ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book presents a framework for analysing the sociology of penality in contemporary China. It looks beyond the narrow perception of punishment as a traditional approach to crime control from the penological perspective, and examines social foundations, political conditions and cultural dimensions of punishment across different historical periods in contemporary China. The book discusses the process of de-criminalization and de-incarceration of minor offences as part of the state's turn towards lenient justice. It investigates the growth of community justice in the Chinese social and legal contexts. The book focuses primarily on punishment in the US and the UK as comparable models to understand how punishment has developed and evolved in China. It concentrates largely on the implications of penality for the urban context where half of China's population resides.
