Research On The Role Of NGO In Community Correction In Shanghai

Crime prevention and punishment, especially effective crime correction, has been a long-term concern among governments and societies all across the globe. With the evolution of jurisdiction system, much importance has been attached to community correction as a form of social rehabilitation which is, comparatively, less harsh and more humane, not to mention its cost-effectiveness. And consequently, community correction has gradually gained status in many countries as an alternative to prison sentence. Since 2002, a trial of community correction had been initiated in Shanghai and Beijing Municipality and then promoted nationwide in 2009. By 2011, major progress has been made in the current stage of the implementation of community correction. Unfortunately, community correction, as a newly-emerged legal action in China, if state-run, would inevitably lead to an oversized government which contradicts the modern political ideology of a limited government that promotes civil society. Besides, the"community"character of community correction defines that this task should not be performed by government solely. And therefore, part of the government functions in community correction should better be outsourced to the third party, non-government organization in this case.This thesis documents a research program on the introduction of community correction in Shanghai Municipality and analyzes how the Shanghai Municipal government brings in non-government organizations together with the role of the non-government organizations in such practice and summarizes the relevant cases of this issue in certain developing countries. In conclusion, this paper suggests that improvement on the legal aspect of this issue is of great importance and only through multi-level collaboration and an enhanced development model of charity organization can non-government organization grow and play an active and more important role in community correction.