Broken Windows Theory

First off, restorative justice doesn’t punish people, and a criminal needs punishment. If somebody knows that they won’t get in trouble for doing something wrong, they will just continue to do it. Prison time has been proven to work effectively. The Observer states that tougher prison sentences reduce crime, according to research by a study from academics at Birmingham University.

Zero Tolerance is vital to regenerate urban environments. There is no point building in inner cities if we don't protect these resources from graffiti and vandalism. Zero tolerance reduces the amount of dead ground used for drug

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 Zero Tolerance Laws Are Unfair the author talks about a girl who gave an ibuprofen to her friend and was suspended for “dealing drugs”. Zero-tolerance policies are to blame. Zero-tolerance policies started to become mainstream in the mid-1990’s in an effort to get students who brought either drugs, guns or alcohol to school suspended or expelled. “A zero tolerance policy is a school or district policy that mandates predetermined consequences or punishments for specific offenses that are intended to be applied regardless of the seriousness of the behavior, mitigating circumstances, or situational context” (Mental Health America). Since the 1990’s however, these policies have grown broader and broader to include non-violent offences, such as a student talking back to an administrator or a baseball player bringing a baseball bat to school. How is it fair that someone who gives a friend an ibuprofen receives the same punishment as someone dealing illicit drugs? School administrations need to bring their zero-tolerance back to what is federally required and lose all of the add-ons, because as zero-tolerance policies have grown to encompass the unnecessary, it is especially harmful to disabled students, students of color, and at-risk students. The growing number of suspensions and expulsions, which mean more time out of school, make it harder for those kids to graduate.

I think this raises two different questions: should restorative justice be used in American life and can it be used in American life? In regards to the first question, my answer is yes it should be used. I believe that our criminal justice system is severely flawed and our incarceration rate is absurd. I believe a restorative justice approach could be the rehabilitation of criminals. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 77% of prisoners released in 2005 were arrested again within five years. This goes to show that incarceration is not the answer to criminality in the United States. If our government invested in rehabilitation programs that focused on things such as mental health, addiction problems, learning job skills, and other things that would help prisoners post-release, I believe we would see a much lower incarceration rate over time, especially with those of color. Along with this, rehabilitation can be much cheaper than incarceration. It seems quite odd that rehabilitation is not being used as much as incarceration. Which brings me to my second question: can restorative justice be used in American

At one point, crime in America grew 13 times faster than population. Between 1965 and 1980s, crimes in every category rose to a record high in New York. Burglary related crimes rose from 183,443 to 360,925. Larceny-theft rose from 253,353 to 535. Vehicle theft rose from 58,452 to 171,007. Assault rose from 27,464 to 91,571. Murder rose from 836 to 2,228. However, during the 1990s, crime in New York crime tipped. Crime fell to a record low. Murder rates, burglary, larceny-theft, vehicle theft, assault, and rape all fell suddenly. Homicide rates plunged 43 percent reaching the lowest levels in 35 years. The crack epidemic along with the election of a new governor both contributed to the drop in crime not the “broken window theory”. Many

In this society it is easy to dismiss people as crazy, lazy, or violent without knowing a person’s full background. We all come from different walks of the life and we have a tendency to turn a blind eye to that fact. I look at our prison system and see an array of people incarcerated for many different reasons. The background and upbringing of a person plays a vital role in the type of person someone is going be when they grow up. A person who grew up in a home of violence will have to make a decision about their future. The things seen as a child will either cause a person to break mentally or they will have the determination to do better for their family and themselves. In some cases, a person will have to seek help in order to obtain

2. The "Broken Windows" theory, initially introduced by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982, contended that there was a causal connection between neighborhood disorder and crime. This theory was initially employed by police in New York, where a string of forceful misdemeanors and increased stop-and-frisk incidents were credited with apprehending wanted criminals, seizure of illicit weapons, and diminishing the city's crime rate. Martin O'Malley’s ascension to mayor in 1999 had the Baltimore Police Department adopting these same procedures in Baltimore.

The United States of America, long ago, founded a disciplinary system that was to keep law abiding citizens safe. Those who broke the law were to be adequately punished and reformed, so that when criminals were done serving time, they would be ready to become contributing members of society. Mandatory minimum sentences, high prison return rates, and overworked and underfunded public defenders are just some of the issues that plague the Criminal Justice System. It is astounding that an alternative has not been sought.Restorative justice, or Circle justice is a discipline system that involves mediation, honest speaking, and healing. It gets all parties to share their experiences thoughts and feelings to address what happened in the inciting

As stated before, Zero Tolerance is a policy of major petty crime crackdowns, in hopes of creating an immediate better

An imposing environment may cause people become selfish since people may develop a tough emotion in the chaotic environment. Forgetting “self” is the way to help people get rid of being selfish. In the daily life, one of the most common reason that people gain selfishness is they seeing selfishness exist in the society. By talking about the crime can be a trend, Gladwell suggests that “this (the Broken Windows Theory) is an epidemic theory of crime. It ways that crime is contagious-just a fashion trend is contagious-that it can start with a broken window and spread to an entire community.

During the pass few class discussion, we have talked about several topics including the broken windows theory, the epidemic curve, and if negative social epidemics undergo the same spreading process. We said that the broken windows theory is now outdated and would not successfully stop crime in ways that it used to. In today's world, it can even be scene as a harmful policing procedure, in that excessively ticking on small crimes can lead in some cases to racial discrimination. The following day, we discussed what the epidemic curve looks like, and where all of the key components go. After much debate, the general consensus was that the innovators start a trends, and then in order for that trent to take off a maven, salesmen, or connector

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 think what you're referring to is the zero-tolerance policing strategy that was born from the broken windows theory. In the case of zero-tolerance policing, I tend to disagree, as not only does it create a further divide between the police and public, but it also fills correctional institutions with minor offenders. In my opinion, perhaps a better strategy to combat crime born out of the broken windows theory is to work with the community to make the area less inviting to criminals. In either case, what seems to be happening is that crime is simply displaced from the area, and forced into different neighborhoods. Thanks for the post!

There are already existing restorative practices that are place within the conventional criminal justice system at present namely probation, restitution and community service (Zehr, 1990). Admittedly they are not readily termed restorative justice programs however they are grounded in its theory.