Broken Windows Research Articles

Broken Windows: Special Operations and Clausewitz—Theory, Politics, and State Military Violence in the Limited Wars of the Twenty-first Century

American societal enmity following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, drove the narrative of the Global War on Terror and its legal justification in the Authorization to Use Military Force. The commitment of regular and special operations military forces into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq reflected this enmity that Carl von Clausewitz noted was the wellspring of war. As American enmity and these wars wind down after eighteen years, anxiety replaces enmity. Special operations become ever more the force of choice by policymakers in pursuit of objectives within the narrative to reduce societal anxiety over terror attack at home. Outside a theater of the active form of war that conforms to the model of the phenomenon of war in politics that Clausewitz defined, can Special Operations be a military task at all—or solely an actor in a world of broken windows—answering only to itself and to a political directive in response to society’s anxiety toward personal safety, crime in the form of terror, and a legal opinion.

집합효율성, 무질서 그리고 범죄의 두려움 : Collective efficacy Vs. Broken windows*

집합효율성, 무질서 그리고 범죄의 두려움 : Collective efficacy Vs. Broken windows*

Do Housing Vacancies Induce More Crime? A Spatiotemporal Regression Analysis

This study aims to investigate the longitudinal associations between patterns of housing vacancies, neighborhood social disorder, and crime in the city of New Orleans. Using large-scale administrative and contextual data collected from the year 2012 to 2018, our spatiotemporal regression analysis provides empirical evidence for the salient effects of housing vacancy on neighborhood level of property crime and violence. In addition, the spillover effect of housing vacancy is observed on the neighborhood level of drug offense, property crime, and violence. These results potentially identify vacant properties as a modifiable target for intervention to reduce urban crime and suggest that community-based programs aiming to enhance informal social control and collective efficacy may be as important as broken window policing programs.

Deformations of low-rise buildings and structures

On the example of low-rise building of the city of Chernihiv deformations of stone and wooden buildings and structures are considered. The engineering-geological specialties of research sites are investigated. With insufficient practical experience in building buildings under dense constructions, there may be negative factors, in particular, cracks in the bearing walls, foundations, overlapping, deformation of foundations and foundations near the buildings, increase of groundwater level, etc. The survey of selected objects of low-rise building, in particular one-and two-storey residential and public buildings in the territory of the city of Chernihiv, with the definition of the causes and nature of their damage, in particular: cracks in the bearing walls, foundations, overlapping, deformation of foundations and foundations near the existing structures, increase of groundwater level, etc. These studies confirm the unreliable condition of the foundation-underground parts of most industrial facilities, despite the slight pressure on the building's foundation, continue to deform. This analysis shows that unreliable engineering and geological conditions that are exposed to external influences (water pipeline losses, lack of planning of the territory, untimely renewal of drafts, etc.), especially in industrial areas where part of the territory is not used at all, or by appointment, and those objects that are exploited may have a wet process of production, without proper discharging of industrial water. The main cause of the deformations of buildings that are unattended is the lack of control of them and the adjoining territory, a significant amount of moisture has hit the middle through the broken windows, holes in the roof structure, destroyed paving, disassembled communications in the basements , etc.

Understanding perceived environment quality in affecting tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviours: A broken windows theory perspective

Encouraging individuals' environmentally responsible behaviours (ERBs) is becoming increasingly important for tourism destination management. This study was designed to investigate the formation of the ERBs of tourists from a broken windows theory perspective. Results from a sample of 307 tourists highlighted the antecedent role of tourists' perceived environment quality among the relationships between the variables of theory of planned behaviour (TPB), moral obligation, and the intention to engage in ERBs. The results of multiple mediation analysis revealed that the TPB variables and moral obligation act as full mediators in the effect of perceived environment quality on ERBs intention. The relative importance of the TPB variables and moral obligation in predicting the intention to engage in ERBs were also compared in this study.

Social disorder and residence-based fear of crime: The differential mediating effects of police effectiveness

PurposeThe present study aims to investigate the mediating effects of the police effectiveness on the theoretical relationship between social disorder and fear of crime. We test hypotheses derived from Wilson and Kelling's (1982) Broken Windows Theory and Skogan's (2009) Accountability and Reassurance Models. MethodsData were collected from a random-sample telephone survey of approximately 1100 residents drawn from an address-based sampling frame in Houston. We use structural equation models (SEM) to test hypotheses with combined survey-based and geo-coded data. ResultsMediating effect of police effectiveness was found in the relationship of perceived social disorder and fear of crime, except for the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. ConclusionsThe results of the present study lend additional support for both Wilson and Kelling's (1982) Broken Windows Theory and Skogan's (2009) Accountability and Reassurance Models. Future research on the relationship between social disorder and fear of crime should consider both the mediating effect of formal social control mechanisms and the moderating effect of neighborhood socio-economic statuses.

From broken windows to broken bonds: Militarized police and social fragmentation

Expansion of police militarization in the U.S. raises questions about how such policing affects society and minority communities. We estimate the impact of one particular aspect of police militarization—the Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program 1033—on civic engagement—which we capture primarily by examining charitable giving among households—via an instrumental variables approach. The instrument stems from plausibly exogenous variation in federal defense spending, which affects awareness of military culture and capabilities, and thus encourages the adoption of military equipment and tactics by local police departments. Estimates show that the 1033 Program has a fragmenting effect on society: As the transfer of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement increases, black households reduce their total charitable donations more than all other households.

Modeling Sexual Violence within the Homelessness Population through an Agent-Based Approach

Sexual violence is an unfortunate crime of opportunity, requiring an offender and a victim. We develop a model that simulates the occurrence of sexually violent events in an urban environment. Here, we take the victims to be homeless individuals since studies find that sexual violence is increasing in homeless communities. We modify an agent-based model for residential burglaries to incorporate non-stationary victims. The residential burglary simulations evolve by having the target house attractiveness increase when nearby residences were burgled, modeling the `broken window effect'. In the case of sexual violence, the victim is non-stationary, yet both offenders and victims visit locations, such as homeless shelters, based on their own perceptions of attractiveness. The attractiveness level of a location is affected by previous events, however, victims and offenders will consider an event differently. We allow for different victim behaviors, such as a risky lifestyle or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We compare the resulting simulations to the events in San Francisco, CA. The simulated results agree with the expected behavior for the different types of victim behaviors. Moreover, the results show that simulated events are concentrated in regions near homeless shelters. We then tested the model with an increase in the generation of victim agents, observing the outcome for an increase in the number of homeless individuals. Initial increases in the victim generation rate substantially increase the overall amount of crime. However, after a certain level, increasing the number of victims does not increase the crime rates.

Broken Windows and Catching Frogs: Exploring Concepts of Historic and Contemporary Parental and Community Involvement

ABSTRACT Parental and community supports are important factors for Latino student academic success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the parental and community activism surrounding the San Antonio v. Rodriguez school finance case in order to better understand how historic means of activism relate to the contemporary ways that Latino parents and community members continue to be involved in the education of Latino youth. Historic methods, guided by a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework, were employed to analyze archival records and oral histories. This critical analysis revealed influences of labor organizing, traditional civil rights, and the Chicano movement surrounding the parental and community involvement that prompted this lawsuit. Learning from historic events allows us to challenge the contemporary White normative definitions of parental involvement that marginalize the ways Latino parents and community members support student success.

In Brief

Decolonizing sociology, selling broken windows, and yimby politics: New research from the journals.

Broken Windows Ideology and the (Mis)Reading of Graffiti

In this article, I discuss the misreading of graffiti and misidentification of graffiti writers as part of anti-gang policing informed by broken windows ideology. Based on personal observation and autoethnographic reflection, analysis of gang identification protocol, and interviews with graffiti writers who negatively define themselves against gang members as part of constructive identity formation, I argue that relying on graffiti as an indicator of gang activity calls into question the merits and efficacy of anti-gang policing. I situate this discussion within a cultural criminological framework and critique of broken windows policing.

The Neoliberalization of Public Spaces and the Infringement of Civil Liberties

Neoliberal policies have required a new way to envision urban areas. Municipalities try to bolster their image in order to attract new capital, which entails getting rid of the undesirables (the homeless and other people perceived as problems) who tarnish the image of their public spaces. This article explores the socio-political impacts of the Safer Cities Initiative, a zero tolerance policy program initiated by the city of Los Angeles in 2006. Drawing on the ‘broken-window theory’, the program’s official policy was meant to secure the streets and its primary goal was to firmly condemn misdemeanors. Camping was deemed illegal and homeless people were banned from the streets, jeopardizing civil liberties and questioning the right to be different. Drawing on first-hand interviews and reports, this article shows that this type of program represents a discriminatory and ineffective approach to poverty. It not only fails to fight serious and violent crimes, but also reinforces the processes through which neoliberalism exacerbates social differences and criminalizes poverty.

Aesthetics of zero tolerance

Zero tolerance policies against graffiti are rooted in moral panic and ‘broken windows’ theory, forging connections between illegal interventions in the city and social disorder. While these connections are now widely recognised as unfounded, they persist in anti-graffiti policy. Versions of the New York model of zero tolerance against graffiti were instituted with unique severity and with some peculiarities in Nordic cities such as Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Strict policy rarely has the intended effect of ridding the city of graffiti and other unwanted expressions. Undesirable interventions persist despite intense media and education campaigns, graffiti removal schemes, harsh punishments, and even modicums of censorship. The Norwegian capital of Oslo implemented a policy of zero tolerance against graffiti in 2000. Taking Oslo as its focus, this paper strives to uncover aesthetic consequences of such policy and looks for indications of what makes the zero tolerance city distinct. Drawing upon psychogeographic and photographic fieldwork conducted in Norway between 2013 and 2017, four potential consequences emerge: the creation of aesthetic tensions; the presence of buffed and negated spaces; changes in graffiti style and form; and differences in the scale of street art. This paper concludes by proposing that cities allowing for more agonism and tolerance may enable more meaningful and democratic creative expression of its citizens, leading to more diverse and vibrant urban aesthetics.

Marijuana Dispensaries and Neighborhood Crime and Disorder in Denver, Colorado

Beginning with Colorado and Washington State in 2012, longstanding bans on the sale, possession, and use of marijuana for recreational purposes have been overturned in nine states and the nation’s capital. Consistent with the logic of routine activity theory and broken windows theory, critics of legalized marijuana argue that dispensaries are magnets for crime, attracting criminal offenders to the area with large sums of cash and valuable goods. The current study addresses this possibility by examining the effects of both medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries on yearly crime rates in N = 3981 neighborhood grid cells in Denver, Colorado, 2012–2015. Estimates from Bayesian spatiotemporal Poisson regression models indicate that, except for murder and auto theft, both types of dispensaries are associated with statistically significant increases in rates of neighborhood crime and disorder. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

What about Rural Blight? Housing and Neighborhood Conditions in Southeastern Small Towns

AbstractThough the concept of blight clarifies housing and neighborhood changes in rural and small towns experiencing disinvestment and decline, the term is rarely examined outside of urban discourse. This study explores the extent of rural blight and its relationship to community characteristics using survey results from elected officials and staff members of small towns in one southeastern state. We examine the historical background of blight, including its connections to urban renewal, racial bias and stereotyping, and the broken windows theory. Among the small towns in the study, economic blight, particularly dilapidated housing, was prevalent. Social blight, which includes behaviors that are thought to be threatening or criminal in nature, was less common but correlated moderately with economic forms of blight. While social disorganization and collective efficacy theories link a range of demographic characteristics to physical and social disorder, our findings pointed only to a significant relationship between communities with a higher portion of the population who are black and multiple forms of extensive blight. More research is needed to understand the relationship, both observed and perceived, between economic and social blight in rural small towns and how these issues may be remediated through local collective action.

Procedural and Institutional Challenges on the Practice of Integrity and Ethical Practices in the Public Sector in Kenya

World over, public officials have often been embroiled in scandals of varying magnitude. The genesis for most of these scandals is the gradual deterioration in ethical behavior of public officials, which has given rise to all kinds of malpractices. This has triggered an outcry from various stakeholders, especially the general public, for the development and implementation of policies that address ethics, integrity, transparency, accountability and professionalism, to promote accountability in the management of public resources and improve public sector results. This study sought out to investigate the challenges of ethics, accountability, transparency, integrity and professionalism in the public service. It specifically discussed how procedural factors and institutional factors impede the practice of integrity and ethical practices in Kenya's public service. The paper anchored its study on the Public Choice Theory and Broken Window Theory. The paper relied on primary data collected from the ethics and anti-corruption commission office. Procedural factors and institutional factors were found to be satisfactory in explaining integrity and ethical practices in the public sector. This is supported by coefficient of determination also known as the R square of 72.4%. This means that procedural factors and institutional factors explain 72.4% of the variations in integrity and ethical practices. The R2 before moderation was 72.4% but after moderation the R2 improved to 75.9%. This implies that legal framework enhances the provision of integrity and ethical practices in the public sector. Regression analysis indicated that procedural factors and integrity and ethical practices in the public sector had a positive and significant relationship (r=.228, p=0.030). It was also found that institutional factors and integrity and ethical practices in the public sector have a positive and significant relationship (r=.390, p=0.000). The study concluded that procedural factors and institutional factors, challenge integrity and ethical practices in the public sector in Kenya. The study recommends the revision of procedures in investigating and prosecuting individuals who commit economic crimes. The procedures should be systematic and supported legally. The study recommends the cooperation of various government institutions in taming and fighting graft. The various institutions include department of Criminal Investigation, EACC, the Judiciary, civil society and the religious groups. When this entire group pulls together, graft in Kenya will be rooted out. The study recommends the facilitation of all institutions by enhancing their capacity and capability in fighting graft. There should be clear law on economic crime that is testable in the court of law

“Order as well as Decency”: The Development of Order Maintenance Policing in Black Atlanta

In 1971, Ebony magazine named Atlanta the country’s “new Black Mecca,” citing its black political and economic leadership as well as the success of black businesses in the city. At this same time, however, Atlanta, like cities around the country, experienced rising crime rates and economic decline in its urban core. This article examines how Atlanta’s black political leaders, supported by both white and black business owners, responded to the crime crisis by privileging the preservation of order and the protection of capital in their public safety policies. It suggests that this commitment to orderliness, often overlooked in examinations of black political culture, undergirded black political leaders’ advocacy of punitive crime control procedures in the postcivil rights era. Analyzing how black political officials and property owners advocated for intensified foot patrol policing and public decency legislation, this article argues that the city’s black political class were early theorizers and codifiers of order maintenance, or “broken windows,” or still “quality-of-life” policing. Consequently, black business owners and municipal officials sanctioned the expansion of police power in low-income urban neighborhoods in the postcivil rights era.

The Brokenness of Broken Windows: An Introductory Statistics Project on Race, Policing, and Criminal Justice

We describe a semester-long project for an introductory statistics class that studies the broken windows theory of policing and the related issues of race, policing, and criminal justice. The most impactful feature of the project is the data-collection phase, in which students attend and observe a public arraignment court session. This “Court Monitoring Project” was completed in partnership with the Police Reform Organizing Project, a New York City non-profit organization. The mathematical student learning outcomes of the project emphasize the construction and interpretation of various graphical representations of data (contingency tables, bar charts, histograms, box plots, and scatter plots).

Looking Through Broken Windows: The Impact of Neighborhood Disorder on Aggression and Fear of Crime Is an Artifact of Research Design

Broken windows theory (BWT) has heavily influenced social science and policy over the past 30 years. It posits that disorder in neighborhoods leads to elevated crime by inviting additional criminal activity and by discouraging the positive social behavior that prevents crime. Scholars have debated the veracity of BWT, and here we conduct a meta-analysis of 96 studies to examine the effects of disorder on residents’ ( a) general proclivities for aggressive behavior and ( b) perceptions of and attitudes toward their neighborhood (e.g., fear of crime), with particular attention to aspects of research design that might confound causal inference. We found no consistent evidence that disorder induces greater aggression or more negative attitudes toward the neighborhood. Studies that found such effects disproportionately utilized weaker research designs that omit key correlates or confound perceptions of disorder with other neighborhood attitudes. We explore implications for theory, research, and policy.

Assist Crime Prevention Using Machine Learning

Crime rate is increasing significantly over the years. Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce and deter the crimes and the criminals. The government must go beyond law enforcement and criminal justice to tackle the risk factors that cause crime because it is more cost effective and leads to greater social benefits. The data driven method is used which is based on the broken windows theory, having an enormous impact on the working of the police department. The theory links disorder and incivility within a community to subsequent occurrences of serious crimes. Predictive policing is used by the law enforcement stakeholders for taking proactive measures against crimes. This will help the police departments to efficiently focus their resources on the potential crime hotspots. The model is built to predict the crime rate based on demographic and economic information of particular localities using decision trees, linear classification, regression and spatial analysis.