Disorder in the Eye of the Beholder: Black and White’s Disorder Perceptions on Street Segments

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

Abstract

Objective: While broken windows theory has had strong influence on policy and practice in policing, we know little about the most fundamental part of the theory—disorder itself and, particularly, how people perceive and define it. The current study aims to examine whether Black and White residents living on the same street segments in Baltimore City perceive similar levels of social and physical disorder.

Data/Methods: Using a subsample of 167 (of the 449) street segments that had both White and Black survey participants, we calculate street-level aggregate measures of social and physical disorder for both Black and White residents and performed paired t-tests. Also, we estimate random-intercept models to account for differing numbers of White and Black residents on the street and biased standard errors.

Results: We find strong and significant differences between blacks and whites after controlling for key socio-demographic variables and street segment type.

Conclusions/Implications: Our findings suggest that police efforts to reduce disorder are less likely to be noticed by Black residents and that any benefits from targeting disorder may vary across places depending on the racial composition of streets. In this context, police must recognize racial differences in perceptions of disorder when developing disorder policing interventions.

Authors

• Joshua Hinkle, Georgia State University

• Clair White, University of Wyoming

• David Weisburd, George Mason University / Hebrew University

• Kiseong Kuen, George Mason University