SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis
A student has researched the broken-windows policing theory and compiled the following notes: - The broken-windows theory proposes that…
A student has researched the broken-windows policing theory and compiled the following notes:
- The broken-windows theory proposes that visible signs of disorder can lead to more serious crime through social signaling effects.
- Some cities increased enforcement of minor, low-level offenses based on this theory.
- Crime rates fell in some cities during periods when several different policing and social changes were happening simultaneously.
- Randomized studies of small-scale neighborhood cleanup efforts sometimes find modest local effects on disorder or crime.
- Aggressive enforcement of minor offenses can impose social costs that fall unevenly across different communities.
- Definitively attributing crime declines to broken-windows policing specifically remains a contested question among researchers.
The student wants to caution against confidently crediting broken-windows policing alone for observed crime declines. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- The broken-windows theory proposes that visible signs of disorder can lead to more serious crime through social signaling effects.
- Some cities increased enforcement of minor, low-level offenses based on this theory.
- Crime rates fell in some cities during periods when several different policing and social changes were happening simultaneously.
- Randomized studies of small-scale neighborhood cleanup efforts sometimes find modest local effects on disorder or crime.
- Aggressive enforcement of minor offenses can impose social costs that fall unevenly across different communities.
- Definitively attributing crime declines to broken-windows policing specifically remains a contested question among researchers.
The student wants to caution against confidently crediting broken-windows policing alone for observed crime declines. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Answer and explanation
Answer: B: Because crime declines often coincided with several simultaneous policing and social changes, and causal attribution remains contested, crediting broken-windows enforcement alone for the declines…
The goal specifically requires cautioning against a confident, singular causal claim, and B is the only choice that names both the confounding factor, simultaneous changes, and the explicit scholarly uncertainty about attribution. A describes the theory itself without any causal caution. C describes a policy action without addressing causal attribution. D names a real cost of the policy without addressing the specific question of what caused crime to fall.
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