Like all dangerously misguided theories that command outsized influence, there is a kernel of truth in broken windows theory.
A little disorder, a little mess, and you can clean it up or fix it.
But if the mess is serious enough, if there are enough broken windows around, or a number of disorderly things, and you don't have the energy to take care of it, then it can cause resignation, or even despair.
You may stop doing small things, because there are so many big things that are wrong.
Which is very different than saying that every minor infraction should be punished severely, so that none will break out at all.
Because then a large enough mess - and the deficit of energy required to ensure it won't be taken care of - can only beg the question: where have these things come from?
And sometimes a large enough mess is affecting enough to do just the opposite: one is moved by the desolation to an extent that one is moved to action.
