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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.

Your recallNot started
Who and when

What distinction did Wilson and Kelling draw between regulars and strangers?

Evaluation

Why did Wilson and Kelling argue against spreading police resources evenly across a city?

Evaluation

Give one methodological weakness of the article.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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