Neighborhood Disorder – MOST Policy Initiative

Neighborhood disorder includes physical and social disruptions.
Disorder, also referred to as incivility, can refer to a variety of norm violating behaviors and conditions (Skogan 2015). Disorder is often categorized as physical disorder or social disorder. Social disorder refers to potentially threatening behavior from strangers while physical disorder refers to the deterioration of the urban landscape (Sampson and Raudenbush 1999).

Physical disorder in neighborhoods includes (Ndjilia et al 2019):

Broken windows
Trash
Empty bottles
Deteriorated, vacant, or run-down buildings
Graffiti or vandalism
Discarded needles or drug paraphernalia
In contrast, social disorder in neighborhoods includes:

Crime
Public alcohol use
Drug use or trafficking
Unwillingness to help neighbors
Prostitution
Absence of interpersonal relationships
— Read on mostpolicyinitiative.org/science-note/neighborhood-disorder/