Statistical results revealed that higher mobility led to lower perceived effectiveness of informal social control. Satisfaction with police was positively related to the respondents’ views of effectiveness of both formal and informal sanctions. The respondents who had strong collectivism were less likely to favor the deterrence power of legal sanctions. Finally, satisfaction with police was positively related both to the belief in the deterrent value of formal sanctions and of informal sanctions. The literature of social control in China has suggested that traditional China long depended on its informal mechanisms in preventing and controlling crime. Since its economic reform that began in 1978, China has gradually moved toward formal social control. At the same time, informal control still plays an important role in contemporary China. Data used in this study were collected from 109 selected residents of the Hubei province, China in 2006. Tables, notes, and references