Broken Windows

        The broken window theory specializes in identifying disorder within community.  When driving through the outskirts of Chicago, for example in the south side, you see abandoned houses with clear signs of being broken in to.  You see broken windows and garbage littered all over the neighborhood streets.  You also witness a lot of loitering outside of gas stations and on street corners.  When you are not from around these parts the initial impression is not a great one.  An outside would assume that this is not a safe neighborhood to be in, while those that live in these areas believe this to be the norm.  On the other hand there are areas like the suburbs.  Upon driving through the suburbs, you see well-kept houses, clean streets, and children playing outside.  There are no clear signs of social disorganization so naturally one tends to feel safer in these types of neighborhoods. Those areas, such as the south side of Chicago, which display prevalent signs of social disorganization, tend to have higher crime rates and disorder in the community.   This could be for many reasons, one of these reasons being that these neighborhoods do not have a sense of community and togetherness.  For example, the areas that suffer from high crime rates tend to have bad relationships with law enforcement.  Law enforcement in these areas is often seen as threats to their well being instead of a source of protection.  
        Due to this mentality, community-policing (the cooperation of communities to assist law enforcement) tactics are not strong in these neighborhoods.  The community is not seen as a cooperating factor when law enforcement in these areas are working to solve crimes.  Because of this, a lot of crime also goes unreported.  Gunshots, robberies, and break-ins are common forms of crimes in these communities but since the confidence in law enforcement is not very high, citizens try to take matters in to their own hands.  They rarely report what they see or hear.   Communities such as the suburbs described earlier with low levels of crime rates often tend to have great relationships with law enforcement.  Community policing in these areas is very high.  Therefore, law enforcement relies on communities to report crimes as well as aid in solving them with their statements.  These neighborhoods have such great relationships that organizations such as the neighborhood watch programs, D.A.R.E, and G.R.E.A.T. exist. These organizations aid in monitoring communities since

officers cannot always watch over them inch by inch.  Neighborhood watch often aids in providing law enforcement with Intel on suspicious activity in the neighborhood as well as solving crimes and reporting those who are committing crimes in the community.  It is very helpful since they have trust in law enforcement.  The other programs such as D.A.R.E. and G.R.E.A.T. exist in the school systems in order to educate youth on drugs and gangs.  These programs are put in place in order to steer youth in the right direction in order to prevent future crime.  They instill trust in the system that they will prevent crime before it happens.
     Often times these areas tend to crackdown on everything and fix their problems right away.  On the other hand, areas like that of the south side of Chicago tend to ignore much of their issues.  Issues such as break-ins and petty theft tend to be over looked because of the high rates of drug use and gun crime.  Part of the reason these communities see law enforcement as a threat as because they feel like when they do report crimes that nothing gets done.  The broken window theory is very prevalent in these areas because of these unreported grimes. The youth of the neighborhood have no sense of discipline or role models.  These neighborhoods are often extremely vandalized and covered in graffiti. The fact that they also do not have positive role models in the community does not aid their case.  Growing up, all they see are these guys that are associated with deviant behavior and they

aspire to be like these individuals. They see these people engaging in deviant behavior, loitering in corners, selling dope, staying out late and vandalizing the community and in turn idolize them because they are seen as the cool people.  They do not know any better because this is what they are accustomed to, these are their surroundings; they do not know that these scenarios are not the norm for everyday life.  Although change cannot occur over night, I believe that stronger community ties as well as improved relationships with law enforcement can aid in making a change.