Graffiti Leads to Higher Crime?

The study entitled "Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods" looks at many areas of Chicago that were observed via video surveillance. Along with the video footage, the researchers also used additional studies, crime reports, and self reported surveys to determine whether the physical appearance of city neighborhoods attracts crime. The “broken windows” idea asserts that streets covered with litter, graffiti, and dilapidated buildings are likely to have higher crime rates than well manicured neighborhoods.

The article states that although small crimes, such as drinking in public, spray painting, and breaking windows are apparent in these areas, they may lead to more severe crimes, like robberies and rape. This is explained by indicating that perhaps criminals view the state of the neighborhood and perhaps figure that since no one in the neighborhood took any action against these small crimes, they would also be reluctant to report other crimes in the neighborhood. Especially if residents of a particular neighborhood have grown accustomed to hearing breaking windows from nearby abandoned buildings and loud outbursts from drunken citizens in the street, they will be more likely to ignore the sounds of physical attacks or rapes. In neighborhoods where there are often groups of people congregated on street corners late at night, drug dealers find an easier time pushing their product without much interruptions from neighboring residents.

The neighborhoods found to possess the most “broken windows,” so to speak, were those in low-income neighborhoods. The rationale behind this is that residents of neighborhoods where the majority own their own homes oftentimes hold more stakes in their community, thus taking the time to get to know their neighbors and pay attention to outsiders who may enter their neighborhoods. Residents in low-income neighborhoods quite frequently do not own their homes and tend to pay less attention to their neighbors. With less financial investments in their home, residents seem less concerned about the visible beauty of their surroundings. They do not take the time to clean graffiti, garbage on the ground, or maintain the grounds of abandoned buildings. With this indifference, criminals realize that they risk less since neighbors many times will not request police intervention for crime.

In the end, the study could not concretely prove that neighborhood disorder leads to serious crime. Too many third variables existed to prevent the researchers from reaching any conclusive decisions. Poverty was one of the largest variables to interfere with the results of the study. Since money is needed to maintain the upkeep of a neighborhood, the disorder may have existed simply because the residents of the neighborhoods did not have the means to beautify their surroundings, even if they wanted to. Even though a correlation between disheveled neighborhoods and crime did exist, the research could not definitively say that the physical appearance of the areas were the cause of the higher crime rates.