Broken Window Theory Research Paper

Broken Window Theory Research Paper
Broken Windows policing refers to a form of policing that is based upon the broken windows
theory, which serves as a metaphor for disorder within neighborhoods. According to this theory, a
direct relationship exists between levels of disorder/incivility within a community and subsequent
occurences of serious crime; therefore, the greater the disorder, the greater chance of serious crime
offenses occuring, and vice versa. Broken windows policing works in cohesion with this theory to
combat disorder within a neighborhood/community before it manifests into serious crime (ie: fix the
broken window before the entire house becomes neglected or ruined). To do this, foot patrol was
enforced, which, in additon to battling disorder, attempted to improve community engagement,
partnership, and trust.
Broken windows (ie: foot patrol) policing is different from traditional policing in several ways, the
biggest of which is the way that police integrates/communicates with the public. This style of
policing is much more intimate, and allows the police to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Five years after the program implementing this style of policing was enforced, the Police
Foundation in Washington, D.C., published an evaluation of the foot patrol project, showing that
foot patrol had not reduced crime rates. Additionally, the article "How A Theory Of Crime And
Policing Was Born, And Went Terribly Wrong," cited that crime rates in New York (where the
broken windows approach had appeared to have been wildly successful) had already been dropping
prior to the implementation of this approach/the election of Guiliani who was in support of this style
of policing. Not only this, but crime dropped not just in New York, but in many other cities where
nothing like broken windows policing was in place, leading me to conclude that the drop in crime
existed separately from the practice of broken windows
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

Is Broken Windows A Broken Theory Of Crime?
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 not a sound theory of crime because "the Supreme Court's 1968
Terry v. Ohio decision established the "reasonable suspicion" threshold for stopping and
questioning" (Kelling and Bratton, "Why We Need Broken Windows Policing") during the Reagan
administration which resulted in "a large percentage of those stopped were minorities, and critics
and plaintiffs in federal court proceedings questioned whether all these stops could have been based
on reasonable suspicion, especially when only 6 percent resulted in arrests" (Kelling and Bratton).
Michelle Alexander noted that since the war on drugs, declared by President Reagan, there has been
an increased number of whites imprisoned, but they only make up a small proportion compared to
African Americans and Latinos (Selby, "The Color of Justice"). The Broken Windows theory is not
supported by the stop and frisk enforcement because it led to bigger problems for minorities such as
pretext stops to target people who fit the 'drug–courier profile,' forfeiture,

Broken Windows Theory
Broken Windows and Crime
Driving past the darkened and dilapidated buildings sporting broken windows and colorful graffiti,
the uneasy motorist immediately accelerates the speed of the vehicle to escape the possibility of
being attacked. Undoubtedly, in view of its appearance, this neighborhood must be plagued with the
criminal element. Nearby, the carjacker crouches in the shadows undetected, knowing this is the
perfect place to commit the intended felonious deed. Broken Windows is a metaphor for a
neighborhood in physical disrepair and deterioration. The Broken Windows theory based on this
metaphor was "first advanced in a 1982 article by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling titled
"Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety" (Schmalleger, ... Show more content on
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04). For example, arrests and penalties for less serious crimes like spray–painting graffiti, breaking
windows, and littering keeps the landscape clean and orderly and does not allow for an environment
conducive to further criminal acts. Eliminating these lesser gateway crimes performs as a deterrent
to the commission of major criminal offenses. These strategies produce both positive and negative
results. Positive results include the possibility that the apprehension and punishment of a youthful
offender will dissuade advancement to more serious criminal activities. It also encourages citizens to
come together with local officials and police departments to improve the condition of their
communities. In contrast, critics of the policing tactics produced from this theory charge that it often
results in aggressive over–policing of communities populated by minorities, inciting individual
harassment generated by racial and socioeconomic profiling, thereby producing police brutality. The
Stop and Frisk policy is a good example of this. The policy allows officers to detain an individual
and frisk them without cause. It is further asserted that arresting people for these small crimes leads
to an overload of the criminal justice system (including the prison population), burdens the
underprivileged with imposed fees and fines, and adversely affects public relations between law
enforcement officers and the communities they have sworn to protect and

What Is The Broken Window Theory
James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982 developed the idea of the Broken Windows Theory.
The Broken Windows theory was the first study linking minor crime being left unattended to
growing into serious crime. That crime originated from disorder. Wilson and Kelling argued by
eliminating disorder, serious crime will decrease. The types of disorders are explained in further
depth. The first type of disorder is physical disorder. Examples of physical disorder is but not
limited to vacant buildings, broken windows, abandoned vehicles, and vacant lots filled with trash.
The second type of disorder is defined by noise, hostile panhandlers and young adults gathering in
groups on corners. These forms of disorder make the community appear unsafe

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 on
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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,

Sheldon's Broken Window Theory
To truly test broken window theory would involve analyzing the public perception of disorder and
crime (Gau & Pratt, 2010). Generally speaking do people differentiate between crime and disorder
or do they blend together? If indeed people can distinguish between the two, then there is hope for
maintenance policing and Broken Window Theory (Gau & Pratt, 2010). However, if they do in fact
merge, then the effectiveness of maintenance policing and by proxy the validity of the concept of
Broken Window Theory need to be rethought.
BROKEN WINDOW THEORY 5 Data from a 2003 mail survey was conducted in the Eastern Part
of the State of Washington residents for their fear of crime, and their perception of disorder in their
neighborhoods. Twenty counties were sent the survey four times to ensure they got the survey. Two
thousand eight hundred and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Sheldon says that it is not even really a theory at all. Sheldon says that it lacks a theoretical basis
and has no rational (Sheldon, 2001). He says it is silly to think that if minor offenders like window
washers are arrested, that bigger crimes will go down because criminals will commit crime
regardless of a zero tolerance policy (Sheldon, 2001). Sheldon wants to know why there is crime in
a community in the first place, and how much of it was fixed before the policy was put into place
(Sheldon, 2001). Sheldon says that minor crimes like littering and graffiti do not lead to homicide,
rape or burglary (Sheldon, 2001). The general idea is that this minor disorder will give way to more
intense crimes, but Sheldon says the idea of disorder is sketchy at best is widely open to a subjective
basis. Sheldon also pays close attention to the "New York Policing Experiment." Sheldon points out
that little mention is given to what

Broken Window Theory Analysis
window breaks in an abandoned building in a neighborhood and it is not fixed, then more windows
will be broken and graffiti will occur. In turn, this will make honest people afraid to leave their
homes, and only the mischievous people who want to cause trouble will be out on the streets reeking
havoc. Thus producing crime. Fixing Broken Windows offers a very desiccated but persuasive look
at how to reform the modern criminal justice system by looking at three different aspects: the rise of
crime rates in the middle of the 1960's; the fact that the police are in a reactive role; and how the
"broken windows" theory actually works.
The authors state that in the middle of the 1960's the connection between fear and disorder was
recognized. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The authors also state that the police are now in a reactive role. This means that they respond to
crime, rather than preventing it. Police officers stopped foot patrol and began responding to 911
calls. Many people advocate the restoration of foot patrol for all areas. Foot patrolling is called
community policing and consists of two elements – community partnership and problem solving.
The police must increase positive relationships with citizens to improve crime control and
prevention. To be successful, community–policing programs must operate on a neighborhood scale,
finding solutions to neighborhood problems. Successful programs recognize that something, which
works well in one neighborhood, may be totally inappropriate for another. Problems must be
identified and solutions developed one neighborhood at a time. Community Policing does not
propose that we stop fighting crime and disorder, but that officers employ new and innovative
strategies. We must become pro–active in preventive rather than reactive. Enforcement is very much
a part of the concept. Officers are encouraged to give warnings whenever possible; however, they
are still required to make traffic stops and arrests. There is still an emphasis on drunken driving,
drugs and juvenile crime. The community should not have the mistaken perception that all
enforcement has stopped just because the officers are being "friendly".
Simply put, the "Broken Windows says that if something is not stopped

The Broken Window Theory Of Crime
Criminologist James Q. Wilson and George Kelling developed "the Broken Window theory".
According to their theory they believed "that crime is the inevitable result of disorder" (Gladwell
155). The broken window theory is known as a disorder and as chaos, therefore, crimes become an
issue due to the fact that the impression of no one being in charge causes crimes to happen one after
another and worsening along the way. An example often used is a broken window, which leads to
another broken window, to graffiti, to loitering, etc. The disorder, the chaos and the abandonment of
something or a place causes crimes to be followed one after another – "crime is contagious"
(Gladwell 155). According to the broken window theory, broken windows should not be left alone.
They should be fixed in order for crime to decrease; therefor broken windows should not be
tolerated due to the fact that it may cause an increase of crimes as well. The rise of a question then
forms from this theory, because many departments use the broken window theory. Officers are
known for keeping the law and keeping order. The officers are given a duty of addressing minor life
threatening offenses and social disorder, which prevents major crimes to happen. They are to
disapprove and stop crimes. But is "the broken window theory" broken itself when it comes to law
enforcement. Could they be doing more wrong than actually doing well? Because officers are not
only stopping crimes, but they are causing more trouble

Analysis Of Broken Windows Theory
x
According to James Q. Wilson and Geroge Kelling in their theoretical article piece "Broken
Windows," the Broken Windows Theory concludes that if disorder goes untreated in neighborhoods,
the fear of crime goes up in citizens and police officers, and more disorder will lead. The focus on
police officers obligating to socialize more personally with its citizens in neighborhoods leads to
citizens having more favorable opinions of the police and for residents to feel more secure. In effect,
those residents would think that crime has been reduced in their neighborhood. Although with the
practice of personal socialization [foot patrol] for police officers its citizens in neighborhoods,
crimes rates have shown no decline in crime, however, citizen's perception of police officers and
their neighborhoods grow favorable."
The function for policing of the Broken Windows Theory is for police officers to use the tactic of
foot patrol and socializing more persistently and effectively with citizens in neighborhoods, and
perform an "order maintenance" function. This function enables to gain trust and reduce fear in the
citizens. Moreover, police officers attempt to care to pay more attention to detail to citizens to
maintain order. Geroge L. Kelly illustrates this theory in his work of law enforcement. He describes
his area of work, "run down" regarding the heart of Newark [New Jersey.] His approach of work
was "order maintenance." He illustrates, "As he [Kelly] saw his job, he

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 new police 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

The Broken Window Theory
In The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Malcolm Gladwell presents the
Broken Window Theory. This theory looks at the impetus of crime. ¨The impulse of people to get
involve in a certain kind of behavior¨ (Gladwell). New York´s subway stations saw a change when
crime decreased. By changing the little things David Gunn and William Bratton manage to come up
with a cleaner, safer and better subway systems for everyone in the New York area. One thing leads
to the other that is a broken window. My community, West Odessa, could look better if a broken
window had a positive impact on it. I will make a change and hopefully people will get involve after
seeing me do it. I will take care of my plants and trees and water them more often. Make my house
look nicer by cleaning and decorating it. And make sure there is no trash in or close to my house.
The best pictures are the ones taken of nature. Bright, colorful flowers and tall, green trees. Planting
flowers and trees will make my house look nicer. It will also give a nature feeling to the yard and the
house. I will be taking daily care by watering them and help them grow. Giving that pop of natural
color and beauty to the house will for sure make the neighbors want to do the same. Flowers, roses,
tulips, trees, every kind of flora will look great as long as is creating a beautiful landscape. I will
mow at least once a week. My family gets water from a water well so we will not be wasting any
drinkable

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. ...
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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 Window Theory
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 on Helpwriting.net ...
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 City police force, the changes in drug use away from
heroin, toward crack cocaine (the increased availability of

As the public's fear of drugs grew, so did the nation's prisons. Currently, the United States is home to
5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners (13th). Throughout its decades in
action, the war on drugs has led to new policing systems that are inherently discriminatory. These
systems include the "broken windows theory" and "stop–and–frisk" tactics. The broken windows
theory revolves around the idea that heavily monitoring urban areas to catch and stop small/minor
crimes will deter more–serious, large scale crimes from occurring ("Why Baltimore Blew Up"). In
order to do this police forces, use the "highly interventionist" stop–and–frisk policing. This means
police crawl these urban areas, which are filled with black and ... Show more content on
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The people in these communities are black, poor, and criminalized, meaning the police will both
take advantage of and be scared of them. Fear combined with power makes for a deadly force,
which is too often used on black communities. This force is police brutality. When the people whose
job it is to protect communities abuse their power and harm them instead, the effectiveness and
trustfulness of the system as a whole should be brought into question and addressed. Rather, more
often than not, when a deadly abuse of power occurs it is explained away by the concept of "a few
bad apples." This is equivalent to the saying "not all cops are bad cops." Using this kind of
dismissive language diminishes the problem, and does not account for system inequality. Because
police forces work so closely with other forces in the criminal justice system and city governments,
there are structures in place to help cover up acts of police brutality. When discussing police
accountability, Matt Taibbi argued, "But body cameras won't fix it. You can't put body cameras on a
system" ("Why Baltimore Blew Up"). By this, Taibbi means problems within police forces are not
localized, from officer to officer, or city to city, but are widespread throughout the entire United
States system of

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 on Helpwriting.net ...
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

The Broken Windows Theory Set The Standards of Law...
Introduction: Many experts look at experts' looks at data and research. Great experts find out and
test their research. Traditional old concepts of police work caused many to venture and test
anything. George Kelling and James Q. Wilson analyzed and tested their hypothesis. I will break
down their "Broken Windows Theory" and how this has changed law enforcement today.
Topic I. The Broken Windows set the standards for law enforcement.
A. Early Beginnings of the Broken Windows theory.
B. Specific arguments regarding the Broken Windows theory.
C. Community Policing was brought to New York City.
Topic II. Furthermore, the criminal justice system brought up new ideals with the Broken Windows
theory.
A. Zero tolerance policy came ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Police officers may perform unlawful aggravated actions while people were looking. People that
knew the officer would say that needed how to handle reckless violators. People that may not know
him would contest and say "big city crimes are always and these police officers have lack of
control." (Kelling) A crack in the windows, does that create a smaller hole or bigger problem for
crime.
C. Community policing was brought to New York City.
Police had to maintain their assertion. "Rights" were misconceived only for the rich people. Their
money was thought to give them poser to avoid punishment. Detectives came about to
professionally execute a proper arrest. Police violence had to be halted, however crimes evolved like
bad habit. Riots and organized surfaced like a nightmare for law enforcement. Gangs were more of
an issue in New York. One arrest of a gang can put the community in fear. Community policing of
neighborhoods started in neighborhoods they surveyed the streets without performing law action.
Citizens were comforted with the calm and strict society. The second concept that rose was the
vigilante. Back then there were "three hundred fifty vigilante groups. Fortunately, vigilante groups
have detained and are a scarce subject today. They just wanted to ensure that crime does not happen
like suspects say will not happen.
Topic II: Furthermore, the criminal justice system brought up new ideals with the broken

Theories Of Broken Windows Theory
In the early 1990's New York City implemented a new method of policing called the "Broken
Windows" theory. At that time William Bratton was the new commissioner of the New York City
Police Department and he wanted to center his attention to the subways. Using this theory to help
with policing meant that more serious crimes would evolve from the minor infractions. Bratton was
basically causing a war with the fare evasion and the homeless in the subway tunnels. He was
authorizing sweeps to make sure that the subway tunnels were safe for citizens. This was all
stemmed from the broken windows theory that was introduced in an article from the 1982 Atlantic
Monthly written by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. (Maskaly & Boggess, 2014).
According to Wilson and Kelling they stated the broken windows theory is as if the first broken
window in a building is not repaired, the people who like breaking windows will assume that no one
cares about the building and more windows will be broken. Soon the building will have no windows
(Wilson and Kelling, 1982). Using this theory, New York City Police department thought that if
some rude remarks by the youths that were loitering were left unchallenged the youths would
believe that no one cares what they did and that their behaviors would escalate into something more
serious. In other words, they were trying to stop any minor problems before they became worse.
From the results of this a policy known as "zero tolerance" came to light, even

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 on
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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

Alex Richards 11/10/14 Criminology Broken windows theory
Abstract 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 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Parents may also be influenced to keep a better eye on their kids and the activities that take place
outside their home. In order to deter this type of disaster police should implement some form of
broken windows policing. First, you have to determine what the main problem that should be
resolved is. For example A panhandler that begs for money every day on the side of the street or in
residential communities, This act is the one that opened the door for criminals to enter into the
community. If the community can 't keep a belligerent panhandler from harassing the citizens, a
thief may believe, that the community is even less likely to notify police of a mugging. By resolving
the panhandling issue, the major issue, you can also start eliminating some of the smaller problems.
Panhandling is a serious crime because they start to harass the residents and steal money from those
that have sympathy to there lies. When residents give the panhandlers money, more and more
panhandlers will come in the neighborhood to seek out the same opportunities. One thing that police
officers can do is meet with the residents so that they can voice their opinion about the rundown
homes in the community. At this time they can also seek any suggestions on how to correct the
problem. The first thing for officers to do is search these homes for squatters and criminal. They
should be check to see if they have any warrants. If no warrants they are

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

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

The correctional system in America has been designed for failure. With only punishment and little
rehab or other behavioral modification efforts the correctional system, nothing has not really taught
but how to make weapons out of things that were created for other purposes. There is no effort to
teach people who have been raised in a chaotic society to teach these people how to manage
themselves in a respectable, responsible way.
Millions of Americans have had to to grow up in or be raised by criminally infested society. There
has also been an undiscussed issue of being raised by and/or around mental health patients. These
people that have taught their children improper means of surviving. These people have never been
taught what is acceptable ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A new avenue should be explored. "Restorative justice seeks to heal the relationship between the
victim, the offender, and the community by allowing all three participants to contribute equally
toward realizing these goals. " –(Rio Salado AJS 101 lesson 7, Web, 26 Feb 2017) Little evidence
has been shown of the restorative justice system being used in our society. If a person has been
taught their entire life to steal and bully, it is hard to have them exhibit honesty and kindness. They
have programmed and need to be retaught how to survive. Even the oldest dog can be potty

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 on Helpwriting.net ...
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

Crime And The Broken Window Theory
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 ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Throughout the 1990s, "misdemeanor arrests increased 70 percent in New York City" due to the
availability of more officers leading to the arrest of felons on lower level crimes (Francis). The
"broken window theory" did not show signs of correlation with the reduction of crime in New York
City.
In addition, the increase in officers resulted in more random patrols, deterring crime in public
places. Criminals looking to commit crime had less time. Police officers arrived within seconds of a
9–1–1 phone call. Also, New York City police used precision to focus patrol resources on the times
and places with the highest risks of serious crime known as "Compstat". With more police officers,
patrol presence was concentrated at the "hot spots" and "hot times" of criminal activity. As a result,
the increase in police between 1991 and 2001 accounted for a "crime reduction of 5– 6 percent"
(Levitt). Arrest rates skyrocketed from "50 to 70 percent" in the 1990s (Francis). The "number of
transit crimes dropped over 65%" during the early 1990s showing that crime fell rapidly (Loop).
Law enforcement officers were pulling low–level crooks out of rap clubs, bars and streets
congesting the justice system but also interrogating them for information that led to hundreds of
arrests of more violent criminals involved in gun trafficking, robbery and murder. Within the first 50
weeks of 1994,

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 on
Helpwriting.net ...
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

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 on Helpwriting.net ...
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 Analysis
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. "The broken window theory" is talking about if people see those unrepaired
broken windows, people would think breaking the windows is not a big deal; therefore, there might
be more ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In Tim O'Brien's essay, Rat shot a buffalo several times after his friend Lemon's death. For Rat,
abusing a buffalo is the way he can reduce his sadness towards his friend's death. Acting selfishly
can stop people from being mature. Selfishness is a property that causes people only consider
themselves instead of considering the whole society. Thurman suggests the benefit once people
discover their selflessness: "One of the most significant changes you will notice upon discovering
your selflessness is that your sense of being separate from everyone else has now eroded. Your new
awareness enables you to perceive others as equal to yourself, a part of you, even" (454). Finding
one's selflessness can help a person to act more mature in the society. If most people in the society
only care of their own business matter, the society would stop developing; if most people in the
society can be selfless, that means most people in that society would be more willing to contribute to
the society. Selfishness create bias among people. People might judge others based on

The Broken Window Theory
In 1982, James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling presented an article that called for a change in
police tactics to enhance neighborhood safety entitled simply "Broken Windows". This article was
hailed as the godsend that everyone was waiting for because at the time crime rates were extremely
high and murder had peaked just two years prior to the release of this article. Wilson and Kelling
declare that a return to "order–maintenance" police function is the key to providing safe
neighborhoods (Kelling and Wilson 104). This is achieved through foot patrol officers that enact
regulations for their patrol areas which keep individuals in their place and "strengthen the informal
social control mechanisms of natural communities" (Kelling and Wilson ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The broken window signifies that no one in the community cares and therefore no one will care if
more windows are broken. This theory is then applied to crime and argues that in an area where "the
unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window" (Kelling and Wilson 107). The authors
advocate a return to order maintenance in problem neighborhoods where foot patrol officers regulate
the residents of that area by controlling the disorderly people. Wilson and Kelling describe
disorderly people as individuals who are "not violent people, nor, necessarily, criminals, but
disreputable or obstreperous or unpredictable people: panhandlers, drunks, addicts, rowdy teenagers,
prostitutes, loiterers, [and] the mentally disturbed (104). In the article, Wilson and Kelling, discussed
a study regarding foot patrol policing in Newark, New Jersey. The study found that although the
officers on foot patrol did not lower crime in Newark's neighborhoods, the residents felt safer by
seeing the officers on their patrols. The authors argued that this perception of safety is result of the
officers maintaining a surface order in their assigned patrols. In addition, there was a visible law
enforcement presence that caused residents to be more likely to enforce the neighborhood's "rules"
on their

Broken Windows Theory Research Paper
When a cop wants to illegally enter and search a residence he breaks the window. This gives him
probable cause to "investigate" and any evidence he turns up becomes miraculously legal.
The idea is that the state has a vested interest in keeping an area attractive because if it has too many
"broken windows," it will attract crime. The argument has been used to shut down porn shops and
strip clubs, among other things. It's not a bad idea, but it is open to some pretty loose interpretation,
and the police will push it. Can the police, for example, stop young black or hispanic men from
hanging out on street corners because it might encourage gang attacks? It's tricky.
In short, the broken windows theory says that in a rundown area, such as one with trash, graffiti,
broken windows, etc., there will be more crime because of how it looks. This is in comparison to an
upbeat, clean neighborhood. This relates to policing because more crime may happen in rundown
neighborhoods because criminals may believe the area is cared for or patrolled because of the looks.
The crime rate may be higher. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
But because plans are relatively short term, and criminal cases take so long to come to completion, it
is difficult to sustain the intensity of resourcing required and maintain an eye on the numbers;
particularly given the way in which Giuliani's regime used things like

The Broken Windows Theory
Broken Windows 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. I have had first hand experiences
with dress code violations. At the school that I attend, there is a set dress code. When school first
starts, everyone follows the dress code, but as the year progresses more and more people do as they
please. If one person gets away with breaking the dress code, everyone will then try. Many girls
have gotten away with wearing short skirts, so I decided to try it. It actually worked! Because they
ignored the few girls that were breaking the dress code, a mass amount of girls began breaking dress
code as ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The most recent mass shooting occurred on October 1, 2015 in Roseburg, Oregon at Umpqua
Community College. The shooter, Christopher Sean–Harper Mercer, shot and killed eight students
and one teacher. He later killed himself with a bullet to his head. In June of 2015 in Charleston,
South Carolina, Dylann Storm Roof murdered nine African American people at a historic church.
Roof is facing nine murder charges. One of the more famous shootings, The Sandy Hook
Elementary killing, began when Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty students and nine staff members.
Before the shooting, Lanza killed his own mother, and after the shooting he killed himself. Most of
the shooters killed themselves in order to detour jail time. These shootings are happening more often
than they should, and they are getting deadlier and

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). These
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They explained in the article that today the three most populous cities In the United States , New
York , Chicago and most recently, Los Angeles have all adopted a least some aspects of Wilson and
keeling's broken windows theory, primarily through more aggressive enforcement of minor
misdemeanor laws. In New York City the theory of broken windows has been used as a motivation
to reinforce other ways of order maintenance. One of them is stop– and frisk which focuses on
certain characteristics that and individual possessed to stop him. According to burns this is the
symbolic assailants "Persons who pose particular threats to officers" they are identified by their
speech, dress, gestures and other factors. The stop– and frisk is an example of how police officers
use their discretion against racial and ethnic minorities. Finally according to a recent National
Research council report, existing research does not provide strong support for the broken window

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. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For instance, a strength is the idea that individuals who commit minor offenses potentially drug
related or vandalism, may have a higher chance of going onto committing more serious crimes if
they believe that they will not get caught for it. Therefore, catching those who commit minor
offenses early will show criminals that the system of law and order works efficiently and deter
higher crime. However, the author Aleszu Bajak from Daily News, explains that since the Atlantic
article first emerged, thousands of studies carried out in U.S. cities have analyzed this theory–
focused law enforcement strategy and if it reduces criminality, but the quality of the studies, along
with their result, have been mixed. Therefore, more conclusive data needs to be found in order to
determine if this policing strategy is effective. Nevertheless, the logic of the theory is not flawed, yet
the idea in practice has unintended

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

The Implication Of The Broken Window Theory And Policing
Broken Window Theory LSCJ 3133
Mikle DeShazer
University of Oklahoma
Broken Window Theory and Policing 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"

Broken Windows Theory In School
The sponsor for the Act was Rep. George Miller and was introduced on February 18th, 1993.
Committees involved with the Gun–Free Schools Act includes the House Education and Labor, and
also, was referred to the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education. This
Act was intended to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Under this new
method, also known as "exclusionary discipline," school administrators were no longer allocated
discretionary choices when punishing students for carrying weapons to school. Automatically, any
student found with either a firearm or explosive device in school was obligated by law to be
expelled for at least one year. The underlying purpose and goal of the Act was clear: to create ...
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The United States government recommends schools and districts form methods on ways to
distinguish between disciplinary violations which can be properly handled by school officials
without the involvement of law enforcement, compared to major threats to school and students'
safety. Also, it is encouraged to collect and monitor data regularly to confirm nondiscrimination.
Another important factor that may be deemed beneficial is providing time for the students and
parents to form relationships with the School Resource Officers to help form trust (Press, 2014).
Similarly, findings have found that teachers play a role in disrupting the school–to–prison pipeline,
but that strong student–teacher relationships are necessary (Gass & Laughter, 2015). There are six
different evidence–based practice intervention strategies suggested by "Teaching Tolerance" school–
to–prison pipeline including increasing the use of positive behavior interventions and support
services, compile annual reports on the total number of disciplinary actions that push students out of
the classroom based on gender, race, ability, etc., create agreements with police departments and
court systems to limit arrests

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 ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
This statistic demonstrates how an individual a product of their environment since the Generation
Me college men had a much higher self–esteem then the men in 1968 due to the Generation Me men
being in an environment that had such a high(find better word) focus on self–esteem. The individual
being a product of environment and context is further demonstrated by this quote from Twenge
"During the 1970s–when the nation's children shifted from the late Baby Boom to the early years of
GenX–kids' self–esteem declined, probably because of societal instability. Rampant divorce, a
wobble economy, soaring crime rates, and swinging singles culture made the 1970s a difficult time
to be a kid." (Twenge 493). The children of the 70s were a product of the context of the time which
was unstable and un–nurturing for children and it caused their self–esteems to be lower than
previous generations and future generations. Generation Me has a very high self esteem and can be
borderline narcissistic according to Twenge due to the constant reminder of the self being most
important. This idea of being in an environment where there is a constant reminder of something
causing that thing to effect the individual is shown in Malcolm Gladwell's work, instead of being
self esteem it is a new

The Broken Window Theory And The New York City...
Arguably, human beings face cognitive association in their daily life. This occurs in the different
spheres of life spanning from personal relations to different encounters that man has. The different
associations we have been found to be instrumental in shaping up man's thoughts, as well as
behavior and cognitions. Both behavior and cognition are two important aspects of social
psychology, which discusses the human behavior in the various social settings. These researchers
established that man has different characters that are influenced by the presence of other individuals.
Furthermore, the characters are dependent on one's social influence, the social perception and the
various social relationships. In most times, character develops through ... Show more content on
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However, before a person experiences what the environment has to give, there are the
preconceptions and opinions that people have about the reality, either based on reason or experience.
People have prejudices that impact how they respond to the environment before it influences them.
Therefore, persons have preconceptions and expectations about the reality of what the environment
has to offer even before it influences them. People`s cognitive association makes them believe that
they are real and justifiable despite their prejudices such as expectations of unfriendly environment
that may not be based on experience or knowledge. Therefore, people can use their prejudices to
shape the environment. For example, individuals may expect unfriendly environment, but they can
utilize their characters to influence the people around them to behave in a friendly way. Specifically,
in the case of Goetz, Gladwell describes Goetz is "Surrounded on all sides by graffiti covered walls"
(233). According to this statement, Gladwell believes that the graffiti on the subways and buses
greatly influenced the behavior of Goetz. Clearly, Goetz had a preconception that the place was
unsafe because of the presence of the offensive graffiti. As a result, Goetz behavior was not purely
influenced by the cognitive associations, but by both cognitive association and the environment. On
the contrary, if

Analysis Of The Broken Windows Theory
Gladwell slickly introduces a uniquely reasoned theory, The Broken Windows Theory, a few pages
into The Tipping Point. After explaining that this theory is about immediate environmental effects
on human nature/behavior, he gives examples on how New York began improving after taking it into
consideration. Specifically, this talks about the "smallest details of the immediate environment"
which ultimately ends up describing the theory to be "quite a radical idea." Gladwell mentions that it
"appears to violate some of our most deeply held assumptions about human nature," but what does
he mean when referring to human nature? Could it be that it affects the way people see the
environment they live in? Is it because we get used to our ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Goetz was described of having psychological issues therefore being somewhat mentally ill or at
least not "right" in the mind and/or emotionally. As stated in page 156,
Psychiatrists talk about criminals as people with stunted psychological development, people who
have had pathological relationships with their parents, who lack adequate role models. There is a
relatively new literature that talks about genes that may or may not dispose certain individuals to
crime. On the popular side, there are endless numbers of books by conservatives talking about crime
as a consequence of moral failure–of communities and schools and parents who no longer raise
children with a respect for right and wrong. All of those theories are essentially ways of saying that
the criminal is a personality type–a personality type distinguished by an insensitivity to the norms of
normal society. People with stunted psychological development don't understand how to conduct
healthy relationships. People with genetic predispositions to violence fly off the handle when normal
people keep their cool. People who aren't taught right from wrong are oblivious to what is and what
is not appropriate behavior. People who grow up poor, fatherless, and buffeted by racism don't have
the same commitment to social norms as those from healthy middle–class homes. Bernie Goetz and
those four thugs on the subway were, in this sense,

Broken Window Theory Research Paper

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