“Left-behind children” and their pathways into criminality: A mixed-method study of delinquent adolescents in China

Kai Lin and Jia Qu

Journal of Criminal Justice, 2025, vol. 98, issue C

Abstract: Over the past several decades, China's internal migration has led to a large number of “left-behind children” (LBC) growing up with substantial parental neglect in rural areas. LBC have been found to suffer from multiple social vulnerabilities, including a heightened risk of offending behavior. Utilizing both quantitative survey and qualitative interview data from 383 delinquent adolescents in two correctional settings in an underdeveloped region of China, this study explores key factors affecting the onset, severity, and persistence of delinquent behaviors, with a particular focus on the impact of parental migration. This research contributes to developmental and life course criminology by revealing the unique challenges (such as insufficient parental bonding and authoritarian parenting by grandparents) faced by LBC, a group at the forefront of some of the adverse consequences of China's rapid economic growth with significant inequalities. It also sheds light on the complex interactions between economic migration, familial disruption, and juvenile delinquency in a non-Western context of the Global South.

Keywords: Juvenile delinquency; China; Life course and developmental criminology; Left behind children; Parental migration; Social bond (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225000819

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102432

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