Revisiting Broken Windows: The Role of Neighborhood and Individual Characteristics in Reaction to Disorder Cues

Völker, Beate

doi:10.15195/v4.a22

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This criticism has been partially addressed by attempts to replicate Keizer et al's (2008) results in different settings. Volker (2017) attempted to replicate Keizer et al's (2008) mailbox letter theft experiment in the identical neighborhood as the original study and failed to find significant effects. In their follow-up, Keizer et al (2011) found the effect of disorder on norm violation stronger in the presence of a sign prohibiting the form of disorder present; however, Wicherts & Bakker (2014) offered similar criticisms to those leveled at the first study.…”

Section: Review Of Experimental Studiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Broken Windows, Informal Social Control, and Crime: Assessing Causality in Empirical Studies

Lanfear

Matsueda

Beach

2020

Annu. Rev. Criminol.

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An important criminological controversy concerns the proper causal relationships between disorder, informal social control, and crime. The broken windows thesis posits that neighborhood disorder increases crime directly and indirectly by undermining neighborhood informal social control. Theories of collective efficacy argue that the association between neighborhood disorder and crime is spurious because of the confounding variable informal social control. We review the recent empirical research on this question, which uses disparate methods, including field experiments and different models for observational data. To evaluate the causal claims made in these studies, we use a potential outcomes framework of causality. We conclude that, although there is some evidence for both broken windows and informal control theories, there is little consensus in the present research literature. Furthermore, at present, most studies do not establish causality in a strong way.

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Section: Review Of Experimental Studiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Broken Windows, Informal Social Control, and Crime: Assessing Causality in Empirical Studies

Lanfear

Matsueda

Beach

2020

Annu. Rev. Criminol.

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“…The elderly might rely on their immediate surroundings more so than younger people who are relatively mobile and physically fit to spend their leisure time outside of the neighborhood. Married individuals-especially those with young children-might be more engaged with others in their neighborhood, because they are involved in their children's kindergarten, spend time on local playgrounds, or are generally motivated to create a safe environment for their children (Volker, 2017). Members of groups that are more likely to spend time in the neighborhood thus have a disproportionately larger chance of meeting and forming ties with each other.…”

Section: Conditional Neighborhood Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The same place but different: How neighborhood context differentially affects homogeneity in networks of different social groups

Tulin

Völker

Lancee

2019

Journal of Urban Affairs

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In this article, we explore how neighborhood composition and individual choice relate to the network composition of different social groups. We predict that groups that engage more with the neighborhood and those who control more resources have networks that are more homogenous than expected given the neighborhood composition. We also explore how 2 types of biased association (i.e., attraction to similarity and rejection of dissimilarity) vary by neighborhood composition. Analyzing neighborhood register data and the Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch, we find that networks of neighbors vary in their degree of homogeneity depending on the social group. Both groups that control more resources and those who engaged more with the neighborhood had networks that were more homogeneous than expected given the neighborhood composition. Individual choice (i.e., attraction to similarity and rejection of dissimilarity) varied depending on both the neighborhood composition and group membership. Our findings show that neighborhood mixing with the aim to create intergroup ties might be effective for certain groups (i.e., middleaged, married), but it might backfire for others (i.e., retired individuals). Urban policies might be more effective when tailored to the needs of different social groups.

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“…However, the perception of crime was not (as expected) substantially linked to a particular group/class (e.g., youth) in the society. The direct impact of perceived societal dysfunction on expectations of crime was the most decisive influence in any model [44].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

An Exploratory Study of Crime: Examining Lived Experiences of Crime through Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Physical Characteristics

Onyeneke

Karam

2022

Urban Science

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Debates in urban social research indicate that one of the most significant problems facing cities of the global south is the dilemma of crime. This study explores the research question: what is the level of influence of economic deprivation and residential mobility weights on criminal activities within vulnerable neighborhoods in urban centres? This research focuses on the urban social structural theory of social disorganization, to investigate how socioeconomic, demographic, and physical characteristics affect criminal behaviour. The study adopted a qualitative research approach that is cross-sectional. With the use of volunteer self-selection sampling techniques, in-depth interviews were conducted with heads of households via a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study found that sociological factors such as economic deprivation and socioeconomic inequality lead to the gradual integration of delinquency in cities. The findings of this research build on the existing theory of social disorganization. To ensure safety, residents’ economic status must be standardized by supporting the provision of more regulated informal sector opportunities and activities for active engagement in supervising and controlling youth behaviour.

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Revisiting Broken Windows: The Role of Neighborhood and Individual Characteristics in Reaction to Disorder Cues

Cited by 12 publications

References 34 publications

Broken Windows, Informal Social Control, and Crime: Assessing Causality in Empirical Studies

Broken Windows, Informal Social Control, and Crime: Assessing Causality in Empirical Studies

The same place but different: How neighborhood context differentially affects homogeneity in networks of different social groups

An Exploratory Study of Crime: Examining Lived Experiences of Crime through Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Physical Characteristics

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