ABSTRACT
Until the 1980s a majority of released prisoners continued to live and work in the neighborhood of their former prison. In Qinghai, this was true for about three-fifths of released prisoners. The phenomenon is called jiuye, which normally means 'take employment'. In August 1954, the State Council approved a set of more benign-sounding regulations concerning jiuye. The de-emphasis on mandatory jiuye has not pleased many eastern cities, which have often found themselves saddled with large numbers of former prisoners. In short, neither the discharged prisoners nor the local farms and industrial units relish jiuye, nor the phenomenon has been greatly on the decline. Recidivism among northwestern prisoners is officially admitted to be "conspicuously higher" than elsewhere, and is clearly giving rise to concern. Around the world, there have been published over five hundred research papers on the relationship between prison regimes and recidivism.
