See broken windows theory in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "After article propounding the theory by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, “Broken Windows”, Atlantic Monthly (March 1982).",
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"ref": "2014, Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven, Picador (2022), page 249:",
"text": "Clark disliked the general state of unshavenness, partly for aesthetic reasons and partly because he was a believer in the broken-windows theory of urban-crime management, the way the appearance of dereliction can pave the way for more serious crimes.",
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"A criminological theory stating that signs of urban decay (e.g. broken windows, graffiti, loitering) signal that an area is not monitored, encouraging more destructive criminal behavior."
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"(criminology) A criminological theory stating that signs of urban decay (e.g. broken windows, graffiti, loitering) signal that an area is not monitored, encouraging more destructive criminal behavior."
],
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"word": "破窗效應 /破窗效应"
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]
}
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"word": "broken windows theory"
}
{
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"(criminology) A criminological theory stating that signs of urban decay (e.g. broken windows, graffiti, loitering) signal that an area is not monitored, encouraging more destructive criminal behavior."
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"word": "broken windows theory"
}
Download raw JSONL data for broken windows theory meaning in English (2.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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