Contemporary Issues in Crime, Criminal Justice and Criminology in Greater China: Editors’ Introduction

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Hong Lu,Jonathan Lee,Bill Hebenton,Liqun Cao
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20946264
• Subject Matter: Editorial

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20946264

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2021, Vol. 65(4) 307 –317

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20946264

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Editorial

Contemporary Issues in

Crime, Criminal Justice

and Criminology in Greater

China: Editors’ Introduction

Bill Hebenton1, Jonathan Lee2, Hong Lu3, and

Liqun Cao4

This special issue Contemporary Issues in Crime, Criminal justice and Criminology

in Greater China, was commissioned specifically as part of the 10th anniversary

celebrations of the Association of Chinese Criminology and Criminal Justice in the

United States (ACCCJ). The purpose of the special issue was seen as showcasing both

ACCCJ members’ and others research contributions on crime, criminal justice and

criminology in the Greater China region. Our editors’ introduction has three parts.

First, a short history of the development of ACCCJ, which fills a formal gap, since

there is no current published historical backdrop to the institutional development of

the association. Second, a necessarily brief analysis of the development of criminol-

ogy in Chinese societies over the last decade (2010–2020). Finally, a contextualisation

of the papers selected for this special issue. As editors, we wish to gratefully acknowl-

edge the fulsome help and assistance of the journal editor in chief Dr Mark T. Palermo,

Sage the publisher of the journal, and of course the authors who have worked hard on

revisions to manuscripts submitted via the peer review process.

A Brief History of ACCCJ and Its Accomplishments

The field of criminology and criminal justice studies has grown exponentially since the

1980s, while at the same time interest in the study of crime, justice and criminology

in Chinese societies also increased rapidly. In North America, the idea of having a

platform for scholars with shared interests in Chinese societies had been coalescing

946264IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X20946264International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyHebenton et al.

research-article2020

1University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

2Penn State University, Harrisburg, PA, USA

3University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA

4Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Bill Hebenton, Department of Criminology, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.

Email: bill.hebenton@manchester.ac.uk