-Claire Bergère.
Soutenue en 1988
à Paris, EHESS .
Depuis 1976 la societe chinoise a subi de profondes mutations qui ont conduit a l'apparition ou a l'aggravation de problemes sociaux, dont le plus spectaculaire est l'accroissement de la delinquance. La plus grande liberte de la presse et le developpement de la recherche scientifique permettent d'aborder ce phenomene social, notamment en relation avec les evolutions actuelles du controle social. La delinquance juvenile represente environ 80% de la criminalite globale. On note dans cette population une nette tendance a l'abaissement de l'age du premier delit et une aggravation des crimes. Le vol reste le delit le plus courant, mais toute la typologie criminelle est representee. La criminalite collective est tres repandue. Apres 1949, le controle social a fonctionne sur la base de la surveillance etroite d'une population fixee a un lieu determine. La police cumulait toutes les fonctions de repression des attitudes deviantes. Depuis 1977, les mutations sociales ont conduit a un assouplissement des controles sans qu'un veritable systeme juridique prenne le relais. L'accroissement de la delinquance juvenile est le produit du decalage entre les espoirs que le developpement economique a fait naitre parmi la jeunesse et la faiblesse de ce developpement.
Juvenile delinquency and social control in urban china : 1976-1985
Since 1976, chinese society has undergone some deep changes which led to the appearance or the worsening of social problems. The most spectacular one is the increase of delinquency. A larger freedom of the press and the development of scientific research allows to tackle this social phenomenon, especially in relation with the present development of social control. Juvenile delinquency represents about 80% of the whole criminality. In that population we can notive a clear tendency to the lowering of the age of the first offence and a worsening of crimes. Robbery remains the most common offence, but the whole criminal typology is represented. Collective criminality is widespread. After 1949, the social control worked on the basis of a very tight supervision of a population settled in a definite place. The police held simultaneously all repressive functions of deviant behaviours. Since 1977, social changes have led to a slackening of controls even though a judicial system has not been put in place. The increase of juvenile delinquency is the result of a gap between the hopes which the economical development have spread among the youth and the weakness of this development.