Modernization and crime patterns in China

Existing research on modernization and crime patterns largely focused on the volume of crime and its variation over periods of modernization. The empirical studies predominantly used cross-national data based on Western advanced capitalist societies and developing countries. To further discover patterns of crime during the modernization process in non-Western settings, the present study took a different approach. It examined the rate of change for property and violent crimes in China; and it employed longitudinal methods to analyze the crime series. The findings extended the conclusions of modernization theories regarding general crime patterns during modernization. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.