Few social issues have received more public attention and scholarly debate than the death penalty. While the abolitionist movement has made a successful stride in recent decades, a small number of countries remain committed to the death penalty and impose it with a relatively high frequency. In this regard, the People’s Republic of China no doubt leads the world in both numbers of death sentences and executions. Despite being the largest user of the death penalty, China has never conducted a national poll on citizens’ opinions toward capital punishment, while claiming “overwhelming public support” as a major justification for its retention and use.

Chinese Netizens’ Opinions on Death Sentences: An Empirical Examination uses a forum of public comments to explore and examine Chinese netizens’ opinions on the death penalty. Based on a content analysis of 38,512 comments collected from 63 cases in 2015, this study examines the diversity and rationales of netizens’ opinions, netizens’ interactions, and their evaluation of China’s criminal justice system. In addition, the book discusses China’s social, systemic, and structural problems and critically examines the rationality of netizens’ opinions based on Habermas’s communicative rationality framework. Readers will be able to contextualize Chinese netizens’ discussions and draw conclusions about commonalities and uniqueness of China’s death penalty practice.

This book systematically introduces the practice of restorative justice in India, as a resource for comparative criminal justice research. “Restorative justice” focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims, and with the community at large. It has gained momentum as a justice reform movement in Western countries within the past three decades, and it is estimated that up to one hundred countries worldwide utilize restorative justice practices. Within Western countries, it is seen largely a response or alternative to the perceived deficiencies of the existing criminal justice system.

India has a rich tradition of restorative justice, and this work introduces both the traditional basis and contemporary practices of this justice system in India, in a comprehensive and systematic way.

The contributions to this work cover three main areas:

II. The Development of Restorative Justice inIndia

III. Restorative Justice Practices in India

The third part – “Practices” covers special topics: including Restorative Justice and the Court, Restorative Justice and Incarceration, Restorative Justice and Juveniles, and Restorative Justice and Woman.

The book covers the full range of the issues of restorative justice in India and will be a highly valuable resource book for researchers and upper level graduate students interested in alternative justice models in general, comparative criminology, and criminal justice in India specifically.

 “A landmark volume in the history of restorative justice and criminology in India. Many outstanding scholars in this collection outline the Indian experience of restorative justice from which the world has much to learn.”

This edited volume presents the diversity of comparative criminology research in Asia, and the complex theoretical and methodological issues involved in conducting comparative research. With contributors both from the West and the East exploring these questions, the Editors have created a balanced resource, as well as set an agenda for future research.

The increasing pace of globalization means that researchers should be armed with an understanding of how criminal justice systems work across the world. In the past, comparative research largely compared Western countries to each other, or involve

“This fine collection that goes to the rich distinctiveness of Asian criminology.  The editors have brought together a wonderful collection of authors

John Braithwaite, Australian National University

“What theoretical, methodological, and practical issues must we confront in conducting cross-cultural studies encompassing Western and Asian countries?   Comparative Criminology in Asia discusses these issues and presents exemplary comparative research. The introductory chapter and the introduction to each part by the co-editors are lucid and highly educational.   This collection must be required reading for every serious scholar and aspiring graduate student in Asian countries so that criminological and criminal justice studies will be brought to a much higher level o

Setsuo Miyazawa, UC Hastings

“Can there be – and should there be -- a distinctive Asian criminology? What would this involve? The answer depends on what one thinks of the universalistic explanatory claims of Western criminology. Will these claims become self- fulfilling as these societies add to colonial influences a more deliberate borrowing of criminal justice models and established ways of pursuing discipline of criminology? Or will a more critical spirit prevail?   This welcome edited collection by Liu, Travers and Chang provides an excellent starting point for reflecting on these and other questions. Rather than attempting to provide descriptions of the variety of similarities and differences in this region (though there are some fascinating case studies of these) the focus is even more on exploring the theoretical approa

David Nelken, King’s College, London

“Criminologists can no longer ignore the impact of globalization on the pattern and amount of crime as we experienced recently, nor can we ignore the global change of criminal justice policies to deal with crime. There is, therefore, a desperate need to collect data on how crime and criminal justice are influenced by globalization across Asian countries. On the other hand, there are debates on the issue of culture-specific vs. pan-culture theories of crime. This collection addresses both issues in an interesting way.  Its publication is timely and welcome.”

Chuen-Jim Sheu, National Taipei University

This book provides an important overview of key criminology and criminal justice concerns in Japan. It highlights similarities between the practice of criminology research in Japan, as well as important differences, with other areas of Asia and with the West.

In previous decades, Japan attracted international attention as the only industrialized country where the crime rate declined along with a rise in urbanization and economic development. Currently, Japan still enjoys a declining crime rate (the lowest among major industrialized countries) and a study of criminal justice practices in Japan may provide important insights for other regions.

Japan also experiences important contemporary challenges which are shared by other regions:

1. Japan has the highest proportion of people over the age of 60 in the world. For criminology, this means key challenges in the victimization of older people, as well as the challenges of an aging prison population. 

2. Besides the United States, Japan is the only developed country that still practices capital punishment, and its rate has been on the rise in the past 20 years. 

3. Japan has also introduced new reforms in its law practice, including the introduction of new trial formats.

The research in this book provides a helpful overview for scholars interested in criminology and criminal justice in Japan to understand the key issues of concern, and present a framework for future research needs. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, international studies, Asian Studies, sociology, and political science.

Few social issues have received more public attention and scholarly debate than the death penalty. While the abolitionist movement has made a successful stride in recent decades, a small number of countries remain committed to the death penalty and impose it with a relatively high frequency. In this regard, the People’s Republic of China no doubt leads the world in both numbers of death sentences and executions. Despite being the largest user of the death penalty, China has never conducted a national poll on citizens’ opinions toward capital punishment, while claiming “overwhelming public support” as a major justification for its retention and use.

Chinese Netizens’ Opinions on Death Sentences: An Empirical Examination uses a forum of public comments to explore and examine Chinese netizens’ opinions on the death penalty. Based on a content analysis of 38,512 comments collected from 63 cases in 2015, this study examines the diversity and rationales of netizens’ opinions, netizens’ interactions, and their evaluation of China’s criminal justice system. In addition, the book discusses China’s social, systemic, and structural problems and critically examines the rationality of netizens’ opinions based on Habermas’s communicative rationality framework. Readers will be able to contextualize Chinese netizens’ discussions and draw conclusions about commonalities and uniqueness of China’s death penalty practice.

This book systematically introduces the practice of restorative justice in India, as a resource for comparative criminal justice research. “Restorative justice” focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims, and with the community at large. It has gained momentum as a justice reform movement in Western countries within the past three decades, and it is estimated that up to one hundred countries worldwide utilize restorative justice practices. Within Western countries, it is seen largely a response or alternative to the perceived deficiencies of the existing criminal justice system.

India has a rich tradition of restorative justice, and this work introduces both the traditional basis and contemporary practices of this justice system in India, in a comprehensive and systematic way.

The contributions to this work cover three main areas:

II. The Development of Restorative Justice inIndia

III. Restorative Justice Practices in India

The third part – “Practices” covers special topics: including Restorative Justice and the Court, Restorative Justice and Incarceration, Restorative Justice and Juveniles, and Restorative Justice and Woman.

The book covers the full range of the issues of restorative justice in India and will be a highly valuable resource book for researchers and upper level graduate students interested in alternative justice models in general, comparative criminology, and criminal justice in India specifically.

 “A landmark volume in the history of restorative justice and criminology in India. Many outstanding scholars in this collection outline the Indian experience of restorative justice from which the world has much to learn.”

This edited volume presents the diversity of comparative criminology research in Asia, and the complex theoretical and methodological issues involved in conducting comparative research. With contributors both from the West and the East exploring these questions, the Editors have created a balanced resource, as well as set an agenda for future research.

The increasing pace of globalization means that researchers should be armed with an understanding of how criminal justice systems work across the world. In the past, comparative research largely compared Western countries to each other, or involve

“This fine collection that goes to the rich distinctiveness of Asian criminology.  The editors have brought together a wonderful collection of authors

John Braithwaite, Australian National University

“What theoretical, methodological, and practical issues must we confront in conducting cross-cultural studies encompassing Western and Asian countries?   Comparative Criminology in Asia discusses these issues and presents exemplary comparative research. The introductory chapter and the introduction to each part by the co-editors are lucid and highly educational.   This collection must be required reading for every serious scholar and aspiring graduate student in Asian countries so that criminological and criminal justice studies will be brought to a much higher level o

Setsuo Miyazawa, UC Hastings

“Can there be – and should there be -- a distinctive Asian criminology? What would this involve? The answer depends on what one thinks of the universalistic explanatory claims of Western criminology. Will these claims become self- fulfilling as these societies add to colonial influences a more deliberate borrowing of criminal justice models and established ways of pursuing discipline of criminology? Or will a more critical spirit prevail?   This welcome edited collection by Liu, Travers and Chang provides an excellent starting point for reflecting on these and other questions. Rather than attempting to provide descriptions of the variety of similarities and differences in this region (though there are some fascinating case studies of these) the focus is even more on exploring the theoretical approa

David Nelken, King’s College, London

“Criminologists can no longer ignore the impact of globalization on the pattern and amount of crime as we experienced recently, nor can we ignore the global change of criminal justice policies to deal with crime. There is, therefore, a desperate need to collect data on how crime and criminal justice are influenced by globalization across Asian countries. On the other hand, there are debates on the issue of culture-specific vs. pan-culture theories of crime. This collection addresses both issues in an interesting way.  Its publication is timely and welcome.”

Chuen-Jim Sheu, National Taipei University

This book provides an important overview of key criminology and criminal justice concerns in Japan. It highlights similarities between the practice of criminology research in Japan, as well as important differences, with other areas of Asia and with the West.

In previous decades, Japan attracted international attention as the only industrialized country where the crime rate declined along with a rise in urbanization and economic development. Currently, Japan still enjoys a declining crime rate (the lowest among major industrialized countries) and a study of criminal justice practices in Japan may provide important insights for other regions.

Japan also experiences important contemporary challenges which are shared by other regions:

1. Japan has the highest proportion of people over the age of 60 in the world. For criminology, this means key challenges in the victimization of older people, as well as the challenges of an aging prison population. 

2. Besides the United States, Japan is the only developed country that still practices capital punishment, and its rate has been on the rise in the past 20 years. 

3. Japan has also introduced new reforms in its law practice, including the introduction of new trial formats.

The research in this book provides a helpful overview for scholars interested in criminology and criminal justice in Japan to understand the key issues of concern, and present a framework for future research needs. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, international studies, Asian Studies, sociology, and political science.