East meets West: Chinese and U.S. college students' views on formal and informal crime control

Abstract

Both formal and informal crime control are used to deter people from engaging in criminal behavior that is harmful to the well-being of society. Formal criminal justice control uses the law and official government agencies to promote compliance, whereas informal criminal justice control uses morals and social institutions to encourage people to be law abiding. This study examined survey data to determine the importance of each form of social control among Chinese and U.S. college students. Chinese students were more likely to view formal and informal crime control as important mechanisms. Furthermore, Chinese students ranked the blending of formal and informal crime control as being more important.