The Broken Windows Theory

[Carmine]

I am posting this because some people may not see the rhyme or reason behind many of eGO's rules. The theory I have always followed when upholding eGO's rules states: vandalism can occur anywhere once communal barriers?the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility?are lowered by actions that seem to signal that "no one cares."

Without caring about that person who just started cussing into his mic why would we care about anything else bad? If no one takes action then the community is taken apart piece by piece, without our many admins we would never have so many servers today. I suggest everyone read this article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198203/broken-windows/2

Even though this article applies to the cleaning up of cities and such I believe it is easily applied to servers in a game and many other things.

Just a little PSA!

 

[Shizao]

True so very true.

 

[Wintermute{A|R}]

"...social science has not been kind to the broken windows theory. A number of scholars reanalyzed the initial studies that appeared to support it ... Others pressed forward with new, more sophisticated studies of the relationship between disorder and crime. The most prominent among them concluded that the relationship between disorder and serious crime is modest, and even that relationship is largely an artifact of more fundamental social forces."

--David Thatcher, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Not to be a debbie-downer, but the 'Broken Window' theory is views largely as a defunct and improperly analyzed essay that does not take into account A variety of social forces.

I agree with your initial argument that when social bonds break down, disregard and anti-social behavior springs up, however 'Broken Windows' espouses a 'zero tolerance' rule whose results are often impossible to attribute to the implementation of said policy alone. There are a variety of contributing factors to any 'zero tolerance' approach that get overlooked because people so readily want to believe in its power and the 'broken window' theory. Be aware that there is not one best social theory out there and that basing an entire approach to social 'ills' on one theory is often chancy at best.

Thanks,

Byron

 

[Carmine]

Well it is true that the broken windows theory has many critics and may not altogether work in cleaning up a city without outside help I find it will apply very well to servers in a game. As soon as a pubber sees an inappropriate spray that is being ignored by admins he will figure that it may be okay to curse causing the degeneration of the server, stuff like no admins will lead to that eventually leading to all the regulars leaving the server and without its lifeblood it dies. All a server needs is the disregard and anti-social behavior to appear to cause its eventual death if it is not administrated and cleaned up.

I am not advocating its use as a sole social theory when it comes to real life, but it applies to any server very well.

 

[GrinningHillbilly]

Hmmm good points. I for one would be interested to see a poll on who approves of the "no cussing" rule and who dissaproves. Not that it would serve any purpose but it would be interesting... I for one certainly approve of the rule.

 

[FreakingHell]

Someone put this is layman's terms. I am utterly baffled.

 

[Carmine]

Someone put this is layman's terms. I am utterly baffled.

The basic premise of the broken windows theory is:

"Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars."

 

[Wintermute{A|R}]

What I was arguing, in a round about way, is that while vandalism and littering occur, the tendency to blame it on a pre-existing condition without looking at the root cause of the behavior is easy and safe. However the problem doesn't stem from there being litter or vandalism, but from individuals not coached properly in how society expects them to behave.

Our society is very simple when compared to civilizations and cultures outside of a server, and because of this, I agree that it is out of our realm to give out 'life lessons' that will improve basic social character. But what I think can be gleaned from all of this is that we eGO strives for a proactive approach to server management rather than a reactive one.

Thanks,

Byron

 

[Jubei]

In other words:

If you don't uphold the standards all the time, people will try to see what they can get away with more often.

 

[Polak]

Byron,
Thank you for your educated input. You have made my day.
=]

 

[FreakingHell]

In other words:

If you don't uphold the standards all the time, people will try to see what they can get away with more often.

Now that I understand.