Broken Windows and Informal Social Control: Evidence from a Study of Street Segments

• In Event: Communities and Place: Understanding Social Processes and Improving Social Justice at Crime Hot Spots

Abstract

Objective: Broken windows theory identifies informal social control as the central mechanism through which crime control is exercised in communities. In turn, controlling incivilities (“broken windows”) is seen as the primary method that police or other government agents can strengthen informal social controls. The current study aims to examine the antecedents of informal social control at the street-level.

Data/Methods: This article leverages multi-wave primary data collection at 447 street segments in Baltimore, MD including official crime statistics, survey responses, physical observations, and systematic social observations to assess the antecedents of informal social control.

Results: We find that social disorder and crime, rather than physical disorder, are the primary antecedents of informal social control. We also find that fear of crime does not have a direct impact on levels of informal social control.

Conclusion/Implications: We conclude that informal social control is influenced primarily by resident assessments of the safety and efficacy of their intervening in problems on the street. In this context, physical disorder should not be a focus of policing high crime places.
 

Authors

• Clair White, University of Wyoming

• David Weisburd, George Mason University / Hebrew University

• Joshua Hinkle, Georgia State University

• Kiseong Kuen, George Mason University

• Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University