William Atkins
Saturday, 03 January 2009 23:23
Science -
Biology
Page 2 of 3
Their response,
“So far there has not been strong empirical support, and it is not clear what constitutes disorder and what may make it spread.”
They wanted to see if signs of
“social disorder” would encourage people to engage in anti-social behaviors themselves, thus, spreading social disorder throughout a community.
To add support to their hypothesis on the
“spread of disorder” the researchers generated six experiments.
Their study was conducted with hidden cameras. They set up six situations either involving graffiti, litter, or other situations involving antisocial behavior, or not involving any antisocial behaviors.
They found that
“… when people observe that others violated a certain social norm or legitimate rule, they are more likely to violate other norms or rules, which causes disorder to spread.”
For instance, according to the
New Scientist article “How graffiti turns us into thieves and litterbugs” (November 29-December 5, 2008, page 17), in one scenario the researchers used a mailbox.
In one case, the mailbox was situated around graffiti or litter. In a second case, the mailbox was in an area clear of graffiti and litter.
What were the results of this mailbox-litter case? Please read page three for the answer, along with two more situations.
