Broken Windows Theory

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Broken window

According broken windows theory ( English for theory of broken windows ), there is a correlation between the decline of urban areas and crime. The American social researchers James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling illustrated this theory with the statement that a broken window pane must be repaired quickly so that further destruction in the district and thus increased delinquency can be prevented.

The theory forms the foundation of the police zero tolerance strategy , which was first practiced and publicly effective as the New York model under Bill Bratton .

Theoretical background

Kelling and Wilson published their Broken Windows concept in 1982 in The Atlantic Monthly magazine . Your theory construction is related to older criminal geographic assumptions of the Chicago School and is based on a social psychological experiment by Philip Zimbardo .

Sociologists at the Chicago School had already determined the specifics of the area where criminals lived and acted in large cities. Frederic Milton Thrasher called such areas gangland , Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay called them delinquency areas . Thrasher observed the living and operating areas of 1,313 Chicago gangs , and realized that there were specific areas on the outskirts of the city (railroad areas, factory zones, etc.) where the Chicago gangs mainly thrived. In Chicago, Philadelphia , Boston , Cincinnati , Cleveland and Richmond , Shaw and McKay found that the delinquency areas were each in neglected districts ( demolished houses , redevelopment areas) whose residents were unemployed, poor and needy. In such residential areas, social ties dissolved and resistance to criminal behavior decreased. It was noticeable that the delinquency of such neighborhoods seemed to be independent of the ethnic composition of the residents.

Philip Zimbardo experimentally investigated the course of vandalism on parked cars in the 1960s. He parked an older car with the license plate removed and the hood open in the New York Bronx . After ten minutes, passers-by started cannibalizing the car. After one day all usable parts were removed. And a few hours later the senseless devastation of the wreck began. In a second attempt, Zimbardo parked a similarly prepared car in Palo Alto . Nothing happened, just a concerned passer-by closed the bonnet that was open. For Zimbardo, this meant that previous damage to an object would result in theft and further vandalism, but only if the social environment was already damaged, i.e. in the neglected parts of the city.

Broken Windows reasoning

Wilson and Kelling argue: If a broken window pane is not repaired quickly, all the panes in the house will soon be broken. Will nothing in a city district be against decay and disorder, vandalism , graffiti , aggressive begging, lying around, public urination, booming music, prostitution , alcoholics (who sleep off their intoxication), drug addicts (who use syringes), drinking and aggressively rioting gangs Drug sales and the like done by teenagers on street corners, it becomes an indication that no one cares about this street or this neighborhood and that it is out of control. Then people withdraw to their closest circle; the area for which they feel responsible is reduced to their own home. This means that the public space is no longer subject to informal neighborhood surveillance of children and young people and suspicious strangers. Those who can afford it move away. Frequently changing residents, whose rent is paid by the social welfare office, move in. The drug trade is establishing itself. There is distrust among the neighbors and the conviction that no one would come to their aid in threatening situations. These beliefs then grow into crime fears. Spatial and social neglect are symptoms of the breakdown in basic standards of interpersonal behavior. This not only applies to residential areas, but also to public spaces such as the subway.

Signs of lack of social control , such as decaying buildings, abandoned properties, smeared walls, lying around garbage, broken street lamps, wrecked cars standing around (collectively as physical disorder ) as well as loitering groups, homeless, aggressive begging, a public drug scene (collectively as social disorder ), attract offenders which in turn increases the public's fear of crime . This can be counteracted by increasing the probability of detection and by restoring social control, which means that criminal behavior no longer appears to be profitable.

Psychological point of view

In psychology (more precisely: community psychology ) the English term incivilities describes structural or social conditions that show neglect and disorganization, such as broken windows or public drug use. Incivilities showed a connection with the fear of crime of certain population groups such as women or the elderly.

criticism

Karl-Ludwig Kunz criticizes the theoretical weakness of the problem spiral called broken windows . Only symptoms are described without exploring the causes, such as: speculation with profits from the impoverishment of certain urban areas, the deficiencies of the undesirable newcomers, their social disintegration and discrimination .

literature

Web links

Commons : Broken windows  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Q. Wilson, George E. Kelling: Broken Windows. The Police and Neighborhood Safety. In: The Atlantic Monthly. March 1982 (PDF; 39 kB)
  2. ↑ Information on the theoretical background is based on: Hans-Dieter Schwind , Kriminologie und Kriminalpolitik. A practice-oriented introduction with examples . 18th edition, Kriminalistik Verlag, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7832-0700-2 , 323 ff. And 139 ff.
  3. ↑ Joachim Häfele: The city, the foreign and the fear of crime. Springer VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-531-18483-8
  4. ↑ Frederic Milton Thrasher : The Gang. A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago . University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1927.
  5. ↑ Clifford R. Shaw : Delinquency Areas. A Study of the Geographic Distribution of School Truants, Juvenile Delinquents, and Adult Offenders in Chicago , University of Chicago Press, 1929.
  6. ^ Henry D. McKay , Clifford R. Shaw: Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1942.
  7. ↑ Presentation follows Henner Hess , Broken Windows - To Discuss the Strategy of the New York Police Department . In: Journal for the entire criminal law science , No. 116, 2004, pp. 66–110, doi : 10.1515 / zstw.116.1.66 .
  8. ^ Hans-Dieter Schwind, Criminology and Criminal Policy. A practice-oriented introduction with examples . 18th edition, Kriminalistik Verlag, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7832-0700-2 , p. 325.
  9. ^ Christian Wickert: Broken Windows (Wilson & Kelling ) , SozTheo.
  10. ↑ Christoph Hohage: "Incivilities" and fear of crime . In: Social Problems - Journal for Social Problems and Social Control . tape 15 , no. 1 , p. 77-95 , urn : nbn: de: 0168-ssoar-247596 .
  11. ^ Karl-Ludwig Kunz : Criminology. 6th edition, Haupt-Verlag, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-8252-3591-8 , p. 350.
  12. ↑ Similarly, Stephan Morawski: Broken Windows , entry in the Kriminologie-Lexikon ONLINE ( KrimLEX ).