Broken Windows Theory Essay

Broken Windows Theory Essay
With the research, the researchers hoped to find a relationship between the broken windows theory,
disorder, and the quality of life. Throughout the article, there are multiple different researcher's
opinions and studies put together for the purpose of the research. According to Wilson and
Kellogg's research, the broken windows theory is the cause of individual's fear which prevents
them from being involved in the neighborhood community. This causes social conflict. In a
neighborhood environment like this, people are quick to negatively react towards one another
because they have no type of bond or relationship to the other individual. The research provided
correlates to the social disorder playing a negative role on the quality of life. There...show more
content...
physical activity plays a big part in ones health. So the vacancy of a person's physical activity can
influence health related issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and so many other
harmful disease once again in direct correlation with the negative effects on the quality of life. After
analyzing the information provided by other researchers, the authors of the current article sought to
find some information on their own. They conducted a phone survey with random citizens in two
large southeastern cities. According to the article, "The survey included several sections including
demographic questions and questions about (1) quality of life issues, (2) social networks, (3)
neighborhood disorder, (4) health, and (5) interpersonal relationships. The survey took between 15
and 20 minutes to complete." the survey resulted in pretty decent information. Next, they created a
"quality of life" index that asked six questions pertaining to the participants happiness, health
,fulfillment in daily life and whether they were or were not happy with people they knew in life.
Also for the survey the got the participants demographics; household income, race,
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Broken Window Theory Research Paper
A broken window can mean a lot of things, but what matters is if it will be replaced with a new
one, or left untouched. Why does it matter if it is replaced or not? leaving the window untouched
defines that particular area as either abandoned or unimportant rather than occupied or cared for.
This all ties into the broken windows theory, and more importantly broken windows style policing.
Broken windows policing is gaining more concern by minorities every day, simply because of the
outrageous procedures officer practice to keep their jobs. New York is a highlight state that is not
hesitant to speak their minds, which brought up the concerns up about the broken windows policing
methods and its effectiveness. It almost seems that this style of policing specifically targets
low–class people of color to prevent more serious crimes as well as crack down on outstanding
warrants. However, broken windows policing causes more turmoil than it does assist the public
because broken windows policing is not fair since it targets low–income people of color for no
reason, which shown to lead to harassment or even death. The main concern regarding broken
windows policing is the effectiveness of it, the conclusion of results found in this (in my eyes)
policing harassment methodology. To my knowledge, I have not come about any evidence for it that
it...show more content...
The only logical was for these complaints on broken windows policing to end is for departments to
focus their resources on local infrastructure and community relations. Regardless, broken windows
policing causes more turmoil than it does assist the public, because broken windows policing is not
fair since it targets low–income people of color for no reason, which has shown to lead to
harassment or even

Broken Windows Theory
Broken Windows Theory When George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson first proclaimed the Broken
Windows Theory, it states that maintaining an orderly environment law enforcement needs to
enforce a "zero–tolerance" policy on disreputable people who commit small crimes like public
drinking and vandalism, thereby ultimately prevent bigger crimes from occurring. In the mid 70's
Newark, New Jersey had implemented aspects of the Broken Windows Theory in order to improve
the quality of community life. By having police officers patrolling the city on foot instead of
driving, they hoped it will reduce crime rates. There was no difference in the way people committed
crimes rather police are patrolling on foot or in vehicles (Cullen, 498–499). The program

Broken Window Theory Essay
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.
These aggressive strategies were effective in expanding the police's investigative power, bringing
more individuals under police scrutiny which accordingly increased the quantity of potential
informants, and recovering weapons. These strategies were valuable to individuals who felt they had
lost control of their neighborhood and felt defenseless by nefarious...show more content...
Crime is an issue that is frequently connected to cities with urban centers. For years, officials and
residents in Baltimore City worried about rising crime rates and the danger to public safety. From
1970 to present, violent crime has been a long term pattern in Baltimore and other urban areas in
the United States. Beneath these patterns lies a significant volatility. During the 1970s, crime
rates dropped before suddenly spiking in 1981. Amid the 1980s, crime rates fell again until an
emotional reversal in 1988 which sent crime surging to obscene amounts before cresting around
1995 and falling again. This surge in savage crime in the late 1980s and mid 1990s has been
connected with the introduction and rise of crime, a perspective that was reinforced by ER
surveys. Prior to the crime wave of the late 80s, Baltimore's crime rates had been declined
nominally and in contrast to cities of similar size in the region. The crack epidemic dramatically
reversed these patterns, creating panic among city leaders not just in Baltimore but in other major

Broken Windows Theory Research Paper
Broken windows theory is criminological theory that suggested aggressive enforcement of all
statutes (urban crimes like vandalism) can restore a sense of order. By capturing enforcement data as
reflected in summons and arrest activity, the department is better able to gauge its overall
performance. Maintaining and monitoring environments to prevent minor violations like vandalism
and public drinking helps creating an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing other
crimes from happening. This theory was first introduced and practiced by the New York CityPolice
Department when the problems of crimes became more severe, was intended to decrease crime rates,
in which data suggested that it was successful, but was this approach the

Broken Window Theory
Dr. Wilson and Dr. Kelling offer several benefits to police foot patrol and its application to broken
windows theory and order maintenance. There are many points that resonates with me that are
effective and ineffective about their work regarding broken windows theory and order
maintenance.The broken window theory is a method that if minor crimes are just left unaddressed
and nothing is done about it then, a situation for additional severe crime will be developed due this.
So in the really world the broken window is seen as effective in order to preservation of the law,
which helped reduce crime rates. For example in this theory, in order to reduce crime in a certain
region or area, one must be able to alternative or modify the physical and

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

Essay On Broken Windows Theory
Introduction to the original "Broken Windows" Article Broken Windows theory was created by
George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson in March 1982. Their article was based around the idea that
if small crimes were not punished, they would eventually lead into larger crimes.
The name of the article comes from the idea that is a broken window is not replaced as soon as it
is broken, then it is a sign that no one cares. And, as soon as no one cares, then larger more serious
crimes are permitted.
Throughout the article many different examples are used to support the idea that Broken Windows
Theory Policing is an effective way to fight crime. The primary example of this is in New York
City, when the then mayor of New York City took on Bratton as the newpolice chief. He then went
on to bring in Broken Windows policing. Almost immediately crime rates began to fall. However,
many people disagree about the true reason the crime rates fell.
A War Against Minorities Some that disagree with Broken Windows Theory claim it is not
actually a crime fighting strategy, but rather it was a under the radar call for the police to crack
down on minorities in the USA. Daniel Brook makes the claim that physical decay in
neighborhoods is not the most telling sign that a neighborhood is in decay, but rater that it is racially
determined. "the actual level of physical disorder–the number of boarded–up buildings, for
example–wasn't the most important factor in making people think their

Broken Windows Theory
Introduction In the field of law enforcement, the top priority is to reduce crime. People in law
enforcement have theorized various methods as to what is most effective in controlling crime. The
broken windows theory is one of these crime control theories. This theory states that disorder within
the community can be directly linked to serious crimes, such as robbery, rape, and murder. The idea
is that the police should monitor the community and manage it in order to prevent petty crimes. This
watchful eye would create an environment where individuals are increasingly cautious of their
actions. The outcome is that, in this environment where broken windows policing is enforced, the
number of serious crimes are significantly decreased. The New...show more content...
However, as stated before, it is entirely possible for there to be other factors that led to a decrease in
crime. The empirical data found doesn't specify which factors led to the decrease, only that it was
observed that there was in fact a significant decrease in the crime rate for most major crimes.
However, the "stop, question, and frisk" program was scrutinized and deemed unconstitutional. The
decision as to whether or not an individual is suspicious is entirely up to the officer. Officers would
go into low income neighborhoods and stop men of a certain stereotype (specifically young African
American and Latino men) because they looked suspicious towards them. To make matters worse,
nine out of ten times that an individual was stopped the officers didn't find

Broken Windows Theory Essay
Broken windows, order–maintenance, quality–of–life policing are all ideas that are fast becoming
conventional ways to control crime. Social scientists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling are
convinced their idea of "broken windows" policing shows a connection between street disorder and
serious crime. They believe by police cracking down on any behavior they consider to be disorderly
shows the people in the community that law enforcement is watching them and deters criminal
behavior from occurring. University of Arizona law professor, Bernard E. Harcourt, argues that the
broken–windows theory does not prove that disorder causes crime. In fact, aggressive over–policing
has created more problems than it solves. Problems such as a strained criminal justice system,
burdening impoverished people with fines for minor offenses, and abuse of power between police
and the...show more content...
In Zimbardo's 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment video (Zimbardo, 1971) we can see how people
who are placed in authoritative roles can succumb to overuse of their given power. Our carceral
system justifies the power to punish. Over–policing techniques can be dangerous because they can
make punishment seem like it is normal and necessary. According to Foucault, "The clash between
juridical and disciplinary power gives rise to the tendency toward normalization––toward the
spectrum from normal to abnormal." (Foucault 1980:106). Order–maintenance policing embodies
the juridical model and the military form of discipline. It tends to uses punishments that are
somewhat excessive. "It does not aim to reform the disorderly so much as it does to punish them
and to exclude them, in the sense of getting them off the street." (Harcourt, 2004,149) Police
officers are also not trained on how to deal with those who have disabilities or mental illness and as
a result they are also victims of police

Analyse the 'Broken Window' theory in relation to crime prevention. What are the main strengths and
weaknesses of this theory.
The Broken Windows theory was first proposed by two social scientists James Q. Wilson and
George L. Kelling in the 1982 article, "Broken Windows", ( Wilson and Kelling, 1982). The
analogy of broken windows used to explain this theory is that signs of disorder in a neighborhood
inhibit the efforts of the residents to show social control. Any lack of social control makes the
neighborhood vulnerable to other anti–social activities such as public drinking and theft. This
degradation of the overall morality of the neighborhood, then attracts more unsavoury crimes, such as
prostitution and drug dealing, until,...show more content...
It has been shown that the more a community is seen to be associated with criminal activity, the
more afraid the residents are of being a part of that community, (Pitner et al, 2012). What has been
proposed to counter–act this belief is that community members take a greater concern and pride in
the community's conditions and safety. Volunteer programs involving senior and younger residents,
in addition to neighborhood watch programs, can build mutual trust and more solid relations
between residents. This can result in residents being more active in reducing minor infractions and,
ultimately, crime in the neighborhoods, (Bolder et al, 2005). The Broken Window theory can be used
as motivation for a neighborhood to fund youth programs that provide unsupervised teens and
children an enjoyable place to spend their time. It may also influence parents to pay more attention to
their children and their activities outside of their home environment.
While the Broken Window theory has many supporters and can be backed up by field experiments
and statistical data, there are also many detractors of the theory. In the New York example, there are
many other factors that could have led to the decrease in crime rates during that time. Factors such
as an increase in members of the New York Citypolice force, the changes in drug use away from
heroin, toward crack cocaine (the increased availability of

The Theory Of The Broken Windows Theory Essay
In 1969 Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment. He placed two identical cars in two contrasting
neighbourhoods: one prim and proper, and the other run–down and disordered. Within two days the
car in the run–down neighbourhood was ruined. The other car wasn 't ruined until Zimbardo took a
hammer to the window and shattered it. It didn 't take long for others to step in and completely ruin
the car (Engel et al., 2014).
Zimbardo 's experiment is the basis and inspiration of the broken windows theory (Engel et al.,
2014). The theory posits that disorder leads to crime, or as Keizer, Lindenberg, and Steg (2008) put
it, "Signs of inappropriate behavior like graffiti or broken windows lead to other inappropriate
behavior". The theory presents a snowball effect form disorder to crime. There has been much
debate over the validity of the theory, but the research shows that disorder–broken windows–does
lead to crime.
Developing Broken Windows Theory
History
James Wilson and George Kelling first developed the theory in 1982. They claimed that public
disorder–"matters which are visible and public and pose concerns to the public at large (Ranasinghe,
2011)–leads to serious crime. Countless research has been done since the theory 's first inception,
but perhaps the most notable test and application of the theory was in the New York subway
system from 1990 to 1993, during which the crime rate decreased by 35 percent in the subway, and
18 percent in the city overall (Morris, 2016). There

Broken Windows Essay
In March 1982, The Atlantic magazine ran an article titled "Broken Windows" by George L.
Kelling and James Q. Wilson. [1] The authors of this now famous article wrote, "Social
psychologists and police officers agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left
unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken." One broken window, left unrepaired, is
a signal that the building is abandoned and that no one cares, so breaking more windows means
nothing. The authors continue, "Vandalism can occur anywhere once communal barriers–the sense
of mutual regard and the obligations of civility–are lowered by actions that seem to signal that 'no
one cares.'"
To test this theory, Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford psychology professor, had...show more content...
To test the claim that this behavior could "occur anywhere," Zimbardo performed the same
experiment in sedate Palo Alto, California. This car fared somewhat better, remaining untouched for
more than a week. Then, Zimbardo hit the car with a sledgehammer and within a few hours, this car
also was looted, turned upside down, and destroyed.
To put the broken windows theory to the test, Kelling was hired as a consultant by the New York City
Transit Authority. The subway system was cleaned–specifically targeting graffiti removal. In 1990,
William Bratton, an admirer of Kelling, took over the Transit Police and implemented a
zero–tolerance for fare–dodging and easier processing of those arrested. These strategies, among
others, became part of Mayor Rudy Giuliani's "quality of life" initiative. [2] Was it effective? A later
study of crime trends in New York City showed the rates of both petty and serious crime fell
suddenly and significantly after these actions were instituted.
Most of us have experienced our fair share of project broken windows: impossible deadlines,
shipping a product filled with disaster–in–waiting defects just to meet an arbitrary schedule, firing
the tester for finding too many defects, bogus incentive schemes, declaring a project "done" when it's
not and phony–ing up documents to prove it, and the ever popular adding more people to a late
project.
Windows get broken on every project. However, it's vital not to let them remain broken for

Broken Window Philosophy : Broken Windows
In the article Broken Windows, it gives the reader insight on what broken windows stands for and
how it plays a role in policing. Broken windows is based on bad behavior or actions in the
community. Just like a broken windows it symbolizes nobody cares, which leads to greater fear of
crime and a lessens of community bad behavior, which in turn can lead to more serious crimes and
greater signs of bad behavior, and it could turn into a repeating the cycle. "If a window is broken
and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in
charge."(Wilson) This theory says that the little things matter. By focusing on the small acts of
criminals, law enforcements hope to make the community have social control meaning taking
control of their community and to prevent crime or corruption from happening. Broken Window
philosophy has it positive and negative aspects. The theory states disorder causes fear in the
community, and more crime to occur. Broken Windows strategy was to fight crime and keep the
community safe from danger. In some ways Broken Windows did help the community and in other
ways it didn't. With that said I going on to talk about what Broken Windows has done for us in
positive way.
One thing that Broken Windows have done for policing is troublesome juveniles can learn how to
clean their bad behavior or act. By looking for smaller crimes such as vandalism, littering, or etc.,
policer could catch them. For police officers catching the

Essay On Broken Window Theory
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 orcrime
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.
Sadly, run down...show more content...
The city Richmond, located in Virginia, is a huge city with small areas with high crime rates. Above
all, Richmond is a beautiful city and not labeled as broken. Richmond offers a large amount of
diversity, variety of foods, high amounts of education, many opportunities and more. The younger
generation does many criminal acts because they lack knowledge and there is no hope for youth in
some communities. Furthermore, Richmond is determined to fix a window before the whole
community is full of broken window. Richmond offers counseling, church groups, mentors, school
tutoring, and many more programs to help our community continue to be great. The Richmond
population is about two hundred fourteen thousand people. A study of the violent crime comparisons
that had a thousand residents. The study stated that a Richmond resident had a one in one hundred
eighty six chances of becoming a criminal. The Richmond police strive to be a part of the
community. There have been many community picnics and gathering to build a better relationship
with the police and

Examples Of Broken Window Theory
In 1982, two men named James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling came up with a theory known
as the broken windows theory. The metaphor the two men used was "if one window in a building
is broken and remains broken, other windows will eventually be broken too." (Kirchner, para. 2).
Basically meaning a person's actions are based on their surroundings. For example, if someone goes
into a neighborhood that is clean and doesn't have trash everywhere, they most likely wouldn't litter.
If that same person goes to a neighborhood that is a little more run down, it's clear that the people
that reside there don't care about their neighborhood, he/she is more likely to litter. It's believed the
same for serious crime, as well. Another example, living in

Broken Windows Theory Research Paper
Citizens know the difference between right and wrong, the problem is police officers treat each
unlawful offense they encounter differently, but when you have the broken windows policing in
effect every police officer in that unit will be on the same page. The real reason people get their
feeling hurt is because one day they were going five over the speed limit, the officer stopped them
but they got away with a warning, now they believe that five MPH over the speed limit is
acceptable. The next day they get pulled over for the identical offense, but this officer lays down the
law and they receive a ticket. The broken windows theory provides enforcement with a standard.
When Violation you use to get away with are now being enforced questions

What Is Broken Windows Theory?
During the pasп»їs 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

Essay On Broken Windows Theory
Introduction of James Q. Wilson
James Q. Wilson (1931–2012) was a highly respected scholar who devoted his life in political
science, focusing on urban politics of the America in his early life, and later delved into the study of
political organisations, policing and crime, bureaucracy and character and culture. He spent most of
his life teaching political science at various renowned university, including UCLA and Harvard
University. He also served numerous government commissions throughout his life and was
frequently awarded for his contributions, in particular, he was an awardee of the American nation's
highest civilian award – Presidential Medal of Freedom. Among Wilson's wide array of study, he
was best known for his contributions in...show more content...
Despite the theory being influential, it is to be noted that the original development of the theory has
no actual scientific evidence. This is exemplified as Wilson admitted himself that the theory
originally was a speculation. Although weakly scientific, the theory had basis of actual observation
with testimonies of residents obtained by Wilson and Kelling as outlined in their 1982 article.
b.Application on policing strategy
The broken windows theory influenced policing strategy, specifically, suggested the importance of
combating minor disorder by policing. Since "disorder and crime are usually inextricably linked in a
developmental sequence", policing therefore has an eminent role in disrupting the trajectory linking
minor disorder and serious crime. The hypothesis is that when police keep streets in good order by
not tolerating minor disorder, people are likely to behave in a more orderly way.
An example of the application of this policing approach focusing on minor disorder was New
York City, where the NYPD statistics found a drop of murder rate from 26.5 per 100,000 people
in 1993 to 3.3 per 100,000 people in 2013. This policing strategy was promoted by William J.
Bratton, the head of New York's transit police at that time. In addition, in a research conducted by
Braga, Welsh and Schnell in 2015, it was found that policing strategies focusing on minor disorder
had a statistically

Broken Window Theory Essay
"The appeal of broken windows theory is both emotive and instrumental in nature. It is emotive
because it harks back to a nostalgic construction of community and neighbourhoods as homogenous
environments where clear standards of morality are known and respected". Broken Window
approach was an academic theory proposed theory that used a building's broken windows as a
metaphor for a disorder within neighbourhoods. Their theory joins issue and incivility inside a group
to ensuing events of genuine wrongdoing. As indicated by this method, a broken window that
remains in place is a proclamation that no one thinks enough about the value of life in the
neighborhood or area to cause any trouble to bother to fixing the miniscule things that go wrong.
...show more content...
This alleged keeps individuals from get involved in misconducting activities which is a step to
keeping them off the streets. As well as this also helps keep crime rates lower, because individuals
learn from their mistakes at a younger age so they have the time to strive for success instead of
being stuck in a cycle of criminal activity and the law. And it this is all happening then, it
accommodates persuaded leadership in the neighbourhood because the neighbourhood isn't at wreck
from the beginning so people would have the respect for community to maintain this. So if there is
some type of violation of crime in the community then people would have a respect for the police
work and so forth that happens around that area because they value the community and the
individuals in it, which is a showing respect to them as well as it sets a standard of morality in the
community.
So if no one cared about leaving the broken window, broken, little violation of law that happen in the
community, would then become a building block for the lawbreakers to continuing doing what they
are doing because no one really cares enough to stop them. Which would also lead the community to
eventually stop caring because no one

Broken Windows Theory Essay

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Broken Windows Theory Essay