Do you know the theory of broken windows?

Imagine that you are walking down the street eating tangerines and when you finish you find that you have a bunch of peels in your hands that you want to throw away. You realize that the trash can is far away and the next thing you do is look at the ground. If you see that there is more garbage on the ground, the probability that you will throw it on the ground will increase; But if you see that there is not a single piece of trash on the floor, you may think twice before throwing it out of the trash can. This is explained by the broken windows theory.

The theory of broken windows, also known as the theory of broken glass, predicts that environmental damage will generate the feeling that the law does not exist. Therefore, in a situation where there are no rules, vandalism is more likely to occur.

The broken windows experiment

Professor Phillip Zimbardo, known by many for conducting the Standoford Prison experiment, which has spawned books and films, conducted another famous, lesser-known experiment. In this experiment, two cars were left abandoned, one in a neighborhood located in a poor and conflictive area and the other in a rich and quiet area.

The result is not very difficult to find out. The car that was in the poor area, after a few hours, already had considerable damage while the car that was in the rich area was still intact. With this result it is easy to draw the conclusion that poverty and marginalization were the “culprits” of the crime.

However, the study was not yet completed. After a week the car located in the poor neighborhood was completely destroyed while the car located in the rich neighborhood was still without a scratch. The investigators decided to change something in the situation and broke a window of the car that was in perfect condition. What do you think happened? Theft, violence and vandalism reduced the vehicle to the same condition as the one they had located in the poor neighborhood.

The final conclusion was that The cause does not lie in poverty, but rather in the fact that the broken glass in an abandoned car conveys an idea of ​​deterioration, disinterest and carelessness that will create a feeling of absence of law, norms and rules.. Broken glass creates the feeling that anything goes. In this situation, each attack that the car suffers reaffirms and multiplies that idea until the vandalism becomes unstoppable.

broken windows in the city

The New York subway, in the 80s, was the most dangerous place in the city. Taking the theory of broken windows as a reference, the damage in the subway station began to be fixed. Dirt was removed, graffiti was erased, everyone paid and petty theft was controlled. The result was that the subway became a safe place.

Given the results in the subway, also in New York, a “zero tolerance” policy was promoted. To this end, all transgressions of the law and the rules of coexistence were prohibited, and cleanliness and order in the communities were promoted. Again, the result was a huge drop in the crime rate in New York City.

The evidence of broken glass

The confusion generated by unclear rules means that the windows are going to break, generating the same situation as in the car experiment. This can happen in organizations when the flexibility they provide ends up turning into laxity. If a window pane breaks in a building and no one repairs it, the other panes will soon follow the same path. If a community shows signs of deterioration and no one cares about them, crime in that community is likely to result.

Small mistakes can lead to major transgressions that lead to chaos. This not only happens with the deterioration of material elements. A clear example is found in corruption. If small transgressions are allowed, more and more people will carry out the same practices with larger quantities. Establishing clear rules, making it clear what the exceptions are, can be a solution, as long as it does not come too late.

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