Editing Broken windows theory (section)

===Precursor experiments===
Before the introduction of this theory by Wilson and Kelling, [[Philip Zimbardo]], a [[Stanford]] psychologist, arranged an experiment testing the broken-window theory in 1969. Zimbardo arranged for an automobile with no license plates and the hood up to be parked idle in a [[Bronx]] neighbourhood and a second automobile, in the same condition, to be set up in [[Palo Alto, California]]. The car in the Bronx was attacked within minutes of its abandonment. Zimbardo noted that the first "vandals" to arrive were a family—a father, mother, and a young son—who removed the radiator and battery. Within twenty-four hours of its abandonment, everything of value had been stripped from the vehicle. After that, the car's windows were smashed in, parts torn, upholstery ripped, and children were using the car as a playground. At the same time, the vehicle sitting idle in Palo Alto sat untouched for more than a week until Zimbardo himself went up to the vehicle and deliberately smashed it with a sledgehammer. Soon after, people joined in for the destruction, although criticism has been levelled at this claim as the destruction occurred after the car was moved to the campus of Stanford university and Zimbardo's own students were the first to join him. Zimbardo observed that a majority of the adult "vandals" in both cases were primarily well dressed, Caucasian, clean-cut and seemingly respectable individuals. It is believed that, in a neighborhood such as the Bronx where the history of abandoned property and theft is more prevalent, vandalism occurs much more quickly, as the community generally seems apathetic. Similar events can occur in any civilized community when communal barriers—the sense of mutual regard and obligations of civility—are lowered by actions that suggest apathy.<ref name="wilson_kelling" /><ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/gk002bt7757/gk002bt7757.pdf |title=The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus deindividuation, impulse, and chaos |journal=Nebraska Symposium on Motivation |volume=17 |pages=237–307 |last=Zimbardo |first=P.G. |year=1969 |id=[[American Psychological Association|APA]] [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1971-08069-001 1971-08069-001] |access-date=2020-02-19 |archive-date=2020-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219140324/https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/gk002bt7757/gk002bt7757.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>