A Little Change Goes a Long Way

“But we need to remember that small changes in context can be just as important in tipping epidemics, even though that fact appears to violate some of our most deeply assumptions about human nature.” (Pg. 166)

This is a quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, and explains the third reason as to why social epidemics and certain trends spread. He calls his third theory, “The Power of Context,” which suggests that a specific trend or action can “tip” by changing the smallest detail in the environment. Gladwell feels that social epidemics are responsive to the conditions of the time and place in which they occur. He explains this theory through looking at New York City crime. In this case study, he sets out to justify why crimes dramatically “tipped” in the early 1990’s in New York City. In the 1980’s, New York City was in the midst of one of the worst crime outbreaks but suddenly crime went into a steep decline; murders dropped by two-thirds and felonies dropped by fifty percent. Gladwell believes the crime epidemic “tipped” because of “The Power of Context” and he seems to be correct. A criminologist, George Kelling, was hired by the New York Transit Authority to test his theory called, Broken Windows. This theory was based on the idea that crime was contagious. Crime in New York City was so high due to so much disorder throughout the city. Kelling, along with the help of David Gunn, started to crack down on the subway system. If a train came to the end of the line and had been vandalized, they’d clean it off instantly. Next, with the participation of transit police, they cracked down on fare-beating. These changes to the subway system had a huge impact on the decline of crime. Felonies on the system dropped seventy-five percent from what they were from the beginning of the 1980’s. City officials began focusing on those small goals throughout the whole city in order to reverse the trend of crime. This relates directly to “The Power of Context” because minor and insignificant changes were made to the environment (context) and as a result, the crime epidemic “tipped.”

After reading about all three of Gladwell's theories, I feel I have a better understanding of the world of trends. I come across social epidemics and fads every day of my life and I think Gladwell’s book really helped me to truly see the reasoning behind them.