Liu Liu

Based on 21 in-depth interviews with drug users and retail-level dealers in China, this study examines how marketing-like practices operate in the absence of formal mechanisms such as advertising, branding, or contracts. Drawing on Granovetter's concept of embeddedness, it shows that retail drug exchange in the Chinese context is primarily organized through offline social relationships and interpersonal trust, with little reliance on digital promotion. The findings identify three key practices: socially embedded introduction of new products, selective customer maintenance, and tailored service provision. These practices are shaped by a highly constrained, tightly regulated environment and show how visibility, coordination, and customer retention are achieved through dense social networks rather than open or digital markets. The study conceptualizes marketing not as a formal institution but as an embedded relational process that organizes retail drug markets under strong enforcement and high risk, highlighting the contextual specificity of trust, reputation, and social ties in China's illicit economy.

This study examines the vulnerability of drug couriers in China through interviews with 34 incarcerated individuals (22 men, 12 women). It develops a middle-range theory of courier vulnerability, showing that vulnerability is not an individual attribute but a socially produced condition shaped by recruitment through weak ties, informational asymmetries, constrained agency and gendered power relations. Couriers are typically positioned in low-information and high-risk roles within trafficking networks, reflecting their peripheral network location and limited access to knowledge and authority. Gender further structures these dynamics, with women more likely to be recruited through dependency-based relationships and exposed to intensified forms of deception and stigma. The study reconceptualizes courier vulnerability as an outcome of illicit market organization, where risk and agency are unevenly distributed across trafficking hierarchies, with implications for criminological theories.

Gender norms are socially constructed expectations that define appropriate behavior and roles based on gender (Cislaghi and Heise 2020). Embedded within a hierarchical system that prioritizes mascu...

Guided by the drug career and normalization thesis, this study highlights the inherently social nature of methamphetamine (meth) use, with a particular focus on the pivotal role of meth-use networks among Chinese female drug users. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 34 female drug users to explore their social experiences with meth use. Thematic analysis revealed that the influence of close female friends and the ready availability of meth contribute to its emergence as a social necessity throughout these women's drug trajectories. Participants often initiated meth use within high-risk social networks, progressively integrating into meth-use communities. Consequently, achieving abstinence posed significant challenges, as it necessitated severing nearly all social ties. Considering the social dynamics and the differentiated normalization of meth use, this study recommends the implementation of targeted meth education programs and social support interventions for Chinese women embedded in high-risk social networks.

In this editorial, we will review the social history of gender‐based labor division in ancient and contemporary China and present a few questions this thematic issue attempts to explore, namely, how to interpret and evaluate the progress feminism has achieved in China, and what to do next. We then introduce the five articles selected to be part of this thematic issue and briefly discuss their findings. Finally, we share our belief that, whereas more opportunities are being granted to contemporary Chinese women, there has not been a corresponding decline in traditional gender roles. Although women are presented with the prospect of a more active role and new responsibilities within the family realm and society, we should not settle on momentary feelings of accomplishment, but remain aware that the fight for a social structure that truly supports gender equality continues.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between school bullying victimization, perceived social support, and depression among Chinese middle school students. The sample of this study was 1,499 students in an east coast city in China, including 883 boys and 616 girls. This study finds that school bullying victimization among middle school students carries a significant risk of depression, while perceived social support may reduce such negative effects. It also reveals the gender differences: for boys, indirect school bullying victimization significantly increases their risk of depression, and perceived social support has little to do with such a negative effect. For girls, evaluative bullying victimization has a negative effect on depression, and perceived social support from families can effectively eliminate this negative effect. Therefore, more gender-specific interventions should be considered to better reduce the negative health effects of school bullying victimization.

Methamphetamine (meth) use has become a serious health epidemic in China, and the number of female meth users has risen substantially in the previous decade. However, until recently, patterns of meth addiction among Chinese women were rarely studied. To fill the void, this study implemented a thematic analysis approach to investigate Chinese female meth users’ addiction experiences based on 49 semi-structured interview transcripts. The findings reveal that Chinese female meth users generally believe that meth is not physically addictive, but can cause their psychological dependence. Meth use leads to users’ psychological enjoyment, and in addition to this, it has other functions. For example, some people use meth as a necessity to relieve stress, keep fit, alleviate pain, cure diseases, and deal with alcoholism. The findings also demonstrate that meth use is indispensable in particular social networks based on participants’ socioeconomic backgrounds, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. By understanding their experiences on meth addiction, both formal educational programs and social media exposure are suggested to provide female meth users, especially those situated in high-risk social networks, with adequate and up-to-date meth knowledge. Educational programs are also needed during treatment. Targeted interventions and social support programs are further recommended to help female meth users avoid severe health issues due to meth consumption.

Using social norms as a theoretical perspective, this exploratory study examines Chinese young adult vapers' perceptions, experiences, and the construction of social norms surrounding the health implications of e-cigarette use. Based on semi-structured interviews with 21 participants, the findings reveal that Chinese young adults, influenced by advertisements and personal experiences, have constructed a new social norm portraying e-cigarettes as both "healthier" and increasingly "prevalent." In China's less restricted vaping environment, vapers often consume more nicotine than expected, and many found vaping ineffective for smoking cessation. Participants ultimately viewed e-cigarettes as deceptively marketed as healthier alternatives. The study highlights the need for policy changes and intervention programs to address the public health risks associated with e-cigarettes.