Systematic social observation of public spaces: A new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods

This article assesses the sources and consequences of public disorder. Base d on the videotaping and systematic rating of more than 23,000 street segme nts in Chicago, highly reliable scales of social and. physical disorder for 196 neighborhoods are constructed. Census data, police records, and an ind ependent survey of more than 3,500 residents are then integrated to test a theory of collective efficacy and structural constraints. Defined as cohesi on among residents combined with shared expectations for the social control of public space, collective efficacy explains lower rates of crime and obs erved disorder after controlling neighborhood structural characteristics. C ollective efficacy is also linked to lower rates of violent crime after acc ounting for disorder and the reciprocal effects of violence. Contrary to th e "broken windows" theory, however, the relationship between public disorde r and crime is spurious except perhaps for robbery.