Understanding the Challenges of Reinventing and Reintegrating Juvenile Offenders into Society through Rehabilitation in Chinese Special Schools

Juvenile delinquency is one of the common phenomena in China, and the history of rehabilitating delinquents is documented in various policies aiming to reshape individuals to be reintegrated into society. Through the implementation of the Juvenile Protection Law and Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Law in China, special schools are established across provinces to help these individuals through rehabilitation processes that are made available. Despite the increasingly humane approach being implemented to replace the “rehabilitation through labour” policy in the past, punishments still occur in existing special schools as a means to reform these juveniles. With the aim of exploring the challenges of ensuring proper and quality rehabilitation in special schools for the reinvention and reintegration of these juveniles, a qualitative exploratory research design is utilised to understand the current rehabilitation experiences. Existing teachers and students from a special school in a selected special school are recruited to achieve the research aims, specifically through interview sessions and observation sessions alongside documentation via note-taking. Findings revealed several normalised practices that are considered problematic in ensuring effective rehabilitation. This paper further informs and recommends future research practices for interested scholars.