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Confessions and Criminal Case Disposition in China
Author(s) -
Lu Hong,
Miethe Terance D.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
law and society review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1540-5893
pISSN - 0023-9216
DOI - 10.1111/1540-5893.3703003
Subject(s) - confession (law) , imprisonment , disposition , criminology , china , context (archaeology) , law , criminal law , criminal justice , political science , sociology , psychology , social psychology , history , archaeology
This research examines confessions and criminal case disposition in China. It describes how wider economic reforms in China and subsequent changes in its legal system may have affected the nature and consequence of criminal confessions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of a sample of 1,009 criminal court cases reveal that the majority of offenders confessed to their crime and that confession is associated with less severe punishments (e.g., lower risks for imprisonment, shorter sentences). Changes in the nature of confession and its impact on criminal court practices are also examined before and after legal reforms in the mid‐1990s. These context‐specific findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the interrelationships between legal structure, legal culture, and case disposition in communitarian‐based societies.