OCR A-Level Psychology H567
Research Methods and Techniques
Planning and Conducting Research
Data Recording, Analysis and Presentation
Report Writing and Scientific Communication
Practical Activities and the Nature of Science
Mathematical Requirements for Research Methods
Studying and Evaluating the Core Studies: The Common Framework
Core Studies: Social Area
Core Studies: Cognitive Area
Core Studies: Developmental Area
Core Studies: Biological Area
Core Studies: Individual Differences Area
Areas and Perspectives in Psychology
Debates in Psychology
Practical Applications of Psychology
Issues in Mental Health
Child PsychologyApplied option
Criminal PsychologyApplied option
Environmental PsychologyApplied option
Sport and Exercise PsychologyApplied option
Methodological Issues and Debates Running Through Applied Psychology
Criminal Psychology
Wilson and Kelling (1982) broken windows: the argument, recommendations and evaluation
- 3 things to know
- Component 03
Overview
Recall questions on the broken window metaphor, regulars and strangers, Wilson and Kelling's recommendations for police resources, and the strengths, methodological weaknesses, weak evidence and social and ethical criticisms of the article.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why did Wilson and Kelling argue against spreading police resources evenly across a city?
Give one methodological weakness of the article.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Explain the broken window as a metaphor.
Model answer
One unrepaired window tells passers-by that nobody is responsible for the building, so the remaining windows are soon broken too; unmended disorder invites more of the same.
- 2
What distinction did Wilson and Kelling draw between regulars and strangers?
Model answer
Regulars are the residents and the familiar local characters whom residents tolerate, while strangers are unknown and unpredictable, and the officer's job is to police the boundary the community itself draws between them.
- 3
Give one strength of the broken windows article.
Model answer
It offered a clear, testable mechanism linking the everyday environment to crime and had enormous influence on policing policy in Britain and the United States.
- 4
Give one methodological weakness of the article.
Model answer
The evidence offered is selective and largely anecdotal, and the relationship between disorder and crime is correlational, so no causal direction is established.
- 5
Why is the abandoned car demonstration weak evidence for their argument?
Model answer
Only two cars were used, in two cities differing in far more than disorder alone, so the comparison is uncontrolled and cannot be generalised.
- 6
Give one social or ethical criticism of the broken windows argument.
Model answer
What counts as disorder is decided by whoever holds power, so enforcement can become discriminatory against homeless, poor and minority ethnic people who have done nothing seriously wrong.
Other ways to work this
The same content, four other ways.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Every question in Criminal Psychology, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.