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Broken Windows Theory

Introduction

The broken windows theory is one of the most influential theories of criminology. This theory, originally introduced in the year 1969, has a signaling impact of vandalism and urban disorder upon additional and sometimes more serious anti-social or deviant behavior. The theory implies that effective monitoring of urban neighborhoods for even minor criminal behavior in a well conceived and organized manner may result in halting further escalation of those minor criminal acts into becoming more serious ones. The theory was discussed in detail and applicable fashion in an article by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling published in Atlantic Monthly in 1982. Since then, the theory has been the subject of many heated debates both within and outside the domain of social and criminal sciences (Kelling et al, pp. 192-201).

There are many instances where the broken windows theory has been used a motivation and guiding principle for making and/or reforming policies concerning the criminal and anti-social behavior (Levine, pp. 33-51). Although the theory has a proven track record of yielding positive results, it has received a large body of criticism from some segments of the society. This paper aims at discussing the different aspects of t the broken windows theory, while exploring how the theory has inspired some criminal policies.

Discussion

In the article published in 1982 in The Atlantic Monthly, the criminologists James Wilson and George Kelling presented a study based upon the broken windows theory. That aims to show the causal relationship that exists between disorder and crime. The study conducted by criminologists was based on an experiment run by an American psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who left a car in an affluent and rich neighborhood in the city of Palo Alto, California. In the first week the car remained intact. However after breaking a window, a few hours had passed and the car was totally damaged and many parts were stolen by vandal groups who passed by (Kelling et al, pp. 192-201).

According to the authors, if they break a window of a building and it is not immediately noticed or repaired by the people who pass by will result in leaving the impression that there is no authority responsible for keeping the order in that locality..And soon it would result in decadence of the street where only the unemployed persons or those with tendencies to crime will feel well at that location, thus creating a breeding ground for crime (Kelling et al, pp. 192-201).

The famous implementation of the Broken Windows was the Zero Tolerance policy in New York. During the years preceding the implementation of that policy, crime in New York reached high levels of concern to the American people and especially those responsible for public safety, which resulted in the Criminal Policy of Zero Tolerance, which was based upon the fundamentals of the theory of broken windows (St, Jean, pp. 88-122).

The degradation of the urban environment can be linked to the perception of public safety: an environment dominated ...