Re: Broken Windows

I find that more equal treatment of citizens tends to create this automatically. Equal education makes for more equal opportunity, making for less resentment of and by minority groups, less ignorance, etc. etc..

Patterns may break down at the extremes, but generally speaking I think there are good reasons to believe that crime leads to poverty more than poverty leads to crime - which is only tangentially related, but which I mention by way of saying that there is now a great deal of research on the nature/nurture debate that has demonstrated that both are quite important, but Nature (inborn traits) slightly more so.

Certainly providing more equal opportunities is one part of any solution, but though it is necessary I hardly think it is sufficient.