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Illustration by Jaewoogy.com

The broken windows theory was coined in 1982 by American criminologist George Kelling and political scientist James Wilson in the American magazine The Atlantic Monthly. It is a theory of criminal psychology that states that not addressing small crimes leads to larger crimes.

Former federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani, who became mayor of New York in 1994, applied this theory by removing graffiti on New York subways and streets and actively cracking down on traffic violations and fare evasion. New Yorkers protested that the government did nothing when it came to violent crimes due to their focus on punishing minor misdemeanors. But then something unexpected happened: New York City’s crime rate actually started to decline.

In just three years after applying the broken windows theory, violent crime in New York City fell by 80 percent. Giuliani was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the mayor that reduced crime rates the most and was reelected.

But there was another twist to the story. Steven Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, overturned the broken windows theory in his book “Freakonomics.” According to Levitt, crime in New York City began to decline in 1990, and violent crime had already fallen by 20 percent by 1993 — before Giuliani became mayor. Moreover, in the 1990s, crime rates declined across the US as a whole, not just in New York. Even in Los Angeles, which was notorious for being one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, crime fell to a level comparable to that of New York.

Levitt explains why New York City’s crime rate declined through the Roe v. Wade case. The lawsuit began when a woman in Dallas, Texas, sought an abortion after she had an unwanted pregnancy, but Texas law at the time did not allow for legal abortions. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, with the case name adopting the woman’s pseudonym “Roe” as the plaintiff and Dallas prosecutor Henry “Wade” as the defendant.

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the law punishing abortion was unconstitutional, citing the “right to privacy” implied in Article 14 of the US Constitution that says the government shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. This means that the court essentially allowed for abortion, and laws that prohibit or restrict abortion access have since been repealed on the basis of this ruling.

Levitt argued that when abortion became permitted, the number of children born into circumstances that were unprepared for them decreased, and that crime rates also dropped accordingly. In the early 1990s, children born after the Supreme Court decision were in their late teens. It was at this time that the crime rate began to decrease, according to Levitt.

Levitt provided statistics to support his claim that the legalization of abortion lowered crime rates. Abortion was legalized in New York, California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii two years before the Supreme Court decision. These five states saw their crime rates decrease since 1998 compared to the rest of the US. The states with the highest abortion rates in the 1970s experienced the greatest declines in crime rates in the 1990s, while the states with the lowest rates of abortions also saw the smallest decrease in crime.

It is the pregnant person herself who can most accurately judge whether she can raise a child well. “When a woman does not want to have a child, she usually has a good reason,” Levitt said. He argues that children born into circumstances unprepared for them do not receive adequate protection and are therefore more likely to commit crimes.

The economist’s argument that abortion has reduced crime is interesting. However, in reality, abortion has various byproducts as well. It is politically and socially divisive and involves ethical considerations. Above all, abortion can be harmful to the mother’s mental wellbeing and physical health.

A simple solution to these problems? Condoms. Condoms can prevent unwanted pregnancies without all the negative side effects of abortions. However, in South Korea, condoms are generally considered to be something that should be hidden, while many Koreans continue to mistakenly believe that condoms should not be sold to teenagers.

There was even a case where a school tried to educate students about condoms, but the class was canceled following protests from parents. Interestingly, Korea actually has the highest abortion rate among OECD member countries and the lowest rate of condom use.

The so-called condom shirt worn by group BTS member J-Hope has stirred controversy and pushback. On Dec. 8, J-Hope posted a picture of himself wearing a shirt with a condom pattern on his Instagram. Some commenters criticized the photo, calling it “suggestive and unseemly.”

But a counter-response soon followed. The company that sells this product explained that their condom shirt is about “supporting safe, positive and responsible sex.”

This is not the first time J-Hope has used his influence to spread a positive message. The BTS member posted a picture on Facebook in November 2020 wearing a Free Volt T-shirt. Proceeds from sales of the shirt are used by the brand to help underprivileged children and people with disabilities around the world.

Also, in 2019, J-Hope tweeted a picture of him wearing a T-shirt made to spread breast cancer awareness. This “condom shirt” is just the latest way J-Hope is using his influence to spread a positive message and raise awareness about an important issue.

By Jung Hyuk-june, culture reporter

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