Broken Window Theory

The Broken Windows Theory was developed by James Wilson and George Kelling in 1982, the theory purposes that individuals involved in crime may be victims of their environment, lacking social control these environments are overtaken by criminal activity causing the people that are associated with the area to adjust to their surroundings which often involves looking the other way when criminal activity occurs. The theory focuses on deterioration of property such as neglected buildings, homes and neighborhoods, implying that neglect in these areas promotes vandalism, crime and delinquency. Moreover, the disorder associated with run down areas can generate and sustains serious crime and the people that are forced to live in these crimes invested areas often feel helpless and withdrawn. Not knowing whom to trust can create social divide which allows serious crimes to go undetected in that people are too afraid to report them. (Schmalleger, 2015, p.159) One implication of the Broken Window theory is “Criminology of Place” which uses the Broken Window Theory to help with identifying crime, also called environmental criminology it builds on the routine activities theory and situational crime prevention ideas such as crime "Hotspots" that are found in neighborhoods and city streets. A study conducted by the University of Chicago examined crime "hotspots"

The assumption with this theory is that those neighborhoods that are disorganized and messy will have higher crime rates than neighborhoods that are clean and orderly. In neighborhoods that are messy and disorganized, it starts to become the norm, and there starts to become less control that leads to disorder and crime.

The broken window theory is a form of law that stops serious and non violent crimes, which can be reduced crime in urban cities. This strict enforcement is to stop non violent crimes such as skipping school, graffiti, vandalism and not paying fair. This law was first introduced in New York City in 1980, ever since the level of crimes has dropped even violent crimes such as rape, murder has gone down. New York started seeing their results in the early 1990s, and 2000. George Kelling was the founder of the broken windows theory; he first stated in a magazine article that if a building has multiple broken

Another theory that many like to refer to would be social disorganization. This philosophy concentrates more on the circumstances in the inner city that affect crimes. They include, but are not limited to, the destruction of homes and neighborhoods, lack of social control, and the presence of gangs or groups who violate the law (Siegel 2010). Other than this theory, there is such thing as the strain theory. This suggests that crime is brought upon communities and individuals by the overwhelming strain that people are feeling when they aspire to reach their personal ambitions but have no way to grasp them. According to Featherstone and Deflem (2003), strain theorists believe that money and power are spread throughout economic classes unequally. They feel as if this frustration and strain built by individuals who are not able to achieve their goals is what influences a person’s choice to commit a crime. Believing this, strain theorists feel that the youth are certain that the only way to obtain what they desire is to join gangs, because they see other gang members in the community prosper with money. However, it is due to a life of crime and unfortunately, the youth feel as if joining the gang will benefit them in the same way.

An individual is a production of his or her environment and context and can their actions can be easily effected. The concept is brought up and examined in Malcolm Gladwell's book The Power of Context: The Rise and Fall of New York City Crime. The idea is shown in real examples in both Leslie Bell’s book Hard to Get: Twenty Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom and Jean Twenge An Army of One: Me. The concept that one is affected by his or her environment or context is a radical idea due to it going against the traditional concept that an individual is the product of their upbringing and past experiences. The Broken Windows Theory as stated in Gladwell's work gives an explanation as to why an individual can be a product of

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.

The broken windows theory is another helpful technique in the long line of law enforcement remedies to deal with the crime problem today. The theory argues that the role of the police is fundamental to maintain public order and its policing strategy is to address community concern about public safety. (Braga, A. & Bond, B. 2008).

Kelling and Wilson’s article “Broken Windows” focuses on the importance of disorder in generating and sustaining crime that is more severe. The writers explain that disorder is not directly related to serious crime, but instead leads to increased fear as well as withdrawal from residents, which allows more serious crime to move in because of decreased levels of informal societal control. Kelling and Wilson believe that police can play a key role in disrupting this process. If they put their focus on disorder and minor crimes in neighborhoods that have not yet been overtaken by serious crime, they can help reduce fear and resident withdrawal. The promotion of advanced levels of informal social control can help people take control of their neighborhood

One pointed out in the article is the broken windows theory. This was a theory identified and brought to urban police departments in 1982. It became popular fast. The idea behind it is that if a symbol of disorder, such as a broken window, in a neighborhood is not dealt with, it invites the criminal or disorderly element into the area to cause further harm and mayhem. The author points out that the popularity of such a theory, while seemingly effective, brought negative impacts to neighborhoods by keeping the minor offenders on a path of recidivism. According to the author, this would in turn create an “impoverished society.” Causing people to be unable to achieve employment or maintain an honorable position in society. The idea of a person causing disorder became the focus, giving way to an increase in the arrest of the homeless or mentally ill, and an even further increase in the arrest of

The idea that a broken window left unfixed will cause people to think that no one cares about the community and lead to further damage of property is the essence of "broken windows" theory (Kelling and Wilson). Applying it to crime, criminologists Kelling and Wilson argued that if smaller crimes such as vandalism go unchecked larger crimes will become prevalent in the area. In theory "broken windows" policing is a clever way to deter crime; however, in practice it is criticized for being discriminatory, as minorities and impoverished communities have been most effected. This crime control policy has many pitfalls in practice and created much distrust of the police in targeted communities; however, addressing the imminent issues could allow "broken windows" policing to be an effective strategy for crime control.

The “broken window” theory was introduced by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in an article titled Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety, which appeared in Atlantic Monthly magazine in March 1982. Wilson’s and Kelling’s idea that the lack of attention to small-scale problems/neglect within a neighborhood lends itself to bigger issues of crime created many changes in how law enforcement reacted to problems. The “broken window” theory begins with the examination of property neglect, leading to property

“Overall, the broken windows theory did not support the theory that disorder directly causes crime. First of all, it is true that where violence was high, the levels of disorder detected and the relationship was not strong. Second, the level of disorder varied strongly with neighborhood structural characteristics, poverty being among them. Once these characteristics and collective efficacy were taken into account, the connection between disorder and crime vanished in most instances. Homicide, arguably one of the best measures of violence, was among the offenses for which there was no direct relationship with disorder.” (Sampson and Raudenbush, pg. 8)

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 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.

I believe a weakness of this theory is that it does not explain why everyone commits crime. It also shifts the blame from the individual who committed the crime to the factors that may have caused the crime to take place. An example would be instead of the person who steals being blamed for the crime, the blame is then on the environment because it is a low