Essay On Broken Window Theory
In March 1982, criminologists named George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson developed a theory called “Broken Windows Theory”. This theory suggests that crime is most likely to occur within a part of a city that is neglected, “if a window in a building is left broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken” (Kelling, Wilson, 1982). The name suggests that windows should be fixed immediately, most likely linking to stopping crimes no matter how minor. The article goes into the details of how policing had taken action towards minor offenses such as; public drunkenness, loitering, and vandalism. In this review, I will be assessing urban decay, police authority and racial tensions subcategories of the Broken Windows Theory. If cities do not take action, it is possible for them to
…show more content…
Whether we act out in anger towards the system, our society needs the influence of authority to help contain acts of violence. That is why Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to test the Broken Windows theory. In 1969, he had placed a car with no license plate in the Bronx and in Palo Alto to view who would approach the car. Within the first ten minutes in the Bronx a family robbed it, and to encourage the theory, in Palo Alto, Zimbardo took a sledgehammer to the car. People viewed the damaging to the car and joined in soon after. His results showed that yes; if you leave a window broken the rest of the windows would follow and that the so-called vandals were clean-cut whites, which is why "vandalism can occur anywhere once communal barriers—the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility" (Kelling, Wilson, 1982). This tells us that even law-abiding citizens could commit minor crimes if pushed or encouraged. Using the force of police authority to prevent crimes by lurking or instilling fear among the people would be seen as necessary or
Whether we act out in anger towards the system, our society needs the influence of authority to help contain acts of violence. That is why Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to test the Broken Windows theory. In 1969, he had placed a car with no license plate in the Bronx and in Palo Alto to view who would approach the car. Within the first ten minutes in the Bronx a family robbed it, and to encourage the theory, in Palo Alto, Zimbardo took a sledgehammer to the car. People viewed the damaging to the car and joined in soon after. His results showed that yes; if you leave a window broken the rest of the windows would follow and that the so-called vandals were clean-cut whites, which is why "vandalism can occur anywhere once communal barriers—the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility" (Kelling, Wilson, 1982). This tells us that even law-abiding citizens could commit minor crimes if pushed or encouraged. Using the force of police authority to prevent crimes by lurking or instilling fear among the people would be seen as necessary or