Locality and crime revision notes – with evaluative points
Broken Windows Thesis
This was created by Wilson and Kelling (1982)
- This theory argues that if an area is run down or isn’t being taken care of, then people won’t care if it gets damaged more, and aren’t inclined to look after the area and keep it looking nice.
- This means that they will feel that committing crimes such as vandalism or breaking into shop windows makes no difference to the area, and no one will care or notice.
- This gradual decline of urban areas leaves people feeling like no one cares about the area, and so crime is rises.
- This is more likely to occur in areas with a high population turnover and little social cohesion -> we need to design out crime
Evaluation
- (-) The solutions that go along with this theory of designing out crime don’t actually design out the crime, just displaces it.
sociologytwynham.com 
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