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NoA: The Broken Window Effect and Petty Assault

Viewing Harry Brown through the lens of the broken windows theory, the dangers of unreported crimes and unenforced laws becomes apparent.

…Playing the titular role of Harry Brown, Michael Caine plays a retiree living in a crime-plagued council estate in Southern London. By day he visits his comatose wife in the hospital and enjoys the occasional drink at the local tavern. By night he hides out from the brazen and fearless criminals who inhabit his neighbourhood.

The law has given them nothing to fear. Continually insisting that crime is decreasing in their neighbourhood, they are able to perpetrate petty assaults on the weak and defenseless at will, and often commit more violent assaults uninhibited by police.

Finally, when his friend Leonard Attwell (David Bradley) is killed, Brown decides to fight back.

Leonard has been mercilessly harrassed by a pack of gang-affiliated youths on the subway until one night he can’t take it any longer. With police declining to help him, he takes a bayonette with him to defend himself. Instead, he’s stabbed to death.

Brown, having lost his last friend in the world — having previously lost his comatose wife…

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NoA: The Broken Window Effect and Petty Assault

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In The Gulf, Questions Still Lurk Beneath The Surface

When Ed Overton looks at the remains of what’s happened to the Gulf of Mexico over the past few months, he sees a stale, unsolved crime scene.

…”What we don’t know is what damage is done … to little creatures down below the surface — or just at the surface — that we never see.” It’s a frustrating explanation, but more than 100 days after oil started spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists say it’s still too soon to judge the severity of the damage that’s been done to the environment — this despite recent evidence about the scope of the spill, which, according to BP, has been all but stopped at this point. Last week, the U.S. government estimated the size of the oil leak at about 5 million barrels, making it the largest spill of its kind in history. The government also released an “oil budget,” which says at least half of the oil that was released has been burned, skimmed, siphoned or evaporated out of the ecosystem. The rest, the report says, has been diluted into the ocean, dispersed by chemicals or is just plain missing. Pundits, politicians and scientists have tried to use this information to varied ends. But, despite the speculation,…

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In The Gulf, Questions Still Lurk Beneath The Surface

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