The Repair for 'Broken Windows': Policing Underground 'Mark Six' in China

With the ethos of “to get rich is glorious”, underground “Mark Six” (UMS) has emerged as a byproduct of the economic reform in China. UMS is associated with a series of social problems, and has proven very difficult for the police to control over the years. Based on a combination of comparative community observations and in-depth interviews with bettors and police officers from the Chinese mainland, this study applies the broken windows theory into the examination of community differences in participation in UMS. It reveals that UMS is rampant in communities characterized by physical and social disorder, coupled with inadequate formal social control. The findings also demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the campaign strategies the police has long used to fight UMS. This study has significant implications for the optimization of policing strategies over UMS, and for the advancement of approaches for maintaining law and order in local communities in transforming China.