Broken Windows theory
Recent estimates indicate that are millions of American adults, and juveniles who are experiencing compulsive gambling problems. Those numbers are compounded by the loved ones who suffer along with them. If the Broken Window Theory is applied, the effect of gambling's negative side effects start to spill over into the mainstream of society, or the community in which a gambling problem is present. The broken windows theory describes a slippery slope effect in relation to the social thread of norms a group shares. One neighbor lets weeds grow up, and then another neighbor does also. A neighbor moves away and drug dealers buy the weed-infested house. People buy the drugs, jobs are lost, houses fall apart, crime rises in response to drug usage. One window is broken, and then many more follow. The City of Terre Haute took a sample of 61 businesses and found 82 gambling video machines. City officials were questioned and three answered respectively. Bob Wright, Terre Haute's Prosecutor answers when questioned about the machines replied "I don't see much difference between these machines and people driving 100 miles to....Casino Aztar" and that he probably wouldn't p
There sits a video gambling machine in a dark corner of a dark building. A man, a father of three who lives in an average neighborhood walks in and uses the machine. He becomes addicted to the device and finds himself using it a little more each time. Time with his family decreases, the kids have less of a father figure around. Family funds decrease, denial occurs. The man has implemented less money and less of his time into the family, and the family starts to decay. If the problem continues and his funds dry up, he may turn to criminal activities to obtain cash for his addiction. Therefore, the crime rate rises (problem police address). He could possibly lose his job, his house, and his family. According to the broken windows theory, this man has broken many windows, which can filter, in the mainstream social environment. Any crime he commits is obvious but what about that which is not a crime. For example, he loses his job and has to sell his house and move to a poverty stricken neighborhood. His children grow up in an area with less moral and ethical support, an area with broken windows. The lives of his family members have been altered, wife must work harder and the children attend less adequate schools. They are influenced by drugs and crime, and are at a great risk of living such a life, which in turn affects others in the community. He breaks his first window by gambling; the second by neglecting the family unit, third losing his job, and many more after the family breaks windows and then crime/drugs. At the same time, many more persons were u
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1063
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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