Broken Window Theory

The “Broken Window Theory” is a theory explaining crime and their causes within cities or neighborhoods. The authors of this essay, Wilson and Kelling portray the description of how a broken window to a building can give off a message to the public that the building is not cared for properly. It explains that by allowing this one broken window there will be many more broken windows that will follow. When the vandalism is not fixed, society sees this as no one cares about the problem or the neighborhood. Both authors argued, “That disorder leads to greater disorder and attracts and promotes more serious forms of deviance” (Inderbitzin, Bates, & Gainey, p. 195). This is what led to the policy implication that police should attack crime and
These agencies have had to a take a zero-tolerance approach to combating these problems. Many of the police officers were looking away from the things that resident feared, and in reality, these were the things they needed to be targeting and enforcing. It sends a message to the community that law violations are not taken serious. The key to the broken window policing strategy is to address community anxiety about public safety. Even in my community this has been an active role for law enforcement officers in the city to get out of their patrol vehicles, walk the streets and communicate with the residents in these communities. By doing this it brings the communities together, people come outside because they feel safe and in turn it reduces crime. “In addition, broken windows theory stresses the importance of including communities in the change process, with the primary goal being the development of informal social control mechanisms within the communities in question and not merely increased enforcement of minor offenses” (Sousa & Kelling, 2006, p.