社会杂志 ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 212-240.

• 论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

“未成年人”的“生”与“死”——以美、日为借鉴的社会学研究

肖仕豪   

  1. 南京大学社会学院社会学系
  • 出版日期:2016-07-20 发布日期:2016-07-20
  • 通讯作者: 肖仕豪 E-mail:xiaoshihaonju@163.com

The Creation of “Juvenile” and Its Demise: A Sociological Inquiry on U.S. and Japan's Juvenile Justice

XIAO Shihao   

  1. Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioal Sciences, Nanjing University
  • Online:2016-07-20 Published:2016-07-20

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摘要：

本文尝试以美、日两国的法制史、社会史为基础论述少年司法制度的社会历史生成机理,并指出有关少年司法、“未成年人”的问题意识的形成都是特定社会背景下的产物。书写文化的出现使得儿童与成人之间产生了质的区分,而工业化、城市化和核心家庭则改变了人们看待儿童的方式,由此现代儿童得以发明。未成年人以现代儿童为蓝本被创造,构成了少年司法制度的基本预设和实践基础。随着新的媒介环境和个体化趋势的展开,儿童自身和人们看待儿童的方式都发生了改变,直接导致了未成年人形象的消解,进而促成了两国少年司法的成人化。

关键词: 少年司法, 未成年人, 美国, 日本, 社会学研究

Abstract:

This study attempts to expose the socio-historical mechanism that gave birth to the concept of juvenile and the juvenile justice system in America and Japan. It points out that both are social constructs that are historically and culturally specific. The emergence of writing culture began the distinction between child and adult. Industrialization, urbanization and nuclear family structure have brought a new conceptualization of childhood. This modern idea of childhood as a special development stage distinctive from the adult world became the base for the conception of juvenile and the modern juvenile justice system. However, the new social media environment and the increasingly individualistic nature of western societies have transformed yet again not only childhood itself but the idea of childhood as well, leading to the dissolution of “juvenile” and the adultification of the juvenile justice system in America and Japan. The Chinese juvenile justice system is still in its infancy, largely a carbon copy of Western practices. Law makers in China should not blindly copy foreign systems without questioning their validity. Instead, they should reassess the system, give the Chinese reality a thoughtful examination and formulate realistic laws in dealing with delinquent children. Legal scholars also should free themselves from legal documents and pay attention to concrete conditions, thus avoid the usual formalistic presumption from theories.

Key words: Juvenile Justice, sociological study, America, Juvenile, Japan