Graffiti and Murder: The Broken Windows Theory

In chapter 6 of The Great American City by Robert Sampson, he talks about the “broken windows” theory. This theory argued that minor public incivilities “attract predatory crime because criminals assume that the residents are indifferent to what goes on in their neighborhood” (Sampson 125). Essentially, the presence of minor crimes being broken as well as local ordinances or other rules can act as a signal to a criminal that a neighborhood is a good place to commit a crime without being caught. Criminals would be more likely to commit crimes in these neighborhoods rather than others because the presence of minor crime means that the residents are not willing to stop a crime or call the police if they witness something.

When there are neighborhoods that do not have watch programs or concerned residents, any kind of crime can occur. One example is the story of Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese. Kitty Genovese lived in a neighborhood in Queens, New York in the 1960’s. One night, she was returning home when she noticed a man standing near the entrance to her apartment complex. She was making her way to a police callbox, but the man caught up to her and attacked her. When he grabbed her, she screamed that she had been stabbed and the lights in a nearby building came on. Someone called out to the man, and told him to leave Kitty alone. The man walked away, and the lights in the building went back off. The man then returned and began to stab her again. When she screamed, more lights went on and some people opened their windows causing the man to run away again. Once the people had turned off their lights and gone back to bed, the man came back and stabbed Kitty again, killing her. The next day, her neighbors woke to police sirens outside their apartment building. None of Kitty’s neighbors called the police during the attack, only after. When the police were conducting their investigation, most of her neighbors said that they figured someone else had called the police or they didn’t want to get involved.

In the chapter Sampson later explains his thoughts on the ideas behind the broken window theory. He talks specifically about the example of graffiti as a cue for a neighborhood having high crime. He proposes that we think of graffiti as a positive influence on the community. He gives the example of the graffiti being on the walls of a college town or arts district and then asks if it would be perceived the same way as it would if it was in a different neighborhood. When I was reading this section, I thought about the way graffiti is viewed in hip hop culture. In hip hop culture, graffiti is art and it is considered a key element to the lifestyle. As I made that connection, I began to think about the different graffiti that I have witnessed in various neighborhoods. Sampson describes being in Paris and seeing graffiti on the walls, but the neighborhood was not the type described in the broken windows theory. The graffiti in Paris is not looked at as disorderly, and the neighborhood is intact. So why is it that the neighborhoods in the U.S are considered disadvantaged or on the verge of “urban decline”? Sampson calls for a reconstruction of the broken windows theory to help us better understand our perceptions of disorder. Personally, I agree that there needs to be another study to observe these perceptions and come to a different explanation.

Article on the murder of Kitty Genovese
http://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/27/37-who-saw-murder-didnt-call-the-police.html?_r=0