IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcjust/v98y2025ics0047235225000819.html

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

Author

Listed:
  • Lin, Kai
  • Qu, Jia

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin, Kai & Qu, Jia, 2025. "“Left-behind children” and their pathways into criminality: A mixed-method study of delinquent adolescents in China," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225000819
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225000819
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102432?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yang, Chenlu & Liu, Xiaoli & Yang, Yuning & Huang, Xiaona & Song, Qiying & Wang, Yan & Zhou, Hong, 2020. "Violent disciplinary behaviors towards left-behind children in 20 counties of rural China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    2. Liu, Z. & Li, X. & Ge, X., 2009. "Left too early: The effects of age at separation from parents on Chinese rural children's symptoms of anxiety and depression," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(11), pages 2049-2054.
    3. Sherry Tao Kong & Xin Meng, 2010. "The Educational and Health Outcomes of the Children of Migrants," Chapters, in: Xin Meng & Chris Manning & Li Shi & Tadjuddin Nur Effendi (ed.), The Great Migration, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Cameron, Lisa & Meng, Xin & Zhang, Dandan, 2022. "Does being “left–behind” in childhood lead to criminality in adulthood? Evidence from data on rural-urban migrants and prison inmates in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 675-693.
    5. Zhou, Yueyue & Cheng, Yulan & Liang, Yiming & Wang, Jiazhou & Li, Changning & Du, Weijing & Liu, Yufang & Liu, Zhengkui, 2020. "Interaction status, victimization and emotional distress of left-behind children: A national survey in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Mengshi & Duan, Xiaoqian & Shi, Huifeng & Dou, Yan & Tan, Chang & Zhao, Chunxia & Huang, Xiaona & Wang, Xiaoli & Zhang, Jingxu, 2021. "Early maternal separation and development of left-behind children under 3 years of age in rural China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Xie, Xiaoxia & Huang, Chien-Chung & Chen, Yafan & Hao, Feng, 2019. "Intelligent robots and rural children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 283-290.
    3. Costanza Biavaschi & Corrado Giulietti & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2015. "Sibling Influence on the Human Capital of the Left-Behind," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 403-438.
    4. Mazzucato, Valentina & Cebotari, Victor & Veale, Angela & White, Allen & Grassi, Marzia & Vivet, Jeanne, 2015. "International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 215-224.
    5. Lijun Chen & Di Qi & Dali Yang, 2020. "The Urbanization Paradox: Parental Absence and Child Development in China - an Empirical Analysis Based on the China Family Panel Studies Survey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(2), pages 593-608, April.
    6. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2011. "Left-Behind Children and Return Decisions of Rural Migrants in China," Post-Print halshs-00625636, HAL.
    7. Gutiérrez-Romero, Roxana, 2024. "Drug trafficking fuels violence leading to mass emigration: The case of Guatemala," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    8. Zhang, Xiaoqing & Ray, Sharon A. & Liu, Xia & Smith, Dylan M. & Hou, Wei, 2023. "What makes left-behind children resilient? And how? The role of hope on the resilience of Chinese left-behind children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Xinxin Wang & Shidan Xu & Yubo Zhuo & Julian Chun-Chung Chow, 2023. "Higher Income but Lower Happiness with Left-Behind Experience? A Study of Long-Term Effects for China’s Migrants," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 411-434, February.
    10. Zhang, Ruiping & Qiu, Zeguo & Li, Yajun & Liu, Lihong & Zhi, Suhua, 2021. "Teacher support, peer support, and externalizing problems among left-behind children in rural China: Sequential mediation by self-esteem and self-control," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    11. Mayang Rizky & Sofni Indah Arifa Lubis & Nila Warda & Yudi Fajar M. Wahyu & Emmy Hermanus & Niken Kusumawardhani & Hafiz Arfyanto & Joseph Natanael Marshan & Nina Toyamah, "undated". "Kesentosaan Anak-Anak yang Hidup dalam Kemiskinan yang Ditinggal oleh Ibunya yang Menjadi Pekerja Migran: Studi Kasus di Dua Kabupaten di Indonesia," Working Papers 3794, Communications Section.
    12. Cortina Toro,Magdalena & Jimenez,Juan Miguel & Rozo Villarraga,Sandra Viviana, 2024. "Little Nomads : Economic and Social Impacts of Migration on Children," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10686, The World Bank.
    13. Lu, Jingjing & Lin, Leesa & Roy, Brita & Riley, Carley & Wang, Emily & Wang, Karen & Li, Lu & Wang, Feng & Zhou, Xudong, 2020. "The impacts of parent-child communication on left-behind children’s mental health and suicidal ideation: A cross sectional study in Anhui," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    14. Wang, H. & Guan, H. & Boswell, M., 2018. "Health Seeking Behavior among Rural Left-behind Children: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276955, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Mayang Rizky & Sofni Indah Arifa Lubis & Nila Warda & Yudi Fajar M. Wahyu & Emmy Hermanus & Niken Kusumawardhani & Hafiz Arfyanto & Joseph Natanael Marshan & Nina Toyamah, "undated". "The Well-Being of Poor Children Left by Their Mothers Who Become Migrant Workers: Case Study in Two Kabupaten in Indonesia," Working Papers 1640, Communications Section.
    16. Chi Zhou & Qiaohong Lv & Nancy Yang & Feng Wang, 2021. "Left-Behind Children, Parent-Child Communication and Psychological Resilience: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-10, May.
    17. Yang Cao & Zhengkui Liu, 2015. "Poverty and Health: Children of Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers in Beijing, China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 459-477, September.
    18. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left-behind children and return migration in China," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Cadsby, C. Bram & Song, Fei & Yang, Xiaolan, 2020. "Are “left-behind” children really left behind? A lab-in-field experiment concerning the impact of rural/urban status and parental migration on children's other-regarding preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 715-728.
    20. Li, Xin & Sun, Xiaoyue, 2020. "Child development in rural China: Does parental migration matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225000819. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.