I’m a little behind the fad, as I am just now reading The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell; but I am really enjoying the book, especially a section on Broken Window Theory. The basic idea is that major problems (i.e. crimes such as robbery and murder) will escalate in a vicinity if lesser problems (i.e. crimes such as graffiti, public disturbance, aggressive pan handling) are ignored. So, for instance, if a community repairs broken windows in its vicinity, then criminals can see that the community cares about the area, and is less likely to tolerate crime. Thus the criminals go elsewhere, seeking a path of less resistance. The psychology I want to focus on is that people will rise or fall to the bar that you set with your expectations and actions.

I would love to hear about a specific situation you have experienced where the Broken Window Theory applies. Feel free to tell your tale in comments section for this post.

I’ll start off with a small example of my own…

When I was a Peer Leader (Resident Advisor for the Freshmen) in college, I set somewhat abnormal ground rules at the beginning of the year and enforced them stringently. Many of them involved keeping hallways and common area looking nice, and proper etiquette for the community bathrooms (note: up to 30 people would share the bathroom, which had about 5 stalls, 4 urinals, 10 sinks, and 6 shower head). I was dead serious when I told them that I would not tolerate people leaving toilets unflushed, sinks messy with hair, or the remnants of their dinner on the floor after a night of heavy drinking. They understood that these rules, while not official housing policy, were for the betterment of our community. It didn’t take much enforcement before I found that my residents were actually holding each other accountable to the unofficial policies. I was dumbfounded and amazed! I remember one resident coming back drunk, late one night, and getting sick in the bathroom — and by the time I woke up the next day, he had already cleaned it up himself. Accountability goes a long way toward personal responsibility.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous, Psychology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.