Analysis of Broken Windows

A detailed Summary of Analysis of Broken Windows

Wilson and Kelling's article "Broken Windows" is an interesting take on crime prevention and the psychology surrounding it. There take on crime prevention's strays from the idea of police allocation based on crime rate and the use of foot patrol versus the use of squad car patrol. The thesis offered by Wilson and Kelling in the article "Broken Windows" is that "we must return to our long-abandoned view that the police ought to protect communities as well as individuals" (Wilson 15).

Wilson and Kelling offer many suggestions on how to prevent crime and how to deal with it when it happens. Their analogy using broken windows is a good example of a way to prevent crime. "The sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility are lowered by actions that seem to signal that no one cares" (Wilson 6). They determine that if it appears as though no one cares then crime similar in nature will occurs much more frequently and to a greater extent. An example of that idea evolving graffiti was illustrated in the article,

"The proliferation of graffiti, even when not obscene, confronts the subway rider with the 'inescapable knowledge that the environment he must endure for an hour or more a day is uncontrolled and uncontrolla

ble, and that anyone can invade it to do whatever damage and mischief the mind suggests'" (Wilson 7).

A quite interesting idea Wilson and Kelling also suggest as a way to reduce crime in residential areas, is the placement of police officers in buildings as residents where crime is known to often occur. They claim that the presence of officers in these residential areas will work in the same way as foot patrol does on the outside. "...the officer likes the additional income, and the residents feel safer" (Wilson 15).

Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling The Atlantic Monthly March 1982.

Part of another theory Wilson and Kelling agree with is sub-culture theory and the notion of "we" versus "them. In this particular case, "we" is defined as groups of citizens on the street, while "they" is defined as the police or law enforcement. They determined that if we can eliminate "we" versus "them" by taking police out of their cars and onto the streets. They believe this will create a more personable environment and breakdown some of the social barriers or taboos between an everyday citizen and a cop.

Overall, Wilson and Kelling's description of how crime escalates in an area, who are victims of crime, and how it should be solved differs very much from that of what was determined previous to this article. Instead of crime being attributed to factors like poverty, racism, and abnormalities, one could add lack of care in a neighborhood. Instead of victims being the elderly or defenseless there are instead found to be the most capable of committing the crimes themselves. Instead of putting more cops in police cars and patrolling the area from nine to five, have fewer cops on foot and have them live in the neighborhood they are patrolling. Wilson and Kelling pointed out many differences on how crime works and suggested many different ways to handle it.

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Approximate Word count = 1441
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics