The Broken Windows Theory: The Power Of Crime In Modern Day Crime

The basic rights of citizens in cities are challenged in order for officials to protect and maintain safety of the city. Law enforcement reform is an ongoing, popular, controversial topic in modern day politics and communities. Societal changes result from outcomes of solving and preventing crimes. Malcolm Gladwell introduces us to the Broken Windows Theory in the story “The Power of Context” as a resolution to prevent major crimes from being committed in urban cities. The Broken Windows Theory can be corroborated to different situations and scenarios. In the Myth of the Ant Queen, Beth Loffreda highlights how the epidemic of Matt Shepard’s murder began with the details of the crime, rather than the murder itself. This caused the details to

Similar to the Tipping points of the Broken Windows Theory, “the notion that Matt had been strung up in something akin to a crucifixion became the starting point for the reporting and reaction to come” (Loffreda 239). The crucifixion position and the hate crime motive served as the Tipping Points that led to the symbolic recognition and the never ending battle of justice for his death. The people involved in the murder were not recognized, and his murder was essentially not recognized either. The public, media, community, religious officials, and politicians focused on the two features in the environment of the murder instead of the murder itself. This led to politicians passing hate crime laws, and raising awareness for the LGBT community. The fact that his murder served as a hate crime and a religious symbol, in this case, it is a close relation to the Tipping Points because the features of the murder came from the environment of the

Before the theory was enacted, there was a wave of immigrants migrating to New York City. The city was home to younger individuals that could be influenced positively instead of negatively. It was considerably a new era for change. The Broken Windows Theory came from realizing that disorder in a community leads to crime so, “If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge” (Gladwell 152). Once people assume that there is no order, they start to believe that they can get away with committing criminal act whether it’s big or small. This leads to a pattern of increased crimes instead of a decrease. The Broken Windows Theory implies that crime is “contagious” and can therefore spread through the city. This can create a pattern in the community leading to a city filled with crime. It is not new for a city to repeat negative habits within its community. Friedrich Engels documented the city of Manchester and “the patterns of human movement and decision-making that have been etched into the texture of city blocks, patterns that are then fed back to the Manchester resident themselves, altering their subsequent decisions” (Johnson 199). Friedrich Engel’s study of the behavioral patterns emerging in cities correlates with the Broken Window Theory. The theory deals with minor problems leading to the invitation to more serious