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
Wilson and Kelling draw the same conclusion about the street panhandler. The stigma all young people commit crime is proven to be adopted by the majority of population. They claim that the presence of officers in these residential areas will work in the same way as foot patrol does on the outside. Another suggestion made by the authors is that foot patrol officers have many advantages over that of a patrol car. This is not a violent crime, nor does it cause anyone direct harm. 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. They claim that it is harder and less natural to talk to an officer in a squad car. They believe the breakdown of community leads to the breakdown of individuals just like the corruption of someone's intimates can corrupt therefore corrupt them. In Wilson and Kelling's opinion, foot patrol may not reduce crime rates, but will instead cause police officers to become more familiar with their surroundings. In this particular case, "we" is defined as groups of citizens on the street, while "they" is defined as the police or law enforcement.
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