here was an empty lot in a middle-class neighborhood that was maintained by a neighbor who lived next to it for years. That neighbor moved away and within a few weeks several bags of garbage and some old furniture were sitting in the lot. Shortly after that, an old car was parked in the lot and teenagers started to gather there to drink beer and hang out. Within a few months, there was a mugging by the lot and the police made a couple of arrests for drug dealing there. This series of events is an example of what theory

This series of events is an example of the Broken Windows Theory.

Explanation:

According to the Broken Windows Theory, people are affected by social contexts and cues, which means a disorganized and vandalized environment has the power to lead to a sense of lawlessness which, in its turn, leads to crime. The passage we are analyzing here is an example of such theory. The mugging and the arrests for drug dealing are a result of the empty lot no longer being taken care of. Once the lot was filled with garbage and old furniture, people derived a sense of lawlessness from it, which led them to use the lot for criminal activities.