Please listen to the NPR podcast on broken windows policing under Lesson 1 learning materials and answer one of the below questions.
https://www.npr.org/2016/11/01/500104506/broken-wi…
The broken windows model of policing was first described in 1982 in a seminal article by Wilson and Kelling. Briefly, the model focuses on the importance of
disorder (e.g., broken windows) in generating and sustaining more serious crime. Disorder is not directly linked to serious crime; instead, disorder leads to
increased fear and withdrawal from residents, which then allows more serious crime to move in because of decreased levels of informal social control. This
theory suggests that the police can play a key role in disrupting this process. If they focus in on disorder and less serious crime in neighborhoods that have
not yet been overtaken by serious crime, they can help reduce fear and resident withdrawal. This theory further suggests that promoting higher levels of
informal social control will help residents themselves take control of their neighborhood and prevent serious crime from infiltrating.
In NYC, this meant the police were doing things like arresting panhandlers (beggars), cracking down on sex shops, arresting people selling loose cigarettes
(Eric Gardner, who also said “I can’t breathe” before NYC police killed him in 2014, was being arrested for selling loose cigarettes), randomly stopping
people in “problem” neighborhoods to check them for guns (also called Stop and Frisk, which was declared an unconstitutional violation of people’s civil
rights), and arresting graffiti artists.
Let’s say you are a researcher who wants to study the relationship between social disorder and violent crime. How do you decide/define (in research terms
operationalize) what is disorder? Would selling loose cigarettes and loose undershirts on the street or graffiti on the street be social disorder? For
instance, if you were living in a neighborhood where there are no stores and you have to travel an hour to buy an undershirt, would you consider a person
selling loose shirts or loose cigarettes on the street corner as a sign of social order or social disorder?
The podcast talks about the things that policymakers and social scientists consider being signs of social disorder. The podcast also talks about the things
that policymakers and social scientists do not consider to be signs of social disorder (such as complaints about police and use of force). What will change if
as researchers we consider use of force and complaints against the police as a sign of disorder?
Sample Solution
