The Spreading of Disorder

Imagine that the neighborhood you are living in is covered with graffiti, litter, and unreturned shopping carts. Would this reality cause you to litter more, trespass, or even steal? A thesis known as the broken windows theory suggests that signs of disorderly and petty criminal behavior trigger more disorderly and petty criminal behavior, thus causing the behavior to spread. This may cause neighborhoods to decay and the quality of life of its inhabitants to deteriorate. For a city government, this may be a vital policy issue. But does disorder really spread in neighborhoods? So far there has not been strong empirical support, and it is not clear what constitutes disorder and what may make it spread. We generated hypotheses about the spread of disorder and tested them in six field experiments. We found that, when people observe that others violated a certain social norm or legitimate rule, they are more likely to violate other norms or rules, which causes disorder to spread.

[1]  W. Samuel,et al.  Littering as a Function of Prior Litter and The Presence or Absence of Prohibitive Signs1 , 1980 .

[2]  J. Ludwig,et al.  Broken Windows: New Evidence from New York City and a Five-City Social Experiment , 2005 .

[3]  R. D. Meulen.  Brug over woelig water: Lidmaatschap van sportverenigingen, vriendschappen, kennissenkringen en veralgemeend vertrouwen , 2007 .

[4]  C. Verbakel.  The partner as resource or restriction? Labour market careers of husbands and wives and the consequences for inequality between couples , 2003 .

[5]  J. Tolsma.  Ethnic Hostility among Ethnic Majority and Minority Groups in the Netherlands : An Investigation into the Impact of Social Mobility Experiences, the Local Living Environment and Educational Attainment on Ethnic Hostility , 2004 .

[6]  Sonja Vogt.  Heterogeneity in Social Dilemmas: The Case of Social Support , 2007 .

[7]  G. Weijters.  Youth delinquency in Dutch cities and schools: A multilevel approach , 2008 .

[8]  P Haggard,et al.  The psychology of action. , 2001, British journal of psychology.

[9]  W. Finnie.  Field Experiments in Litter Control , 1973 .

[10]  Davide Barrera,et al.  Trust in Embedded Settings , 2005 .

[11]  Ronald Soetaert.  Over lezen gesproken , 1995 .

[12]  Robert B. Cialdini,et al.  Descriptive Social Norms as Underappreciated Sources of Social Control , 2007 .

[13]  Sue Bowler,et al.  Do I know you , 2009 .

[14]  T. Snijders,et al.  Gender differences in workplace authority: an empirical study on social networks , 1998 .

[15]  U. Matzat.  Social Networks and Cooperation in Electronic Communities: A Theoretical-Empirical Analysis of Academic Communication and Internet Discussion Groups , 2006 .

[16]  J. Busschbach.  Uit het oog, uit het hart?: stabiliteit en verandering in persoonlijke relaties , 1996 .

[17]  M. Deutsch,et al.  A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgement. , 1955, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[18]  J. Joly.  People on our minds: When humanized contexts activate social norms , 2008 .

[19]  Causes and consequences , 2021 .

[20]  J. Freedman,et al.  Field and laboratory studies of littering , 1978 .

[21]  R. Leenders,et al.  Structure and influence : statistical models for the dynamics of actor attributes, network structure, and their interdependence , 1995 .

[22]  M. Gladwell,et al.  The Tipping Point , 2011 .

[23]  Wesley G. Skogan,et al.  Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities by George L. Kelling and Catherine M. Coles:Life in the Gang: Family, Friends, and Violence , 1997 .

[24]  C. Hadley.  Should auld acquaintance be forgot… , 2004, EMBO reports.

[25]  E. Jaspers.  Intolerance over time : macro and micro level questions on attitudes towards euthanasia, homosexuality and ethnic minorities , 2008 .

[26]  M. Achterkamp.  Influence strategies in collective decision making , 1999 .

[27]  I. Wolf.  Opleidingsspecialisatie en arbeidsmarktsucces van sociale wetenschappers , 2000 .

[28]  Brad J. Sagarin,et al.  Choosing to Encourage or Discourage: Perceived Effectiveness of Prescriptive Versus Proscriptive Messages , 2000, Environmental management.

[29]  J. Boswell.  The kindness of strangers , 1988 .

[30]  J. Huinink,et al.  Solidarity and ambivalence in parent-child relationships , 2007 .

[31]  F. H. Hankins,et al.  The Psychology of Social Norms , 1937 .

[32]  K. Sanders.  Vrouwelijke pioniers. Vrouwen en mannen met een 'mannelijke' hogere beroepsopleiding aan het begin van hun loopbaan , 1991 .

[33]  W. Goodenough,et al.  Human Group , 1951, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining. 2nd Ed..

[34]  Robert J. Sampson,et al.  Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods1 , 1999, American Journal of Sociology.

[35]  Dominic Abrams,et al.  The role of categorization and in-group norms in judgments of groups and their members , 1998 .

[36]  Lucienne van Eijk.  Activity and well-being in the elderly , 1997 .

[37]  A. J. Rijken.  Happy families, high fertility? Childbearing choices in the context of family and partner relationships , 2004 .

[38]  J. Sijtsema.  Adolescent aggressive behavior: Status and stimulation goals in relation to the peer context , 2010 .

[39]  W. Raub,et al.  The Integration of Immigrants in Cross-National Perspective: Origin, Destination, and Community Effects , 2000 .

[40]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: When Norms Do and Do not Affect Behavior , 2000 .

[41]  P. Ligthart.  Solidarity in economic transactions: an experimental study of framing effects in bargaining and contracting , 1995 .

[42]  R. Leenders.  Structure and Influence , 2003 .

[43]  M. Gaag.  Measurement of individual social capital , 2005 .

[44]  G. G. van de Bunt,et al.  Friends by choice , 1999 .

[45]  F. Stokman,et al.  Negotiation in Legislative Decision-Making in the European Union , 1999 .

[46]  J. Schans.  Ethnic diversity in intergenerational solidarity , 2007 .

[47]  C. Snijders,et al.  Trust and Commitments , 1996 .

[48]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. , 1990 .

[49]  A. Dillard,et al.  For the Time Being , 1999 .

[50]  G. Westert.  Verschillen in ziekenhuisgebruik , 1991 .

[51]  J. Schuurmans.  Promoting well-being in frail elderly people , 2004 .

[52]  J. G. Holmes,et al.  Salient Private Audiences and Awareness of the Self , 1987 .

[53]  D. Payne.  Policy making in the European Union. An analysis of the impact of the Reform of the Structrual Funds in Ireland. , 1999 .

[54]  K. Postma.  Changing Prejudice in Hungary: A Study on the Collapse of State Socialism and its Impact on Prejudice against Gypsies and Jews , 1993 .

[55]  N. Steverink.  Zo lang mogelijk zelfstandig , 1996 .

[56]  R. Smaniotto,et al.  'You scratch my back and I scratch yours' versus 'love thy neighbour': two proximate mechanisms of reciprocal altruism , 2004 .

[57]  R. Thomson.  The party mandate: election pledges and government actions in the Netherlands, 1985-1998. , 1999 .

[58]  R. Cialdini.  CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment , 2022 .

[59]  R. Bekkers.  Giving and volunteering in the Netherlands : Sociological and psychological perspectives , 2004 .

[60]  Jim Allen.  Sectoral composition and the effect of education on wages. An international comparison. , 1997 .

[61]  S. Thiel.  Quangocratization: trends, causes and consequences , 2000 .

[62]  B. Latané.  The psychology of social impact. , 1981 .

[63]  M. Strating.  Facing the challenge of rheumatoid arthritis: A 13-year prospective study among patients and cross-sectional study among partners. , 2006 .

[64]  C. F. Philips.  Vakantiegemeenschappen: Kwalitatief en kwantitatief onderzoek naar gelegenheid en refreshergemeenschap tijdens de vakantie , 2005 .

[65]  B. Erdogan.  Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review , 1999 .

[66]  M. Plantinga.  Employee Motivation and Employee Performance in Child Care , 2000 .

[67]  Wesley G. Skogan,et al.  Fairness and effectiveness in policing : the evidence , 2004 .

[68]  J. Janssen.  Do Opposites Attract Divorce? Dimensions of Mixed Marriage and the Risk of Divorce in the Netherlands , 2002 .

[69]  Andreas Flache,et al.  The double edge of networks , 1996 .

[70]  Marcel Lubbers,et al.  Extreme right-wing voting in Western Europe , 2002 .

[71]  Tamás Bartus.  Social capital and earnings inequalities , 2001 .

[72]  J. V. Wilsem,et al.  Crime and Context: The Impact of Individual, Neighborhood, City and Country Characteristics on Victimization , 2003 .

[73]  Solomon E. Asch,et al.  Studies in the Principles of Judgments and Attitudes: II. Determination of Judgments by Group and by Ego Standards , 1940 .

[74]  G. Breeuwsma.  Geruchten als besmettelijke ziekte. Het succesverhaal van de Hush Puppies. Bespreking van Malcolm Gladwell, The tipping point. How little things can make a big difference. London: Little, Brown and Company, 2000 , 2000 .

[75]  P. Wesley Schultz,et al.  CRIMINAL BEWARE: A SOCIAL NORMS PERSPECTIVE ON POSTING PUBLIC WARNING SIGNS* , 2009 .

[76]  H. Schijf.  Should auld acquaintance be forgot ...? Institutions of communism, the transition to capitalism and personal networks: the case of East Germany [Review of: B. Volker (1996) -] , 1996 .

[77]  René Veenstra,et al.  Leerlingen – klassen – scholen , 1999 .

[78]  S. Chaiken.  Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in persuasion. , 1980 .

[79]  Tamar F. C. Fischer.  Parental Divorce, Conflict and Resources. The Effects on Children's Behavior Problems, Socioeconomic Attainment, and Transitions in the Demographic Career , 2004 .

[80]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[81]  R. Boyd,et al.  Explaining altruistic behavior in humans , 2003 .

[82]  A. Nieboer.  Life-events and Well-being: A Prospective Study on Changes in Well-being of Elderly People due to a Serious Illness Event or Death of the Spouse , 1997 .

[83]  F. Nagel.  Cultuurdeelname in de levensloop , 2004 .

[84]  George L. Kelling,et al.  Do Police Matter? An Analysis of the Impact of New York City's Police Reforms , 2001 .

[85]  M. Spreen,et al.  Sampling personal network structures: statistical inference in ego-graphs , 1999 .

[86]  Shelly Chaiken,et al.  Beyond accuracy: Defense and impression motives in heuristic and systematic information processing. , 1996 .

[87]  R. Wielers.  Selectie en allocatie op de arbeidsmarkt , 1991 .

[88]  J. Andreoni.  Warm-Glow versus Cold-Prickle: The Effects of Positive and Negative Framing on Cooperation in Experiments , 1995 .

[89]  Maurice Gesthuizen.  The life-course of the low-educated in the Netherlands: Social and economic risks , 2004 .

[90]  W. Gils.  Full-time working couples in the Netherlands: causes and consequences , 2002 .

[91]  Azar M. Khazian,et al.  Using normative social influence to promote conservation among hotel guests , 2008 .

[92]  D. Meadows-Klue.  The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference , 2004 .

[93]  H. G. Werfhorst,et al.  Field of study and social inequality: four types of educational resources in the process of stratification in the Netherlands , 2001 .

[94]  A. Roeters,et al.  Family Life under Pressure? Parents' Paid Work and the Quantity and Quality of Parent-Child and Family Time , 2005 .

[95]  K. Veen.  Inside an internal labor market. Formal rules, flexibility and career lines in a dutch manufacturing company , 1997 .

[96]  J. Dijkstra.  Status and affection among (pre)adolescents and their relation with antisocial and prosocial behavior , 2007 .

[97]  W. Skogan.  Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Cities , 1990 .

[98]  J. Wilson,et al.  BROKEN WINDOWS: THE POLICE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SAFETY , 1982 .

[99]  S. Ruiter.  Association in Context and Association as Context. Causes and Consequences of Voluntary Association Involvement , 2002 .

[100]  K. Boahene.  Innovation adoption as a socio-economic process , 1995 .

[101]  K. Aquino,et al.  The self-importance of moral identity. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[102]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: A Theoretical Refinement and Reevaluation of the Role of Norms in Human Behavior , 1991 .

[103]  C. Steglich.  The framing of decision situations , 2003 .

[104]  Gerrit G. van de Bunt,et al.  Friends by choice. An actor-oriented statistical network model for friendship networks through time , 1999 .

[105]  A. C. Bruggen.  Individual production of social well-being: an exploratory study , 2001 .

[106]  S. Asch.  Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. , 1956 .

[107]  R. Cialdini,et al.  Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. , 1998 .

[108]  A. Akkerman.  Verdeelde vakbeweging en stakingen , 2000 .

[109]  Gráinne M. Fitzsimons,et al.  Thinking of you: nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[110]  Johannes Theodorus Martinus Verhoeven.  Income Attainment in Post-Communist Societies , 2007 .

[111]  Brad J. Sagarin,et al.  Managing social norms for persuasive impact , 2006 .

[112]  J. Figueira-Mcdonough.  : Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Neighborhoods , 1992 .

[113]  L. Vermeij,et al.  What's cooking?: Cultural boundaries among Dutch teenagers of different ethnic origins in the context of school , 1998 .

[114]  J. Horgan.  High performance human resource management in Ireland and the Netherlands , 2003 .

[115]  Robert B. Cialdini,et al.  The transsituational influence of social norms. , 1993 .

[116]  J. A. Moor.  Explaining worldwide religious diversity. The relationship between subsistence technologies and ideas about the unknown in pre-industrial and (post-) industrial societies , 2009 .

[117]  J. Pass.  The self in social rejection , 2009 .

[118]  New York,et al.  HEALTH COMMUNICATION , 2004 .

[119]  Stefan Thau.  Workplace deviance: Four studies on employee motives and self-regulation , 2006 .

[120]  Rafael Wittek,et al.  Interdependence and Informal Control in Organizations , 1999 .

[121]  U. Fischbacher,et al.  Social norms and human cooperation , 2004, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[122]  P. Ligthart.  Solidarity in Economic Transactions , 1995 .

[123]  M. Coenders,et al.  Nationalistic Attitudes and Ethnic Exclusionism in a Comparative Perspective: An Empirical Study of Attitudes Toward the Country and Ethnic Immigrants in 22 countries , 2001 .

[124]  Bernard E. Harcourt,et al.  Reflecting on the Subject: A Critique of the Social Influence Conception of Deterrence, the Broken Windows Theory, and Order-Maintenance Policing New York Style , 1998 .

[125]  Andreas Flache,et al.  The double edge of networks. An analysis of the effect of informal networks on cooperation in social dilemmas , 1996 .

[126]  P. van Echtelt,et al.  Time-greedy employment relationships: four studies on the time claims of post-Fordist work , 2007 .

[127]  M. Hertzman,et al.  Studies in the Principles of Judgments and Attitudes: I. Two Basic Principles of Judgment , 1938 .

[128]  H. Aarts,et al.  The silence of the library: environment, situational norm, and social behavior. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[129]  S. Waslander,et al.  Competencies to Participate in Life: Measurement and the impact of the school. , 1997 .

[130]  L. Steg,et al.  Normative, Gain and Hedonic Goal Frames Guiding Environmental Behavior , 2007 .

[131]  R. van Dick,et al.  Substitutes for procedural fairness: prototypical leaders are endorsed whether they are fair or not. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[132]  Shalom H. Schwartz,et al.  Personal norms and the mediation of legitimacy effects on helping. , 1978 .

[133]  J. D. Vries,et al.  Measurement error in family background variables: The bias in the intergenerational transmission of status, cultural consumption, party preference, and religiosity , 2002 .

[134]  P. V. Roozendaal.  The effect of dominant and central parties on cabinet composition and durability , 1992 .

[135]  John E. Eck,et al.  Have Changes in Policing Reduced Violent Crime? An Assessment of the Evidence , 2005 .

[136]  S. Fiske,et al.  The Handbook of Social Psychology , 1935 .

[137]  T. Niehof.  Resources and social reproduction: the effects of cultural and material resources on educational and occupational careers in industrial nations at the end of the twentieth century , 1997 .

[138]  Stephanie Wiesmann.  Negotiation in couples' transition to parenthood , 2006 .

[139]  Henrike Elzen,et al.  Self-management for chronically ill older people , 2006 .

[140]  Van Egmond.  Rain Falls On All Of Us (But Some Manage To Get More Wet Than Others): Political Context And Electoral Participation , 2003 .

[141]  Philip Wotschack.  House Governance and Time Allocation , 2009 .

[142]  Alfred Blumstein,et al.  The Crime Drop in America , 2005 .

[143]  A. Poortman.  Socioeconomic Causes And Consequences Of Divorce , 2003 .

[144]  J. Codol,et al.  On the so-called ‘superior conformity of the self’ behavior: Twenty experimental investigations , 1975 .

[145]  V. Meertens.  Depressive symptoms in the general population a multifactorial social approach , 2004 .

[146]  Károly Takács,et al.  Social networks and intergroup conflict , 2002 .

[147]  Vincent Buskens,et al.  Social networks and trust , 1999 .

[148]  Bevan M. French,et al.  Traces of Catastrophe: A Handbook of Shock-Metamorphic Effects in Terrestrial Meteorite Impact Structures , 1998 .

[149]  J. Ashby.  References and Notes , 1999 .

[150]  E. Miller.  Handbook of Social Psychology , 1946, Mental Health.

[151]  Gerrit Rooks,et al.  Contract en conflict: strategisch management van inkooptransacties , 2002 .

[152]  R. Cialdini.  Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion , 1993 .

[153]  Stefan Timmermans,et al.  Research Groups in Dutch Sociology , 2003 .

[154]  Borja Martinović.  Interethnic contacts: A dynamic analysis of interaction between immigrants and natives in Western countries , 2010 .

[155]  Howard Giles,et al.  Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence , 2005 .

[156]  A. Kassenberg.  Wat scholieren bindt , 2002 .

[157]  Kevin Real,et al.  Moving Toward a Theory of Normative Influences: How Perceived Benefits and Similarity Moderate the Impact of Descriptive Norms on Behaviors , 2005, Journal of health communication.

[158]  Leonard Berkowitz,et al.  Social Norms, Feelings, and Other Factors Affecting Helping and Altruism1 , 1972 .

[159]  J. Berveling.  Het stempel op de besluitvorming , 1994 .

[160]  F. Koster.  For the time being: Accounting for inconclusive findings concerning the effects of temporary employment relationships on solidary behavior of employees , 2005 .

[161]  S. Korupp,et al.  Mothers and the process of social stratification , 2000 .

[162]  L. Bickman.  Environmental attitudes and actions. , 1972, The Journal of social psychology.

[163]  H. D. Valk.  Pathways into adulthood. A comparative study on family life transitions among migrant and Dutch youth , 2006 .

[164]  Maarten H. J. Wolbers.  Diploma-inflatie en verdringing op de arbeidsmarkt: een studie naar ontwikkelingen in de opbrengsten van diploma's in Nederland , 1998 .

[165]  Michael Schweinberger,et al.  Statistical methods for studying the evolution of networks and behavior , 2007 .