BROKEN WINDOW THEORY

Dametria Rosenthal

WHAT IS THE BR OKEN WIN DOW THEORY?

• The broken window theory suggests that those that are in a broken neighborhood tend to leave it broken , therefore leaving the neighborhood open for crime to move in and take over

BROKEN WINDOW CONT.

Developed by James Wilson and George Kelling in the year of 1982

Falls into the Chicago school of criminology under social disorganization

SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY

Social disorganization theory: A person’s physical and social environments are primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that person makes. In particular, a neighborhood that has fraying social structures is more likely to have high crime rates. Such a neighborhood may have poor schools, vacant and vandalized buildings, high unemployment, and a mix of commercial and residential property. (NCJRS 2003)

HOW IT EFFECTS COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHB ORHOODS

normal controls in the neighborhood begins to weaken and those that participate in criminal activity begin to take over and the neighborhood starts to see more and more criminal behavior to be present.

criminal behavior becomes the new normal behavior of the neighborhood .

Causal chain that was developed by Wilson and Kelling can be used to understand the process of how the process of crimes moves into a "broken neighborhood"

CAUSAL CHAIN OF CRIME

disorder caused by disreputable people

breakdown in informal control

invasion of predatory criminals

high crime rates in neighborhood

increase of officers on patrol

more agencies adopt zero- tolerance policies

making people of the community more aware of problems going on and getting them more involved

stricter punishments for those that offend

HOW IS THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FIXING THE "BROKEN

WINDOW"

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Those that are more involved in their neighborhood work hard to keep it upstanding and free of crime. By holding those in the neighborhood accountable and giving them some responsibility to help the process can make law enforcement agencies more successful at reducing the rates of crime.

In a nutshell if its broken then fix it

REFERENCES

Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T. & Ball, R. A. (2011). Criminological theory: Context and consequences (5th Ed.). Washington D.C: Sage Publications.

National Criminal Justice Reference Services. (2003, May). Social disorganization and rural communities. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/193591/ page1.html