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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literatur
Algemeen Dagblad www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1038/Rotterdam/article/detail/420609/2009/08/04/90-euro-boete-voor-peuk-op-straat.dhtml (12–10-2010).
Blumer, H. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism. Perspective and Method. EnglewoodCliffs New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
CBS 2009, Integrale Veiligheidsmonitor 2008. Landelijke rapportage. Den Haag: CBS. Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. London: Sage.
Collins, R. 2007. “Strolling While Poor: How Broken-Windows Policing Created a New Crime in Baltimore”, Georgetown Journal on PovertyLaw & Policy XIV, 419–39.
Duneier, M. 1999. Sidewalk. New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux.
Fagan, J. and G. Davies. 2000 “Street Stops and Broken Windows: Terry, Race and Disorder in New York City”, Fordham Urban Law Journal, 28: 457–504.
Ferrell, J. 1993. Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality.
Ferrell, J. 2006. Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Underground of Dumpster Diving, Trash Picking and Street Scavenging. New York: New York University Press.
Ferrell, J., K. Hayward, and J. Young. 2008. Cultural Criminology: An Invitation. London: Sage.
Garnett, N. S. 2004. “Ordering (and Order in) the City”, Stanford Law Review, 57:1–58.
Glaser, B. G., and A. L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co
Goffman, A. 2009. “On The Run: Wanted Men in a Philadelphia Ghetto”, American Sociological Review, 74: 339–55.
Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books.
Goffman, E. 1963. Behavior in Public Places. Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings. New York: The Free Press.
Goffman, E. 1971. Relations in Public Places. Microstudies of the Public Order. New York: Harper & Row.
Harcourt, B.E. 2001. Illusion of Order. The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Keizer, K., S. Lindenberg and L. Steg. 2008. “The spreading of disorder”, Science, 322; 1681–1685.
Kelling, G.L. and C. Coles. 1996. Fixing broken windows. Restoring order and reducing crime in our communities. New York: Touchtstone.
Lister, R. 2004. Poverty. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Meltzer, B.N., J. W. Petras and L. T. Reynolds. 1975. Symbolic Interactionism: Genesis, varieties and criticism. Boston: Rouledge & Kegan Paul.
Link, B. G. and J. C. Phelan. 2001. Conceptualizing stigma. Annual review of Sociology, 27: 363–385.
Presdee, M. 2000. Cultural Criminology and the Carnival of Crime. London: Routledge.
Sampson, R.J. and S. W, Raudenbush. 1999. “Systematic social observation of public spaces. A new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods”, American Journal of Sociology, 105: 603–651.
Sampson, R. and S. W. Raudenbush. 2004. “Seeing disorder. Neighborhood stigma and the social construction of ‘broken windows’”, Social Psychology Quarterly, 67: 319–342.
Sykes, G. and D. Matza. 1957. “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency”American Sociological Review, 22: 664–70.
Senternovem. 2008. “Amsterdam is de maat vol. Boete tot 100 euro, binnen twee dagen in de bus”. Zwerfafval Informatief, 1(mei): 3–4.
Senternovem. 2009. Kostencalculatiemodel straatreiniging en zwerfafvalbestrijding. Wat kost de zwerfafvalbestrijding in uw gemeente? Utrecht: Senternovem.
Trendbox. 2005. Gedragsonderzoek blikjes en flesjes in zwerfafval. Amsterdam: Trendbox.
Wilson, J.Q. and G. L. Kelling. 1982. “Broken windows. The police and neighborhood safety”, Atlantic Monthly (March): 29–38.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-00487-3_2
Published:
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)