The Broken Windows Theory
Here is another example of how discovering the root cause of a problem can be used to reduce the issue dramatically:
This is an excerpt from the book:
Mastering Critical Thinking
In the book The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell explains that ideas, messages, and behaviors can spread rapidly. Sometimes, only a small percentage of people must change to modify an entire population. This is known as the tipping point. In other words, contagious behavior. In one telling example, Gladwell discusses how the behavior of criminals in New York City was changed by using simple but powerful techniques that drastically reduced overall crime. This was done by understanding human behavior and implementing tactics to improve it. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the poor neighborhoods of Brownsville and East New York and their streets had every conceivable violent and dangerous crime. The crime was spreading like a virus. New York needed a stronger vaccine, an anti-crime preventative, to help dramatically reduce it. A common fix for lowering crime is adding more police and jails. However, this only treats the symptoms of the problem. It does nothing to address the cause of crime.
To address the root causes of crime, New York City implemented what is now known as the Broken Windows Theory to reduce its crime problem. It was the brainchild of James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. The Broken Windows Theory states that if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will assume no one cares and that no one is in charge. Petty crimes, graffiti, public disorder, and aggressive panhandling are the equivalents of broken windows. They were evidence of the virus inviting more serious crimes to New York City. In other words, people add to the messiness when a place is messy. That was a significant root cause of the crime in New York City. The Broken Windows Theory was applied to show that the authorities were in charge. That, in turn, would reduce small as well as serious crime. The discovery of this simple idea has some startling implications.
The Broken Windows Theory was implemented in New York City when Rudolph Giuliani became mayor. He appointed William Bratton as chief of police. Giuliani and Bratton believed controlling minor and seemingly insignificant quality-of-life crimes could create a Tipping Point for dropping the crime rate. Giuliani and Bratton implemented a policy to fix broken windows, arrest minor offenses, stop panhandlers, and paint over graffiti. They had the streets cleaned up. Bratton's police officers arrested people for not paying for their train fares.
Although petty crimes, these arrests signaled to the criminal community that the authorities were in charge and wouldn't tolerate any crime. They were serious about providing a civil and safe environment. The offenders were taken to police stations and checked for other outstanding offenses. Seven out of ten had outstanding offenses against them. Also, when gang members painted graffiti overnight on trains, the authorities had the trains re-painted by the next morning. The gang members saw their hard work created overnight eliminated. This helped break their will to paint more graffiti. The broken windows theory worked. Crime dropped precipitously. People committed fewer crimes when they felt someone was in charge. The general population began taking better care of their city.11.
In summary, James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, who developed the Broken Windows Theory, were strong critical thinkers who understood human behavior and how punishment is instrumental in discouraging crime. Additionally, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and William Bratton were also strong critical thinkers who recognized the power of implementing the Broken Windows Theory to modify human behavior to make New York safer.
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