Reflecting on the various social issues that emerged during this period remains an important task for many social scientists. Within the criminological community, many scholars are studying the impact of the epidemic on crime and its governance. At the beginning of the pandemic, lockdowns and home quarantines were imposed in many parts of the world. Most places experienced a drop in overall crime rates during periods of lockdown since human mobility was restricted, which largely reduced the incidence of physical crimes. Some types of crime associated with the outbreak, however, showed an upward trend, such as mask‑related fraud, domestic violence due to home isolation, and hate crimes against Asians in some Western countries.
In the early days of the COVID‑19 outbreak, my research team and I discovered many crime problems arising from the outbreak, such as mask fraud, excessive law enforcement, the impact of the outbreak on overall crime rates, and discrimination and hate crimes. One of the studies we conducted, titled ‘Stigma, Discrimination, and Hate Crimes in Chinese‑Speaking World amid Covid‑19 Pandemic’, was published in the Asian Journal of Criminology in early 2021. In this study, we explored the phenomena of stigma, discrimination, and hate crimes against different groups in Chinese‑speaking societies and analysed the causes from three dimensions: psychological fear at the individual level, racial discrimination at the social level, and geopolitical tensions between different countries and regions.
In our study, we found that the stigmatised and discriminated groups in mainland China gradually shifted from the people from Wuhan/Hubei in the early stages to foreigners, particularly Africans. In other areas of the world, the focus of discrimination expanded from Chinese nationals towards people of Asian descent. Behind this discrimination lies the fear of contracting this unknown and highly contagious virus, and the search for a ‘scapegoat’ has become a common psychological response. Although such behaviour is immoral, this phenomenon is typical of most societies. Unfortunately, history repeats itself since such patterns can be found throughout the history of civilisation. If similar plagues occur in the future, certain populations may likely be stigmatised or discriminated against again.
When stigma, discrimination, and violence occur between different races, the fear of infection is no longer the sole motivation; racial prejudices also play a significant role. The short‑lived discrimination against Africans in Guangzhou, China, and the ongoing discrimination against Asians in the United States are manifestations of resurging racism during the pandemic. Varying degrees of racial prejudices exist in most societies. Under normal circumstances, such prejudices may not be pronounced. However, racism becomes apparent if there is a specific triggering time and event, and in this case, the COVID‑19 pandemic was the trigger mechanism.
Since individual discrimination and hate crimes often do not occur in a vacuum, political and ideological conflicts between countries and regions should not be neglected. The discrimination against mainland Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and against Asians in the US were fuelled by pre‑existing political and ideological conflicts. We found that before the WHO officially named the virus COVID‑19, the stigmatised name ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ was used in many regions. However, after the WHO name designation, no media in Macao used ‘Wuhan pneumonia’, while in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese media, it is still used to this day. The labelling of the virus reflects the harmonious relations between mainland China and Macao and the relatively tense relationships with Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the US, political factors still influence the population’s perception of China and the pandemic even after the Trump administration. Recently, the Biden administration has introduced the COVID‑19 Hate Crimes Act to combat violent crimes and discrimination against Asians. Nonetheless, the problem of hate crimes will likely not be solved anytime soon, because the hatred motivating those offenders can be seen as a reflection of the escalating political tensions between the US and China.
The COVID‑19 pandemic is the most significant global event since World War II. Different academic disciplines are assessing the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of social life from a variety of perspectives. Criminologists are not only studying the impact of the pandemic on crimes but also on the means of crime control. As humanity lives in an era of increasing surveillance and self‑monitoring, how did the COVID‑19 pandemic accelerate this process in a world that is moving toward what some scholars call ‘surveillance capitalism’? From lockdowns to vaccinations, governments around the world have gone to great lengths to control the pandemic. Some populations will comply, while others may directly or indirectly challenge these measures. What factors contribute to the coping strategies of different populations and how did this pandemic renew our understanding of the relationship between the state and society? These are the questions my research team and I are trying to address; we hope to share more findings with you in the future.
(Source: Issue 24, 2021, UM Magazine)
新冠疫情爆發至今已近兩年，疫情結束仍遙遙無期。對疫情中出現的各種社會問題的反思是廣大社會科學工作者的任務。在犯罪學界，不少學者都在積極研究疫情對於犯罪及其治理的影響。疫情初期，全球多地進行封鎖和居家隔離。封鎖限制了人類的流動，從而在很大程度上減少了人與人接觸型犯罪的發生。在整體上來說，被封鎖地區，在封鎖期間，總的犯罪率都出現了下降。而與疫情相關的一些類型的犯罪則呈現上升趨勢，比如與口罩相關的詐騙犯罪、因為居家隔離而導致家庭暴力、在一些歐美國家出現的對亞裔仇恨犯罪都有所增加。
在新冠疫情爆發初期，我和我的研究團隊就注意到一系列因疫情而導致的犯罪問題，如口罩詐騙、過度執法、疫情對整體犯罪率的影響以及歧視和仇恨犯罪。在我們進行的一系列研究中，其中一篇名為《新冠疫情下華語社會中污名、歧視與仇恨犯罪》的文章於2021年初在學術期刊《亞洲犯罪學》發表。在這個研究中，我們探討了在華語社會中出現的對不同群體的污名、歧視與仇恨犯罪等現象，並且從個體層面的心理恐懼、社會層面的種族歧視以及不同國家或地區之間的政治關係三個維度來分析引發污名、歧視以及仇恨犯罪的原因。
在研究中，我們發現在中國內地被污名與歧視的群體從最早的武漢人、湖北人逐漸轉向以非洲人為主體的外國人。而在其他國家與地區，被歧視的物件從中國人逐漸蔓延到華人和亞裔。對所有群體的歧視背後，是人們對感染病毒的恐懼。作為一種未知而缺乏有效治療手段的新式病毒，人們很擔心被感染。在這種恐懼之下，尋找一個「替罪羊」成為大眾普遍的一個心理反應。雖然這樣的做法是不對，但它確實是人類社會普遍存在的一個現象。如果未來還會有類似的瘟疫發生，某些特地的人群會可能會再次受到污名或歧視。類似的情況在人類歷史上屢次發生，很遺憾是歷史總是在重複上演。
當污名、歧視與暴力等現象發生在不同種族之間時，感染病毒的心理恐懼不再是唯一原因，而種族主義則扮演著相當重要的角色。在中國廣州出現的對短暫的對非洲人的歧視以及在美國社會持續不斷的對亞裔歧視，也都是有著種族主義借助新冠疫情再次復發的背影。在大多數社會當中，都存在著不同程度的種族主義。在正常情況下，種族主義可能不會表現得那麼明顯。但如果有特定的時間和事件觸發了它，則可能會再次出現，而新冠疫情正是這個觸發機制。
個體的歧視與仇恨犯罪往往也不是在一個真空環境中發生，不同國家與地區之間的政治與意識形態的衝突起著重要作用。在香港、台灣出現的因疫情對內地人的歧視，在美國出現的對華人和亞裔的歧視，也都有著政治和意識形態的衝突的影響。我們研究發現，在世界衛生組織將此次疫情更名為COVID‑19之前，很多地區都在使用「武漢肺炎」這一含歧視性的名稱。但是，世界衛生組織更名之後，澳門幾乎沒有媒體繼續使用「武漢肺炎」這一名字，而在香港、台灣以及海外的華文媒體，即使到現在依然有媒體使用這一具有歧視性的名稱。媒體關於疫情名稱使用的背後，體現出來的是中國內地與澳門與之間相對和諧，而與香港、台灣關係相對緊張的政治關係。在美國，即使特朗普已經下台，政治因素依然影響著部分美國民眾對中國以及新冠疫情的看法。近期，拜登政府已經出台《新冠仇恨犯罪法案》（COVID‑19 Hate Crimes Act）來打擊針對亞裔的暴力犯罪與歧視行為。但要解決仇恨犯罪問題可能仍有待時日，因為對於那些受著種族主義和政治意識形態影響的民眾來說，他們的仇恨情緒不過是中美之間緊張政治局勢的一種反映。
新冠疫情是二戰以來影響人類生活最重大的事件。不同的學科都在從不同的角度來探討疫情對社會生活方方面面產生的影響。犯罪學家們不但在研究疫情對犯罪本身產生的影響，也研究疫情對犯罪治理手段所產生的影響。人類愈來愈生活在一個監控和自我監控的時代，當全球都在邁向一些學者所謂之的監控資本主義的時候，新冠疫情如何加速了這一進程？為控制疫情，一些地方實施了為期不等的隔離和封鎖。一些民眾會順從，而另一些人可能會直接或間接挑戰這些措施。是甚麼因素造成不同人群的應對策略以及從中我們如何來理解國家和社會的關係？這些問題都是我和我的團隊正在進行的研究，希望有機會再次和大家分享。
(來源: 第24期, 2021, 澳大新語)
