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Despite their colossal size and importance in policing, China's auxiliary police forces have garnered very little research attention. This study attempts to fill our knowledge gap by first describing key features that distinguish the auxiliary police from the regular police in China and their counterparts in Western societies, followed by an empirical investigation of public attitudes toward the auxiliary police in China. Based on survey data collected from a coastal city in China, we reported the general patterns of people's evaluations of auxiliary officers and assessed whether variables representing institutional trust, media exposure, and neighborhood context are predictive of Chinese attitudes toward the auxiliary police. We found that Chinese citizens rated their local auxiliary officers very positively. Trust in the government and police and known negative reports about the auxiliary police are linked to Chinese' global satisfaction with the auxiliary police. Trust in the police, exposure to and belief in negative media reports about the auxiliary police, and perception of neighborhood collective efficacy are associated with people's specific attitudes toward auxiliary officers. Implications for future research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our study questions the common assumption of random DK responses in criminology survey data and emphasizes the importance of understanding and handling DK for gaining substantive criminological knowledge. It examines the individual-level and neighborhood-level correlates of the propensity to give the DK response to questions on individual perception of neighborhood crime in Chongqing, China. Methods: We designed and conducted an original survey of 4839 residents from 100 urban neighborhoods in Chongqing, China in 2016. Random intercept hierarchical linear models were used to examine the effects of individual-level variables on uncertainty towards neighborhood crime and the effects of neighborhood social process variables, controlling for neighborhood composition. Results: At least in some instances, DK appears to be the most valid response, reflecting actual uncertainty and lack of knowledge about neighborhood crime. DK responses have substantive correlates at both the individual and neighborhood level. Of particular interest, neighborhood social cohesion is negatively associated with individual uncertainty about neighborhood crime, controlling for neighborhood composition. There is a significant interaction between neighborhood semi-public social control and neighborhood poverty in predicting DK. Conclusions: Understanding the meanings behind DK has important implications for whether to include the DK option in survey designs and how to handle DK responses in data analysis when they occur. When DK is a valid answer for many respondents, not including the DK option in the survey instrument forces respondents to choose a nonexistent answer, which can result in misleading interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has experienced sizeable internal migration in the past several decades. This research examines the implications of internal migration on generalized trust in China. Using data from the 2014 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), a nationally representative survey, we compared the level of self-rated generalized trust in strangers among Chinese rural-to-urban migrants, rural nonmigrants, and urban nonmigrants. We further assessed the mediating effects of relative deprivation and neighborhood context in the relationship between migration status and generalized trust. The results show that migrants are less trusting than rural and urban nonmigrants after adjusting for relevant sociodemographic characteristics. The mediation analysis suggests that relative deprivation partially explains the difference in generalized trust between migrants and rural nonmigrants, and it greatly mediates the trust gap between migrants and urban nonmigrants. The neighborhood context largely explains the difference in generalized trust between migrants and rural nonmigrants. Moreover, urban nonmigrants are less trusting than migrants when taking neighborhood context into consideration, which indicates a suppression effect of neighborhood context on the relationship between migrant status and social trust in urban China. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how social trust changes in the process of internal migration. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]