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Litter as a Sign of Public Disorder?

The Meaning(s) of Litter as Part of Adolescents’ Presentation of Self in Public

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Abstract

Although litter, such as cigarette butts, chewing gum, and packages of food and drink, might seem an insignificant topic for social scientists, it does deserve our academic attention because it is related to rule-breaking, public (dis-)order and potentially crime. According to one of the most dominant yet increasingly critiqued theories in criminology, the broken windows theory (Wilson and Kelling 1982; Kelling and Coles 1996), litter is a form of disorder which leads to more disorder and eventually crime. This paper explores littering as a mundane example of low-level disorder in order to gain a better understanding of the antecedents that trigger the so-called ‘broken windows’ effect.

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Authors and Affiliations

    Authors
    1. Thaddeus Müller
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    Editors and Affiliations

    1. Kassel, Germany

      Heinz Bude

    2. Kassel, Hessen, Germany

      Michael Dellwing

    3. Brandon, USA

      Scott Grills

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    © 2015 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

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    Müller, T. (2015). Litter as a Sign of Public Disorder?. In: Bude, H., Dellwing, M., Grills, S. (eds) Kleine Geheimnisse. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-00487-3_2

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-00487-3_2

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    • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

    • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-00486-6

    • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-00487-3

    • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Science (German Language)

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