Chapter 10 – “Seeing” Disorder and the Ecology of Fear
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In her landmark study, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs
emphasized that for a city to be successful
A. people must feel safe and secure amidst all the strangers.
B. professional urban planners must be given the power to decide how to structure cities.
C. people must recognize that cities are inherently dangerous, unwelcoming places.
D. cities must be homogeneous in terms of their ethnic populations.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 211
Topic: Introduction
Skill: Knowledge
2. Jacobs’s notion of “eyes on the street” emphasizes the importance of ________ as a basic
defense against crime.
A. the police
B. professional urban planners
C. informal social control
D. “sentimental history”
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 212
Topic: The Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Comprehension
3. Jane Jacobs believes that the successful street is
A. one on which there are no strangers.
B. self-policing.
C. one on which people stay to themselves and honor the norm of noninvolvement.
D. one on which the police are a constant presence.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 212
Topic: The Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
4. Walzer believes that if the public realm becomes more disorderly, then public places will
become
A. settings for social, sexual, and political deviance.
B. self-policing urban plazas, parks, and streets.
C. more adequately policed.
D. more civil because people will feel a need to be more polite.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 212
Topic: The Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
5. Siegel argues that all but ONE of the following tended to make cities less safe. Which of the
following was NOT one of the policies he thinks made cities less safe?
A. the inception of community policing
B. the decriminalization of victimless crime
C. the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill
D. the decriminalization of minor civil offenses
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 213-214
Topic: The Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
6. Bryant Simon argues that the idea of the decline of the public sphere in America is an
idealized nostalgic image that ignores the
A. exclusion of many people from the public sphere.
B. “lost city of sidewalks and window shopping, corner stores and showy movie
theaters.”
C. abandonment of notions of civic responsibility.
D. openness of the public sphere to African Americans.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 215
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Comprehension
7. Simon argues that the public realm was never about democracy, but rather about
A. inclusion.
B. exclusion.
C. involvement.
D. urban economic development.
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 215
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
8. Simon suggests that all but one of the following were among the reasons the White middle
class abandoned Atlantic City. Which of these is NOT one of the reasons?
A. the end of segregation
B. the democratization of the public realm
C. fear of crime
D. their support for civil rights
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 217
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
9. The coming of the casinos and their success has led to Atlantic City
A. showing remarkable improvement as a place to live and play.
B. not actually being any better as a place to live and play.
C. becoming an integrated city with the White middle class having returned.
D. becoming a showcase for how gambling provides a better way of life for the city.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 217-218
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Comprehension
10. Wilson and Kelling’s approach to understanding urban crime is the __________ theory.
A. “broken windows”
B. collective efficacy
C. urban civility
D. structural functional
E. symbolic interactionist
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 219
Topic: Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows
Skill: Knowledge
11. Wilson and Kelling’s “broken windows” theory argues that
A. serious crimes often lead to property damage and, thus, broken windows.
B. neighborhoods with broken windows may have lower crime rates.
C. untended and ignored petty crimes, such as breaking a window, send out the
signal that nobody cares.
D. breaking windows should be treated as a serious felony.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 219
Topic: Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows
Skill: Comprehension
12. In adopting the “broken windows” approach in the mid-1990s, New York City moved from a
reactive policing response to a proactive response. The first approach emphasized the
________ crime while the second emphasized the ________ crime.
A.
B.
C.
D.
investigation of; prevention of
level of neighborhood; level of city
prosecution of victimless; prosecution of serious
need to measure; need to obscure
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 219
Topic: Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows
Skill: Knowledge
13. In their “broken windows” theory, Wilson and Kelling made a connection between untended
________ and untended ________.
A. houses; neighborhoods
B. misdemeanors; felonies
C. blocks; streets
D. property; behavior
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 220
Topic: Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows
Skill: Knowledge
14. Mitchell Duneier criticizes the “broken windows” approach for failing to distinguish between
________ disorder and ________ disorder.
A. illegal; legal
B. public; private
C. physical; social
D. symbolic; ecological
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 221-222
Topic: Mitchell Duneier: Street People and Broken Windows
Skill: Comprehension
15. People engaging in behavior that is seen as disorderly, threatening, and potentially criminal
by the better off and more powerful is an example of
A. physical disorder.
B. urban disorder.
C. social disorder.
D. legal disorder.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 221
Topic: Mitchell Duneier: Street People and Broken Windows
Skill: Application
16. In his research on the street lives of poor Black men who sell magazines or books, or who
panhandle in Greenwich Village, Duneier analyzes the
A. lack of social order in everyday social interactions.
B. rules and regulations set up by the street people to self-regulate their spatial
distribution of who sells and who does what and where.
C. increasing disorder in the public sphere and how it leads to an ecology of fear.
D. rules and regulations set up by the police to regulate the men’s spatial distribution.
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 222
Topic: Mitchell Duneier: Street People and Broken Windows
Skill: Knowledge
17. Duneier’s research on everyday street life indicates
A. a lack of social order in everyday interactions.
B. no real patterns in urban street life.
C. that broken windows are inevitable in urban neighborhoods.
D. that there is an underlying sense of social order on the streets.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 221-222
Topic: Mitchell Duneier: Street People and Broken Windows
Skill: Knowledge
18. Which of the following is one of the most vocal critics of the “broken windows” theory?
A. Mike Davis
B. George Kelling
C. James Q. Wilson
D. Catherine Cole
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 222
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Knowledge
19. Mike Davis argues that the Los Angeles Police Department developed strategies of crime
control that aimed to
A. link physical disorder with social disorder.
B. make the streets safer by treating the homeless and poor with tact and gentleness.
C. criminalize much of the behavior of the poor and so-called “undesirables.”
D. increase the levels of trust among strangers on city streets.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 222
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Comprehension
20. Bernard Harcourt criticizes the “broken windows” theory as
A. a detrimental philosophy portrayed as an enlightened pragmatic public policy.
B. an enlightened pragmatic policy that, for all its good intentions, just did not work.
C. too focused on the “root causes” of crime.
D. too concerned with the plight of the poor and homeless to be an effective policy.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 222
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Knowledge
21. Harcourt argues that the underlying “root causes” of much physical and social disorder in
communities include all BUT which one of the following?
A. poverty
B. discrimination
C. permissive police
D. poor education
E. lack of jobs and economic opportunities
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 222-223
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Comprehension
22. Because issues of doubt and trust usually pervade interactions among strangers, people use
which of the following as clues to whether or not they can trust a stranger?
A. Whether or not there are broken windows visible.
B. The location where they meet and the appearance of the stranger.
C. Whether there is a police station nearby.
D. Whether they have read about numerous crimes in the area.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 223
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Comprehension
23. Not allowing the homeless to sleep in parks and other public areas can be seen as
A. favoring the rights of individuals over the rights of the collective.
B. furthering the “broken windows” approach.
C. criminalizing poverty.
D. developing an ecology of fear.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 223
Topic: The Criminalization of Poverty
Skill: Application
24. Who coined the phrases the “ecology of fear” and the “militarization of public space”?
A. Emile Durkheim
B Jane Jacobs
C. Mike Davis
D. George Kelling
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 224
Topic: Mike Davis: The Ecology of Fear and the Fortressing of America
Skill: Knowledge
25. In his book, Ecology of Fear, Mike Davis uses Burgess’s concentric zone model to represent
areas in Los Angeles in terms of ________ as the underlying factor.
A. fear
B cosmopolitanism
C. militarization
D. surveillance
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 224
Topic: Mike Davis: The Ecology of Fear and the Fortressing of America
Skill: Knowledge
26. Mike Davis argues that older liberal attempts to control urban areas, which tried to balance
repression with reform, have been replaced by
A. greater attempts at rehabilitation of the poor.
B. a concerted government attempt to reduce homelessness.
C. programs that enable the homeless to sleep and hang out in urban parks.
D. open social warfare pitting the interests of the middle class against the welfare of the
urban poor.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 224
Topic: Mike Davis: The Ecology of Fear and the Fortressing of America
Skill: Knowledge
27. A city that uses “broken windows” policing to control the behavior of those seen as violating
the code of civility would be what Neil Smith calls a ________ city.
A. draconian
B. revanchist
C. militarized
D. fear
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 224
Topic: Mike Davis: The Ecology of Fear and the Fortressing of America
Skill: Application
28. As part of their enforcement policies, many cities have recently stepped up levels of
A. surveillance of their streets.
B. policing in middle-class neighborhoods.
C. ecologizing of fear.
D. support for decriminalizing some drugs.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 225
Topic: Surveillance of the Street
Skill: Application
29. One ironic aspect of the detection of the possible terrorist incident in Times Square in 2010
was that it was _________, which probably prevented a catastrophe.
A. the prevalence of surveillance cameras
B. the diligence of police officers
C. the diligence of a street vendor, a “neighborhood character”
D. just dumb luck
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 226
Topic: Surveillance of the Street
Skill: Application
30. Sampson and Raudenbush carried out the study which led them to question the basic
assumptions of the “broken windows” theory in
A. Boston.
B. Detroit.
C. Chicago.
D. Los Angeles.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 226-227
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Knowledge
31. Sampson and Raudenbush’s research indicated that which of the following lead to social
disorder and crime?
A. the extent of neighborhood orderliness
B. concentrated poverty and low “collective efficacy”
C. high levels of “collective efficacy
D. low levels of surveillance in the community
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 227-229
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Comprehension
32. “Collective efficacy” refers to
A. the ability of neighbors to work with the police to maintain the safety of their
neighborhood.
B. a neighborhood where there is a very high level of concentrated poverty.
C. what happens to a neighborhood when it is pervaded by the ecology of fear caused by
broken windows.
D. the capacity of neighbors to work together to strengthen their community.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 227
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Knowledge
33. Sampson and Raudenbush suggest that perceptions of order and disorder in a neighborhood
seem to be related to the
A. racial, ethnic, and class composition of the neighborhood.
B. level of physical disorder in the neighborhood.
C. actual crime rate in the neighborhood.
D. level of observed disorder in the neighborhood.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 228
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Comprehension
34. Sampson and Raudenbush believe that if the meaning of disorder is socially constructed then
it is essential that
A. the perceptions of disorder must be addressed.
B. police focus on residents who have social deficiencies.
C. the underlying causes of the perceptions of disorder must be addressed.
D. surveillance cameras be installed in neighborhoods with disorder.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 228
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Comprehension
35. The simultaneous development of the suburbs and segregated housing projects in cities were
due to
A. the inevitable consequences of urban development after World War II.
B. processes that we do not yet understand very clearly.
C. the operations of the market in allocating resources.
D. both private practices and governmental policies to foster racial and class segregation
in American communities, cities, and suburbs.
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 229
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Knowledge
True/False Questions
36. According to Hutter, the concern for social order in a world of strangers has always been an
underlying issue in city life.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 211
Topic: Introduction
Skill: Knowledge
37. Sociologist Fred Siegel argues that decriminalizing vice and other minor offenses frees the
police to concentrate on major crimes.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 213-214
Topic: Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
38. In his study of Atlantic City, historian Bryant Simon argues that the public realm in cities
such as Atlantic City has always been about democracy and inclusion.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 215
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Knowledge
39. Neil Smith refers to cities using “broken windows” policing as revanchist cities.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 224
Topic: Mike Davis: The Ecology of Fear and the Fortressing of America
Skill: Knowledge
40. Research by Sampson and Raudenbush confirmed the hypothesis of the “broken windows”
theory that physical disorder is at the root of crime.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 226-227
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Comprehension
Short Answer Questions
41. What did Jane Jacobs see as the key to safe streets?
Answer: Jacobs’ phrase “eyes on the street” indicated her emphasis on informal social control as
the basic defense against crime.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 212
Topic: The Decline of Civility in the Public Realm
Skill: Comprehension
42. Simon takes issue with the view that laments the decline of the public sphere. Why?
Answer: Based on his research on Atlantic City, Simon argues that the public realm in the past
was not about democracy, but was largely about exclusion. In Atlantic City, African Americans
had largely been excluded from the public realm. The so-called decline of the public realm was
due to the end of segregation and the democratization of the city’s public realm, both of which
led the White middle class to abandon the city.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 214-218
Topic: African Americans and the Exclusion from the Public Realm
Skill: Comprehension
43. Explain Wilson and Kelling’s “broken windows” theory and at least one major criticism of it.
Answer: Students may bring up varying points in answering this question, but the key is the idea
that disorder and small crimes lead to more serious crimes. There are various criticisms of it
including those by Duneier, Harcourt, Davis, and Sampson and Raudenbush.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 219-224
Topic: Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows; subsequent sections
Skill: Analysis
44. Explain the distinction that Duneier makes between physical disorder and social disorder.
Why is it important?
Answer: Physical disorder refers to broken windows or other types of property damage or
disarray seen by Wilson and Kelling as signals that no one cares about a neighborhood. Social
disorder refers to human beings engaging in disorderly, threatening, and potentially threatening
behavior. The distinction is important because Duneier argues, in opposition to Wilson and
Kelling, that these are two separate things and that physical disorder does not necessarily lead to
social disorder and should not be seen as equivalent to it.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 221-222
Topic: Mitchell Duneier: Street People and Broken Windows
Skill: Analysis
45. What did their research lead Sampson and Raudenbush to conclude about the causes of
crime? Did this support the “broken windows” theory?
Answer: Based on their research in Chicago, they concluded that social disorder and crime were
consequences of concentrated poverty and low “collective efficacy.” The extent of physical
disorder in a neighborhood was not a factor in social disorder and crime, so this did not support
the “broken windows” theory. Students may add other points here, but this is the essential one.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 226-229
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Analysis
46. What is “collective efficacy”?
Answer: “Collective efficacy” is the capacity of neighbors to work together to strengthen their
community.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 227
Topic: Sampson and Raudenbush: “Seeing” Disorder and the Social Construction of “Broken
Windows”
Skill: Knowledge
Essay Questions
47. Underlying themes of this chapter include the decline of civility in the public realm in recent
years and theories that seek to explain that decline and the concomitant development of an
ecology of fear. Explain the ideas of the decline of civility and the increase of disorder in the
public realm, proposals to reduce that disorder, and criticisms of the ideas of a declining
public sphere.
48. The “broken windows” theory has been one of the most influential approaches developed to
explain and reduce crime and disorder and thus to increase levels of social order. Explain the
theory and, taking the major criticisms of it into account, give your assessment of it.