Broken Window Theory By James Q. Wilson

Wilson and Kelling’s key idea is that disorder and the absence of controls leads to crime. Their solution is to crack down on any disorder using a twofold strategy. First an environmental improvement strategy that any broken window must be repaired immediately, otherwise more will follow and the neighbourhood will be on the slide. Secondly the police must adopt a zero tolerance policing strategy. Instead of merely reacting to crime, the must proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder, even if it is not criminal. This

The “broken window” policy was used to put officers on foot patrol in community neighborhoods in order to prevent household crimes such as burglary and vandalism. This main goal for policing these neighborhoods, “was

In the article, “Is Broken Windows a Broken Theory of Crime?” Kevin Drum defines the Broken Windows theory as a theory which “suggests that tolerance of small acts of disorder creates an environment that leads to rising amounts of serious crime. So if police crack down on small offenses – petty vandalism, public lewdness, etc. – crime reductions will follow” Though this theory has been around for a long time, it is still not a sound theory of crime.

Broken windows policing is more of an emphasis on physical and social disorder which produces more serious crime. The increase of physical and social disorder causes an increase of fear and withdrawal in the residents. During this time, there is a decreased social control which allows the more serious crime to occur. Due to the inactivity of social control, crime occurs more often which allows police to predict the crime and when it occurs. Some examples of broken windows policing strategies are stop-and-frisk, zero tolerance, and NYC Subway.

Through out the years Criminologists has conducted a great amount of research and through that research Criminologist has developed different theories in order to better understand and explain criminal behavior. Theories try to help make sense out of many observations that are conducted presenting the facts of the principal that connects and explains the theories. If good theory has been developed; then it becomes very valuable to Criminologist, because it shows the knowledge that is beyond the facts that has been presented; which will show Criminologist how to predict how others might behave (Andrews, D and

According to criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, “… crime is the inevitable result of disorder.” (qtd. In Gladwell, paragraph 2). Wilson and Kelling are the masterminds behind The Broken Windows theory. The theory states that is a window is left unfixed after it is broken, people will come to the conclusion that there is no control. If that happens, more windows will be broken signifying that anything can happen. Dress code violations, mass shootings, and police brutality encounters are examples of broken windows.

According to http://cebcp.org, “Broken window model focuses on the importance of disorder (e.g., broken windows) in generating and sustaining more serious crime.” Wilson and Kelling are the creator of this model. They notice that neighborhoods who have high crime rate, consider of “disreputable people”. They are the people who hang out on the corner, the mental ill who pace back and forth up and down the streets, and those juvenile delinquents that love to pickpocket other people. Most of the communities are low income minority communities that Wilson and Keiling looked at. Wilson and Keiling does not think that poverty, racial segregation, and residential mobility and other social issues is not the root causes to high crime rates, They think to restore order needs to be placed in these community as Nixon will say “Law and Order”. They think the government cannot eliminate the root causes. Policing should be enforce more into the community to create a safe haven for these communities. By not focusing on social reform, rehabilitation is too costly and difficult. Wilson said to increase cost of crime by increasing punishment in prison. It will help measure deterrence, and if it does not work incapacitation. He also the believe that the root causes is caused by causal fallacy. Wilson and Keiling believed that officers need to go back to the style of enforcement. They explain that there should be more foot patrol have officers get know the resident while maintaining order.

The broken windows theory, originally pioneered by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling argues that a broken window is a sign that no one cares about the appearance of the property. This proverbial broken window in turn encourages other residents to neglect their property. This further sends the entire neighborhood into a downward spiral, we begin to see large amounts of litter scattered throughout the neighborhood, home owners move out, houses become vacant and left to deteriorate, rental properties begin to spring up, and single family homes are turned into multifamily homes. As the income of residents decreases so does the property value of the neighborhood, and gradually a criminal element begins to establish itself within the neighborhood.

The broken windows thesis is a criminological concept that is based in older theories of social ecology, social disorganization, and situational crime prevention. It basically says that neighborhoods that show signs of decline or tolerate open criminal behavior, such as vandalism, prostitution, drug crime, vagrancy, etc. send a message to others that nobody cares about the neighborhood or nobody pays attention, and that more serious crimes will go unchallenged or unnoticed. Where it gets its name is from the reality that when you see an old abandoned building all the windows are broken and that is because once people broke one and nothing happened, the opportunity was there to break them all. The same rational applies to society.

I think you’re on to something with the hybrid idea. As you mentioned, just one method of police will not address all the issues. The broken windows method, focuses on measures meant to be preventive. By enforcing minor violations, they hope to deter the more serious crimes.

The broken windows theory is a criminological theory that if a neighborhood looks rotten then the more trouble it welcomes. In 1982, George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson released an article focusing on the importance of the disorder. This theory is strongly attached to the African- American community. An area that shows a low population of existences states that fear or crime related situations caused the massive egress of residents. The lack of people to care for a community results into buildings looking forgotten. Therefore, broken windows appearance is a great way for convicts to hide because no one would go near a place that comes into view as spine-chilling. In additions, this produces a high risk of anxiety for African -American males believe that any moment a police officer can stop, question, and frisk them out of anticipation.

According to Burns The Broken Window Hypothesis is the belief that order maintenance problems are perceived by offenders as opportunities to commit additional crimes simply because it appears that nobody cares about order in that area. This kind of belief can be very detrimental for the community- police relationship. The broken window theory focuses on the idea that by maintaining order by policing low-level offenses this can prevent more serious crimes. This theory is well- known not for resolving and preventing crime but to create more problems in the way that the community and the police seeing their relationship hampered. “Attacking public disorder through tough police task may thus be a politically popular but, perhaps analytically weak strategy to reduce crime” (Harcourt, B., & Ludwig, J. (2006).

The next question that must be asked and answered is why do people act the way they do? There are many concepts that best describe this from the perspective of the police, but as stated earlier, the focus of this paper is mostly over the proneness of the “at-risk” individuals to joining gangs or engaging in gang activity. Upon saying that, one core concept that can best answer this question is neutralization. A core concept stemming from the near beginning of the semester, the core concept of neutralization can best be defined as the theory in which people explain deviant behavior with a justification as to why they committed the act. For example, if I hit someone and said that they called me a name, that is neutralization. Neutralization is

This research paper examines the core principles and perspectives of the broken window theory which was pioneered by Wilson and Kelling in 1982. Even after 30 years with the theory still present it has been criticized for having some missing gaps in information. By examining the vandalism and anti-social behaviour issues at the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Scotland the theory will be testing accordingly. This started to generate distress in the community and one by one people stared to withdraw from the community and with continuous reports to the police the National Park Authority got involved and banned wild camping in the affected areas in the new camping by-laws of 2011. The park authority is considering to expand this ban

Another top reason for the decline is that many police forces have started interrogating small offenders like those crimes that are more serious. This tactic has generated a number of leads, which in turn provides search warrants, multiple gun and drug arrests, and even homicide arrests (Giuliani Art. 108). Giuliani acknowledges that "the broken window theory of, James O. Wilson of Harvard University, has been applied successfully in America's largest cities. Wilson says a broken window that goes unrepaired is a visible sing that no one cares. It attracts additional vandalism, which soon escalates into serious crimes" (Giuliani Art. 108). Giuliani also adds "graffiti, blurring car radios, street prostitution, drag racing, public drinking and urination, squeegee window cleaners, and other aggressive beggars are, in effect, society's broken windows" (Giuliani Art. 108). These broken windows can and usually will lead to larger problems.