Spencer D. Li University of Macau

Objectives 1. Overview of the community- based correctional initiative in China 2. Review of its development and challenges

A Correctional System in Need of Reform Major problems in the correctional system at the turn of the century 1.5 million inmates in jails and prisons 16% over capacity Operating costs totaled nearly RMB 20 billion annually No evidence that the system had been effective in reducing recidivism and promoting offender rehabilitation

The Calls for Change The need of the government to reduce prison overcrowding and high cost of imprisonment The concern about high recidivism, especially in the area of drug treatment The influence of research on evidence-based corrections from abroad The demand of making the system “kinder” and “humanitarian”

The Initiative Experiments started in two municipal CJ systems The central government sponsored pilot programs in 2003 The National People’s Congress amended the criminal law officially recognizing community- based corrections in 2011 The government set policies and legal requirements of community-based corrections in 2012

The Development In March 2011, over 65% of the local jurisdictions had community-based correctional programs They supervised a total of 659,000 convicted offenders Successes in some areas –Zhejiang Provinces placed 130,000 convicted offenders in the system from 2004 to About 90,000 (69%) of them successfully completed their terms in the community settings

Problems and Challenges Ambivalent legal requirements Insufficient funding Inexperienced and poorly trained staff Low accountability - lack of research and evaluation

Thank You! Contact: Spencer D. Li Department of Sociology University of Macau Avenida Padre Tomás Pereira Taipa, Macau, China Tel: (853) Fax: (853)