Anomie, Social Change, and Crime: A study of rural to urban migration and crime in Guangdong, China

• In Event: Crime in Rural China (Organized by the Division of Rural Criminology)

Abstract

Emile Durkheim employed the concept of anomie to refer to a state of disorder brought about by rapid social change. Durkheim’s work on society and the division of labor was intended as a universal theory, meant to explain all types of society. As such, his work on anomie can provide insights into the situation surrounding China’s economic reform since the 1980s. As shown in China’s government reports and scholarly research, during the period of modernization and economic development in China, there has been an increase in the number of crimes the country has experienced. It is worth noting that crime rates were increasing during the same time period that China was experiencing a massive wave of migration. The current research aimed to explore the post-reform era of China—a country whose history makes it an excellent case study for examining the relationship between rural migration and crime. As a research piece that is exploratory in nature (but theoretically driven), the author aims to offer some theoretical insights that are comprehensive, but not exhaustive, on the characteristics of rural migrant offenders in Guangdong Province.

Author

• Ziwei Qi, Fort Hays State University