environmental

• broken window theory - wilson and kelling

  • use broken windows to represent disorder e.g vandalism
  • by leaving it unrepaired it sends a signal that no one cares
  • in such communities there's no formal social control (police) or informal (the people in the community)
  • the situation gets worse, causing a spiral of decline
  • respectable people move out, area becomes a magnet for deviants
  • led to zero tolerance policing in such areas
• zero tolerance policy

  • instead of merely reacting to crime police should proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder
  • this will halt neighbourhood decline and stop serious crime from starting
• zero tolerance in new york

  • clean car programme : subway cars immediately taken away if graffitied on, as a result graffiti was largely reduced from the subway
  • between 1993 - 1996 there was a significant fall in crime, including a 50% drop in homicide rate