R&R: Power of Context

The Broken Window theory is a theory established by criminologist to explain why and how crime epidemics happen.

The Broken Window theory summarizes anarchy. If a window is left borken and unrepaired, passersby will assume that no cares and that no is in charge. Soon more windows will be broken, which will spread to the neighborhood the building faces, sending out the signal that anything goes. This is what some theorize to be the cause of Bernie Gonez's shooting the four black boys. That scenario at the beginning of this chapter was bizarre but in a way justified. Did he know they were criminals? The book doesn't mention this. The shooting would made far more sense had the boys pulled out the weapons mentioned. It seems to me, though, the man, Bernie, was unstable. Some use the Broken Window theory to explain why he did what he did, saying that because of the car's dingy atmosphere it was likely to happen. While others say that because of his upbringing, a sort of predispostion causing him to be mentally unstable, that "he would have shot those four kids if he had been sitting in a Burger King."

The "dingy atmosphere" of the cars was one the problems David Gunn sought to do away with. When he was put in charge of the sunbway rebuiliding program he pledged to do away with graffiti and fare-beating which to him symbolized the decay of the system. To me, this is a reasonable place to start. Start with the small problems and slowly begin to work to the bigger ones. He dealt with the situation accordingly. He did this by placing a number of undercover officers in the station platforms with the most fare-beating problems, arresting anyone who skipped paying their fare and in the process (surprise, surprise) rounding up large groups of miscreants with criminal backgrounds carrying knives, guns, warrants, and more. As well as rounding up fare-beaters, he had teams clean the subway cars to discourage vandals. By taking care of these misdemeanours and taking control of the situation before him, Gunn was able to trigger a large anti-crime movement in New York.

Now, I can't recall witnessing a situation like this, but I think for the most part it would work. Working on the small problems before moving onto the picture of chaos.