DOCSLIB.ORG

Urban Structures and Crime SIAK-Journal − Journal for Police Science and Practice (Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Urban Structures and Crime SIAK-Journal − Journal for Police Science and Practice (Vol .SIAK-Journal – Journal for Police Science and Practice Hermann, Dieter/Laue, Christian (2011): Urban Structures and Crime SIAK-Journal − Journal for Police Science and Practice (Vol. 1), 69-78. doi: 10.7396/IE_2011_G Please cite this articel as follows: Hermann, Dieter/Laue, Christian (2011). Urban Structures and Crime, SIAK-Journal − Journal for Police Science and Practice (Vol. 1), 69-78, Online: http://dx.doi.org/10.7396/IE_2011_G. © Federal Ministry of the Interior – Sicherheitsakademie / NWV, 2011 Note: A hard copy of the article is available through the printed version of the SIAK-Journal published by NWV (http://nwv.at). published online: 3/2013 2011 .SIAK-INTERNATIONAL EDITION Urban Structures and Crime Understanding the broken windows approach as an ecological theory focussing on the interrelationships of urban structures and crime, it can be summarized by the following hypotheses: (a) Worsening urban structural conditions lead to higher crime rates, higher fear of crime and to worse perception of quality of life. (b) An increase of delinquency rates, fear of crime and perceived negative quality of life in a district leads to migration and a change in the structural conditions. In this study cross-sectional data, representati­ ve surveys, and also longitudinal data about structural changes in German cities were used. The results largely conf irm the broken windows approach; however, a modif icati­ on should be taken into consideration. A supplementing of this approach can be reached by a combination with lifestyle approaches. Following this, crime rates in a district not only depend on structural variables, but also on the lifestyle of the inhabitants. DIETER HERMANN, Professor at the Institute of Criminology, University of Heidelberg. 1. INTRODUCTION be inter preted in several ways, making it The broken windows approach can be in­ necessary to specify the hypotheses of the terpreted as an ecological theory that des­ approach more exactly prior to testing it cribes the interrelationship between urban empirically. Taking into consideration both structures and crime (Wilson/Kelling the Wilson and Kelling study (Wilson/ 1982; Bottoms/Wiles 1997; Laue 1999; Kelling 1982), the city-sociological stu­ Hermann/Laue 2001). The concept has at­ dies of the Chicago School (Shaw/ tained a relatively high status due to seve­ Zorbaugh et al. 1929; Shaw/McKay 1931; ral applications in crime-prevention pro­ Burgess/Bogue 1964; Shaw/McKay 1969) jects and to its attractive theoretical which, theoretically speaking, can be con­ plausibility. The approach underlies com­ sidered to be the basis for the broken pletely different prevention strategies, windows approach, and Stark’s theory such as the police tactics in New York that (Stark 1987), the following hypotheses CHRISTIAN LAUE, caused a worldwide sensation with the slo­ seem to summarize the approach: Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminology, gan “zero tolerance” (Kelling and Coles Different structural conditions in a University of Heidelberg. 1996; Green 1999), or “community poli­ neighbourhood influence the potential cing” projects (Pate 1986) while other for formal control in this neighbour­ communal crime prevention measures also hood. The more intense these structural refer to Wilson and Kelling’s broken wind­ conditions are, for example, the hetero­ ows approach (Wilson/Kelling 19821). The geneity and the degree of individualiza­ great signif icance of the approach for tion of the inhabitants, as well as popula­ crime policy justif ies the attempt to test it tion density, the less intense is the empirically – and this is the central topic potential for control. As a result, the de­ of this essay. linquency rate and fear of crime increase The many different applications of the and quality of life are perceived to be broken windows approach show that it can worse by the inhabitants. 69 .SIAK-INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2011 Source: Hermann/Laue The higher the crime rate and the fear of crime in a neighbourhood and the worse the perceived quality of life, the higher the degree of migration is which leads to a reduced population density and, f inal­ ly, to a change in the neighbourhood’s structural conditions. We can conclude in simplif ied terms that structural conditions in a neighbour­ hood are the reasons for crime rate, fear of crime and quality of life. These characteri­ stics are the reason for a change in the po­ pulation structure, which then leads to a change in structural conditions by a feed­ back process. This process is shown gra­ phically by Figure 1. Anomic structural conditions such as Fig. 1: Concept of an Ecological Theory of Crime in high population density, and above average the Tradition of the Broken Windows Approach heterogeneity and individualization of the population make it more diff icult to create Source: Hermann/Laue social networks and social control. Study Design Result Neighbourhoods where social control doesn’t function show a higher crime rate Zimbardo Experiment: Confirmation of the theory and fear of crime, and the quality of life is (1969) An old car is left in the for the Bronx, however, considered worse by the inhabitants. Thus, Bronx (New York City) and refutation for Palo Alto they become less and less attractive as li­ in Palo Alto (California) to see how passers-by react ving areas, resulting in negative populati­ on development, which is the preliminary Shaw, Criminal-ecological In most parts confirmation stage of increasing criminality. These rela­ McKay studies: Characterization of of the theory tions describe an ecological theory of crime (1931) neighbourhoods with high which can be considered as one of the crime rate by dilapidation, elements of the broken windows approach. poverty, high percentage of foreigners, lacking social 2. EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON THE control and decreasing BROKEN WINDOWS APPROACH number of inhabitants So far, relatively few empirical studies Skogan Secondary analysis of Confirmation of the have been made on the question conducted (1990) empirical criminal- approach: to test the validity of the broken windows ecological studies Anomic conditions in approach. Table 1 shows examples of some neighbourhoods (disorder) studies. The criminal-ecological studies of decrease the ability of the Shaw/McKay (Shaw/McKay 1969) and community to react Skogan (Skogan 1990) largely conf irm the appropriately to criminality, approach; Zimbardo’s experiment (Zim­ and increase crime rate bardo 1969), however, which has been ta­ Table 1: Empirical Studies on the Broken Windows ken as proof for the validity of the broken Approach windows approach by Wilson and Kelling 70 2011 .SIAK-INTERNATIONAL EDITION Source: Hermann/Laue (Wilson/Kelling 1982), at least partially Study Number Year Location Sample refutes it. As a whole, the approach needs of Cases to be completed or modified. Victim 2.930 1998 Heidelberg Random sample of 3. DATA AND Survey persons Freiburg inhabitants of Heidelberg OPERATIONALIZATIONS and Freiburg between This study focuses on explaining the me­ 14 and 70 years chanisms of the ecological approach, rather Structural 40 districts 1998 Heidelberg Total sample of all districts than examining the complexities of the Data Freiburg in Heidelberg and entire broken windows theory. We have Freiburg analysed whether the conditions put forward in the broken windows approach Longitudinal 191 1994– Frankfurt Total sample of all Data districts 1998 Heidelberg districts in the cities can be refuted by an empirical study, and Köln have concentrated purely on the existing München hypotheses of an environmental theory Rostock of crime. The hypotheses were f irst examined Table 2: Description of data using cross-sectional data, that is, struc­ tural data of two university cities and re­ tions in a neighbourhood and migration presentative surveys of their inhabitants. cannot be examined with these data, We then used longitudinal data to look at longitudinal data were used for this structural changes in neighbourhoods of purpose. German cities. The cross-sectional survey includes a questioning of victims so that 4. RESULTS information about the dark f igure could be taken into consideration. Table 2 des­ 4.1. CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA cribes the data which are the basis of the The statistical analysis was made with the analysis. help of data characterizing neighbour­ The structural data were taken from hoods. For this reason, the individual data published statistics of the Off ices for used had to be aggregated at this level. City Development and City Planning of The crime rate was measured by determi­ the selected cities (Amt für Stadtent­ ning the percentage of victims in the wicklung 1999). The survey data were neighbourhoods.2 Levels of fear of crime taken from a project undertaken by and quality of life are given as the average Dieter Dölling and Dieter Hermann at value from the survey of those interviewed the Institute of Criminology of the Uni­ in the neighbourhood. versity of Heidelberg (Dölling/Hermann Methodologically speaking, these mea­ 1998; Hermann 1999; Hermann/Laue surements at a neighbourhood level provi­ 2001). de total surveys for two cities. Generaliza­ The cross-sectional data are supposed tions of the survey results beyond these to determine the influence of structural communities are only possible on the characteristics on delinquency, fear of plausibility level. However, it is possible crime and perceived quality of life. In to test the hypotheses with the regionally addition, these data explain changes in limited data, since the hypotheses of eco­ the structure of the population. As the logical theories of crime claim to be valid inter relation between structural condi- for all communities. The universality of 71 .SIAK-INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2011 the hypotheses could thus be refuted with correlation coeff icients was used as a rele­ this survey. vance criterion. In the next step, we used In a statistical analysis of 40 cases, the the relevant structural characteristics: level number of variables with multivariate pro­ of crime, fear of crime, perceived quality cesses must be relatively low.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice
    Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2015 Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1490 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2625217 62 UCLA L. Rev. 1156-1239 (2015) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod EVIEW R ABSTRACT This Article introduces to legal scholarship the first sustained discussion of prison LA LAW LA LAW C abolition and what I will call a “prison abolitionist ethic.” Prisons and punitive policing U produce tremendous brutality, violence, racial stratification, ideological rigidity, despair, and waste. Meanwhile, incarceration and prison-backed policing neither redress nor repair the very sorts of harms they are supposed to address—interpersonal violence, addiction, mental illness, and sexual abuse, among others. Yet despite persistent and increasing recognition of the deep problems that attend U.S. incarceration and prison- backed policing, criminal law scholarship has largely failed to consider how the goals of criminal law—principally deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retributive justice—might be pursued by means entirely apart from criminal law enforcement. Abandoning prison-backed punishment and punitive policing remains generally unfathomable. This Article argues that the general reluctance to engage seriously an abolitionist framework represents a failure of moral, legal, and political imagination.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critique of the Social Influence Conception of Deterrence, the Broken Windows Theory, and Order- Maintenance Policing New York Style
    University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 1998 Reflecting on the Subject: A Critique of the Social Influence Conception of Deterrence, the Broken Windows Theory, and Order- Maintenance Policing New York Style Bernard E. Harcourt Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Bernard E. Harcourt, "Reflecting on the Subject: A Critique of the Social Influence Conception of Deterrence, the Broken Windows Theory, and Order-Maintenance Policing New York Style," 97 Michigan Law Review 291 (1998). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REFLECTING ON THE SUBJECT: A CRITIQUE OF THE SOCIAL INFLUENCE CONCEPTION OF DETERRENCE, THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY, AND ORDER-MAINTENANCE POLICING NEW YORK STYLE Bernard E. Harcourt* TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................ 292 I. ORDER-MAINTENANCE POLICING: A CRITICAL DESCRIPTION ....................................... 301 A. Background .................................... 301 B. The Broken Windows Essay ................... 302 C. The Social Influence Conception of D eterrence ..................................... 305 II. Ti LACK OF SOCIAL SCIENCE EVIDENCE ......... 308 A. Replicating Skogan's Study ..................... 309 B. The Sampson and Cohen Study ................ 329 C. New York City's Falling Crime Rates ........... 331 D. An Alternative Mechanism of Order- Maintenance Policing: Enhanced Surveillance.. 339 III. THE CATEGORIES UNDERLYING ORDER- MAINTENANCE POLICING .......................... 343 A. Who Are the Disorderly? ...................... 343 B. Tracing the Problem Back to Social Theory .... 347 C. Emile Durkheim on Legitimation and Legal Regulation ....................................
    [Show full text]
  • African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies: AJCJS, Vol.4, No.1
    African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies: AJCJS, Vol.11, #1 April 2018 ISSN 1554-3897 A Critical Analysis of the ‘Broken Windows’ Policing in New York City and Its Impact: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American Community By Ngozi C. Kamalu Fayetteville State University and Emmanuel C. Onyeozili University of Maryland Eastern Shore Abstract The broken windows approach is an aggressive crime fighting strategy instituted in New York City in the 1990s, emphasizing mass arrest of perpetrators of major as well as minor offenses. The impact resulted in disproportionate arrest of Black and Hispanic youths in comparison with Caucasians. Critics of broken windows strategy maintain that its success is exaggerated and oversold. They argue that the decline in crime in the city was not a consequence of the strategy, but due to improved economy, declining numbers of teenage males, and the decline in crack cocaine use. The broken windows strategy in fact yielded unintended consequences and other collateral effects because of its negative impact on the racial minorities. Furthermore, it created enormous financial burden on the criminal justice system by diverting limited resources for social programs to punishment and incarceration, thus undermining the traditional police- community emphasis of effective policing. The perceived unfair treatment, harassment, and subjection of African Americans to “stop, frisk, search and arrest” has eroded public trust, compromised citizens’ due process rights, and delegitimized the law enforcement in the eyes of vulnerable groups, thus creating an enduring negative perception of the criminal justice system. Keywords Broken windows, Community-Oriented Policing, Problem-Oriented Policing, Stop and frisk, Racial profiling, Hot-spots, Order-maintaining policing, Quality of Life policing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Civil Rights Implications of "Broken Windows" Policing in NYC and General NYPD Accountability to the Public
    The Civil Rights Implications of "Broken Windows" Policing in NYC and General NYPD Accountability to the Public A Briefing Report of the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights March 2018 Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights By law, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has established an advisory Committee in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These Committees are composed of state/district citizens who serve without compensation; they are tasked with advising the Commission of civil rights issues in their states/district that are within the Commission’s jurisdiction. Committees are authorized to advise the Commission in writing of any knowledge or information they have of any alleged deprivation of voting rights and alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, or in the administration of justice; advise the Commission on matters of their state or district’s concern in the preparation of Commission reports to the President and the Congress; receive reports, suggestions, and recommendations from individuals, public officials, and representatives of public and private organizations to Committee inquiries; forward advice and recommendations to the Commission, as requested; and observe any open hearing or conference conducted by the Commission in their states/district. Acknowledgements The New York Advisory Committee thanks all of the participants in the March 20 and 21, 2017 briefings for sharing their expertise. The Committee also thanks the senior leadership of the NYPD for taking the time to share their expertise with us on the several days of interviews we conducted with them.
    [Show full text]
  • TARGETING TRANSNATIONAL ILLICIT SUPPLY CHAINS Testimony to the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy
    TARGETING TRANSNATIONAL ILLICIT SUPPLY CHAINS Testimony to the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy. Delivered at the 4 March 2020 Hearing entitled, “The Trafficker’s Roadmap: How Bad Actors Exploit Financial Systems to Facilitate the Illicit Trade in People, Animals, Drugs, and Weapons.” Spoken Testimony by Gretchen Peters, Executive Director Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime, Washington DC Chair Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, distinguished members of the Subcommittee: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify. I am the executive director of the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime and a co-founder of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online. I have a long history tracking transnational organized crime and terrorism. I was a war reporter in Afghanistan and Pakistan and authored a book about the Taliban and the drug trade. That got me recruited by U.S. military leaders to support our intelligence community. I mapped transnational crime networks for Special Operations Command, the DEA and CENTCOM, and I still provide training to the intelligence community on how illicit actors hide and launder money transnationally. In 2014 and 2015, I received grants from State Department and Fish and Wildlife Service to map wildlife supply chains, running investigations in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon and Cameroon. Those projects illuminated two key trends: One. At the transnational level, wildlife supply chains converge directly with other serious criminal activity, from drugs to human trafficking. Two. An enormous amount of organized crime has moved online. I’m going to discuss that issue shortly. Let me start by examining criminal supply chains.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Disorganization Theory and Broken Windows Theory
    Fundamentals of Criminology Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher John Remington, Senior Field Acquisitions Editor Gem Rabanera, Project Editor Christian Berk, Associate Production Editor Miguel Macias, Senior Graphic Designer Trey Soto, Licensing Coordinator Don Kesner, Interior Designer Natalie Piccotti, Director of Marketing Kassie Graves, Vice President of Editorial Jamie Giganti, Director of Academic Publishing Copyright © 2019 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any informa- tion retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regarding permis- sions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of reproduction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at [email protected]. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Cover image copyright © 2015 iStockphoto LP/SEInnovation. Design Image: Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/SSd7foYQD_w. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 978-1-5165-1132-7 (pbk) / 978-1-5165-1133-4 (br) / 978-1-5165-4697-8 (al) Fundamentals of Criminology First Edition Written and edited by Divya Sharma Western Connecticut State University TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ..................................................................................................................ix
    [Show full text]
  • Broken Windows: New Evidence from New York City and a Five- City Social Experiment
    University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 2006 Broken Windows: New Evidence from New York City and a Five- City Social Experiment Bernard E. Harcourt Jens Ludwig Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Bernard E. Harcourt & Jens Ludwig, "Broken Windows: New Evidence from New York City and a Five-City Social Experiment," 73 University of Chicago Law Review 271 (2006). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLE Broken Windows: New Evidence from New York City and a Five-City Social Experiment Bernard E. Harcourtt& Jens Ludwigtt In 1982, James Q. Wilson and George Kelling suggested in an influential article in the Atlan- tic Monthly that targetingminor disorder could help reduce more serious crime. More than twenty years later, the three most populous cities in the United States-New York, Chicago, and, most recently, Los Angeles-have all adopted at least some aspect of Wilson and Kelling's theory, pri- marily through more aggressive enforcement of minor misdemeanor laws. Remarkably little, though, is currently known about the effect of broken windows policing on crime. According to a recent National Research Council report, existing research does not provide strong supportfor the broken windows hypothesis-with the possible exception of a 2001 study of crime trends in New York City by George Kelling and William Sousa.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting Broken Windows Theory: Examining the Sources of the Discriminant Validity of Perceived Disorder and Crime☆
    Journal of Criminal Justice 38 (2010) 758–766 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Criminal Justice Revisiting Broken Windows Theory: Examining the Sources of the Discriminant Validity of Perceived Disorder and Crime☆ Jacinta M. Gau a,⁎, Travis C. Pratt b a Department of Criminal Justice, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Pkwy., San Bernardino, CA 92407, United States b School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, 411 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004-4420, United States abstract Two lines of critiques have developed in reference to broken windows theory: (1) Concentrated disadvantage appears to be more intricately linked with disorder than the theory allows for; and (2) There is concern that disorder and crime lack discriminant validity in that people do not actually distinguish between the two. The present study integrated these two perspectives by examining whether concentrated disadvantage—including disorder itself—affects the extent to which people view disorder and crime as separate problems. Multivariate models showed that people who believe their neighborhood to be more disorderly were more likely to make distinctions between disorder and crime. Theoretical recommendations for future tests of broken windows theory are presented and the policy implications for order maintenance policing programs are discussed. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction perceptions of the amount of disorder in their neighborhoods. Sampson and Raudenbush (2004) concluded that area levels of There has been a recent upswing in the production of empirical socioeconomic disadvantage and racial heterogeneity influenced tests of propositions specified by broken windows theory. The broken people's perceptions of disorder even more so than actual, observed windows custom has traditionally assumed that disorder is a levels of disorder did.
    [Show full text]
  • Testing an Evolution of Broken Windows
    social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Banishment in Public Housing: Testing an Evolution of Broken Windows Jose Torres 1,*, Jacob Apkarian 2 and James Hawdon 3 1 Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 2 Department of Behavioral Sciences, City University of New York, York College, Jamaica, NY 11451, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-757-581-3375 Academic Editor: Bryan L. Sykes Received: 9 June 2016; Accepted: 8 October 2016; Published: 14 October 2016 Abstract: Banishment policies grant police the authority to formally ban individuals from entering public housing and arrest them for trespassing if they violate the ban. Despite its widespread use and the social consequences resulting from it, an empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of banishment has not been performed. Understanding banishment enforcement is an evolution of broken windows policing, this study explores how effective bans are at reducing crime in public housing. We analyze crime data, spanning the years 2001–2012, from six public housing communities and 13 surrounding communities in one southeastern U.S. city. Using Arellano-Bond dynamic panel models, we investigate whether or not issuing bans predicts reductions in property and violent crimes as well as increases in drug and trespass arrests in public housing. We find that this brand of broken windows policing does reduce crime, albeit relatively small reductions and only for property crime, while resulting in an increase in trespass arrests. Given our findings that these policies have only a modest impact on property crime, yet produce relatively larger increases in arrests for minor offenses in communities of color, and ultimately have no significant impact on violent crime, it will be important for police, communities, and policy makers to discuss whether the returns are worth the potential costs.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting Broken Windows: the Role of Neighborhood and Individual Characteristics in Reaction to Disorder Cues
    Revisiting Broken Windows: The Role of Neighborhood and Individual Characteristics in Reaction to Disorder Cues Beate Volker University of Amsterdam Abstract: The influential ”broken windows” theory proposes that disorder cues in neighborhoods trigger littering and other antisocial behavior. Until now, the theory has been empirically tested only on a small scale and restricted to just one specific area. In this study, I investigated the effect of disorder cues on individual behavior once more, replicating and extending the original field experiments by Keizer, Lindenberg, and Steg (2008 and 2013). The data from 12,528 individuals were collected in 84 field experiments conducted in 33 neighborhoods. The results, based on multilevel techniques for binary data, show that the absolute effect of cues is smaller than originally thought and that neighborhood and individual characteristics moderate cue effects. Keywords: broken windows theory; field experiments; cue effects; context effects INCE the first publication (Wilson and Kelling 1982) on the subject, the ”broken S windows” theory has been influential in explaining neighborhood crime and deterioration. The theory assumes that minor signs of physical disorder, such as a broken window not being fixed, attract not only more physical disorders but also serious forms of social disorders, such as street violence, robbery, or even violent Citation: Volker, Beate. 2017. offenses. Importantly, the effects of disorder cues are assumed to be independent of ”Revisiting Broken Windows: The Role of Neighborhood and In- contextual variation. For example, it is alleged that a disorder cue affects individual dividual Characteristics in Reac- behavior regardless of the neighborhood in which the cue is presented: ”...if a tion to Disorder Cues” Sociologi- cal Science 4: 528-551.
    [Show full text]
  • A Broken Windows Theory of International Corruption Roger P
    Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Journal Articles Publications 2012 A Broken Windows Theory of International Corruption Roger P. Alford Notre Dame Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Roger P. Alford, A Broken Windows Theory of International Corruption, 73 Ohio St. L.J. 1253 (2012). Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/572 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Originally published in 73 Ohio St. L.J. 1253 (2012) A Broken Windows Theory of International Corruption ROGER P. ALFORD* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. IN TROD UCTION ............................................................................1253 II. THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY ................................................1256 III. BROKEN WINDOWS AND CORRUPTION CORRELATIONS ...............1261 A. Corruptionand Competitiveness ..........................................1261 B. Corruptionand Human Development ...................................1264 C. Corruptionand Civil Liberties .............................................1267 D. Corruptionand Democracy ..................................................1269 IV. LEGAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION .................................1272 V. A BROKEN WINDOWS APPROACH
    [Show full text]
  • Police Reform and the Dismantling of Legal Estrangement
    MONICA C. BELL Police Reform and the Dismantling of Legal Estrangement ABSTRACT. In police reform circles, many scholars and policymakers diagnose the frayed re- lationship between police forces and the communities they serve as a problem of illegitimacy, or the idea that people lack confidence in the police and thus are unlikely to comply or cooperate with them. The core proposal emanating from this illegitimacy diagnosis is procedural justice, a concept that emphasizes police officers' obligation to treat people with dignity and respect, be- have in a neutral, nonbiased way, exhibit an intention to help, and give them voice to express themselves and their needs, largely in the context of police stops. This Essay argues that legiti- macy theory offers an incomplete diagnosis of the policing crisis, and thus de-emphasizes deeper structural, group-centered approaches to the problem of policing. The existing police regulatory regime encourages large swaths of American society to see themselves as existing within the law's aegis but outside its protection. This Essay critiques the reliance of police decision makers on a simplified version of legitimacy and procedural justice theory. It aims to expand the predominant understanding of police mistrust among African Americans and the poor, proposing that legal estrangement offers a better lens through which scholars and policymakers can understand and respond to the current problems of policing. Legal estrangement is a theory of detachment and eventual alienation from the law's enforcers, and it reflects the intuition among many people in poor communities of color that the law operates to exclude them from society.
    [Show full text]