FUNCTIONS OF VANDALISM IN YOUTH BEHAVIOUR: FROM PERSONALITY TO SOCIETY

Introduction. Graphic vandalism has become a widespread phenomenon in the space of modern cities. Traditionally, vandalism has been assessed as a negative phenomenon, leading to the destruction of the material, visual and social environment of urban public space. Recently, however, the discourse on the positive meaning of certain forms of vandalism (graffiti, street art, etc.) has been activated. At the same time, there is no discussion of the role and influence of vandalism on public and individual life, although, like any socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon, vandalism has the basis and carries certain messages.

The aim of this research was to identify and describe the functions of graphic vandalism, taking into account socio-cultural and socio-psychological aspects.

Methodology and research methods. The study was conducted in the spatial environment of the megalopolis (Ekaterinburg, Russia) by photographing results of vandal acts (more than 6000 photographs) with subsequent trace-assessment and content analysis of images.

Results and scientific novelty. The structural functions of vandalism at the socio-environmental and individual-subjective levels are identified and characterised. The signalling and designing functions, preparation of social changes and management of public mood are referred to the first level. At the second (individual-subjective) level, the demonstrative-and-protest function, functions of reactions, compensation and self-expression are allocated. The functions are illustrated with the examples of visual representations. A two-dimensional model of vandalism functions is formed, where the functions are distributed in the spaces of “construction / reconstruction”, “emotional regulation / moral regulation”. It is noted that any function of vandal activity at the individual level becomes a kind of marker “points of tension” at the socio-environmental level. The functional variety of vandalism becomes the reason of its ambiguous perception with diverse and occasionally contradictory estimates. The authors came to the conclusion that vandalism is socially considered as the evolutionary managerial instrument of social development, which is capable to weaken impermeability of the normatively and traditionally established limits, providing adjustability of the cultural and material environment in the conditions of innovative and mobilisation changes of society. From the perspective of the personality, vandalism is concerned as individual behaviour over the socially defined limits of activity among ordinary members of the society. Thus, vandalism as the phenomenon of public life acts as a norm and a deviation, to which an assessment is given in dependence on functional significance and subject self-identification of the specific vandal act.

Practical significance. The research materials and the results obtained can be used to improve and optimise the technologies for management youth vandal activity in megapolises, for prevention and sublimation of destructive forms of youth behaviour in an urban environment.

1. Obolenskaya A. G. Vandalism as an Institutional Trap. In: Trudy VIII Vserossijskogo simpoziuma po jekonomicheskoj teorii: doklady sekcionnyh zasedanij = Works of the VIII All-Russian Symposium on Economic Theory: Reports of Sectional Meetings; 2018 Sep 26–27; Ekaterinburg. Ekaterinburg: Institute of Economics of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences; 2018. p. 111–112. (In Russ.)

2. Lin M. S., Yu H., Zeng Y. F., Xiao X. N., Wang K. Y. A study on the influence mechanism of vandalism intention of outbound tourists based on extended theory of planned behaviour model. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 2018; 16 (5): 5955–5969. DOI: 10.15666/aeer/1605_59555969

3. Bazrafshan M.-R., Abdi A., Masmouei B., Kavi E., Abshorshori N., Akbari L., Faramarzian Z., Zakeri M. The relation of social happiness and adjustment with vandalistic behaviour of the children and young adults in the families under supervision of welfare office. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2018; 12 (8): LC05-LC09. DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2018/35184.11916

4. Pavlov V. G. Issues of liability for vandalism in foreign criminal legislation. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskoy yuridicheskoy akademii = Bulletin of the St. Petersburg Law Academy. 2014; 25 (4): 95–100. (In Russ.)

5. Kruzhkova O. V., Vorobyeva I. V., Zhdanova N. E. Teenage and youth vandalism: assessment of stress factors of the urban environment as a possible predictor of destructive behaviour. Vestnik Udmurtskogo universiteta. Seriya Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika = Bulletin of Udmurt University. Series Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy. 2018; 28 (4): 390–396. (In Russ.)

6. Robinette J. W., Charles S. T., Gruenewald T. L. Neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood disorder, and cardiometabolic risk. Social Science and Medicine. 2018; 198: 70–76. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.025

7. Ellaway A., Morris G., Curtice J., Robertson C., Allardice G., Robertson R. Associations between health and different types of environmental incivility: A Scotland-wide study. Public Health. 2009; 123 (11): 708–713. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2009.09.019

8. Martha Gama-Castro M., León-Reyes F. Bogotá arte urbano o graffiti. Entre la ilegalidad y la forma artística de expression = Bogota urban art o graffiti. Between illegality and artistic form of expression. Arte, Individuo y Sociedad. 2016; 28 (2): 355–369. DOI: 10.5209/rev_ARIS.2016.v28.n2.49933

9. Pfattheicher S., Keller J., Knezevic G. Destroying things for pleasure: On the relation of sadism and vandalism. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.049 (to appear)

10. Zlokazov K. V., Kappushev S. S. The idea of the goal of destructive behaviour. Prikladnaya yuridicheskaya psikhologiya = Applied Legal Psychology. 2018; 1: 93–100. (In Russ.)

11. Schotte D. Geschändete Statuen und getötete Ideen: Kritische Anmerkungen zur Rede von “Gewalt gegen Sachen” = Raped statues and murdered ideas: Remarks on the concept of “Violence against things”. Archiv fur Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie. 2018; 104 (1): 84–102. DOI: 10.25162/arsp-2018–0005

12. Cassar J., Cremona G. It’s not vandalism, it’s our leisure: A multimodal study of skate park graffiti. Ed. by Paradis X, Matthew M. Graffiti: Vandalism, Street Art and Cultural Significance. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc.; 2018. p. 65–90.

13. Penetova E. V. Graffiti as a means of mass communication. Alleya nauki = Science Alley. 2017; 1 (12): 136–138. (In Russ.)

14. Blinova O. A., Zhuravleva L. A., Kruzhkova T. I., Obolenskaya A. G. Organizational deviance: A socio-philosophical analysis. Sotsium i vlast’ = Socium and Power. 2018; 4 (72): 7–18. (In Russ.)

15. Kruzhkova O. V., Vorobyeva I. V., Porozov R. Yu. Social’no-sredovye i individual’no-sub’ektnye funkcii vandalizma v gorodskoj srede = Social-environmental and individual-subjective functions of vandalism in the urban environment. Social’naja i jekonomicheskaja psihologija. Ch. 2: Novye nauchnye napravlenija = Social and Economic Psychology. Part 2: New scientific directions. Ed. by Yu. V. Kovaleva, T. A. Nestik. Moscow: Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2018. p. 229–235. (In Russ.)

16. Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Ed. by Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer. London; New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library; 2005. 1016 p.

17. Kurbatova T. N., Vasilyeva R. S. Graffiti: Subculture or Vandalism. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law. 2013; 2: 22–32. (In Russ.)

18. Vityuk E. Yu. The urban environment as an art object. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Tomsk State University Bulletin. 2012; 364: 43–48. (In Russ.)

19. Stratford E. Mobilizing a spatial politics of street skating: Thinking about the geographies of generosity. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 2016; 106 (2): 350–357. DOI: 10.1080/00045608.2015.1100062

20. Merton R. Sotsial’naya teoriya i sotsial’naya struktura = Social theory and social structure. Moscow: Publishing House ACT; AST MOSCOW; HRANITEL’; 2006. 873 p. (In Russ.)

21. Radchenko D. A. “Looks like a human being now”: Soviet monuments of Ukraine and Russia in a conflict context (2013–2015). In: Genius Loci: Sbornik statej v chest' 75-letija S. Ju. Nekljudova = Genius Loci: Collection of articles in honor of the 75th birthday of S. Yu. Neklyudov. Ed. by M. V. Akhmetova, N. V. Petrov, O. B. Khristoforov (ex. editor). Moscow: Publishing House Forum; 2016. p. 435–461. (In Russ.)

22. Allen V. L., Greenberger D. B. An aesthetic theory of vandalism. Crime & Delinquency. 1978; 24 (3); 309–321. DOI: 10.1177/001112877802400305

23. McLuhan G. M. Ponimaniye Media: Vneshniye rasshireniya cheloveka = Understanding Media: External Human Extensions. Trans. from English by V. Nikolaev; 3kl. Art. M. Vavilova. Moscow; Zhukovski: Publishing Houses KANONpress C; Kuchkovo pole; 2003. 464 p. (In Russ.)

24. Mishar R., Bangun Y. R. Create the EQ modelling instrument based on Goleman and Bar-on models and psychological defense mechanisms. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences [Internet]. 2014 Feb 21 [cited 2018 Oct 11]; 115: 394–406. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.446

25. Ferrell J. Urban graffiti crime, control, and resistance. Youth and Society. 1995; 27 (1): 73–92. DOI: 10.1177/0044118X95027001005

26. Kolosov A. S. The history of the movement’s graffiti and its modern Russian characteristics. Vestnik slavyanskikh kul’tur = Bulletin of Slavic Cultures. 2012; XXV: 45–49. (In Russ.)

27. Moskvina A. R. Art of graffiti in Tatarstan: On the issue of terminology, existence and development trends. Istoricheskiye, filosofskiye, politicheskiye i yuridicheskiye nauki, kul’turologiya i iskusstvovedeniye. Voprosy teorii i praktiki = Historical, Philosophical, Political and Legal Sciences, Cultural Studies and Art Criticism. Questions of Theory and Practice. 2017; 2 (76): 144–148. (In Russ.)

28. Skorik A. V. Graffiti as a subculture of challenge and protest. Gumanitarnyye nauki. Vestnik Finansovogo universiteta = Humanities. Bulletin of the Financial University. 2016; 1 (21): 63–69. (In Russ.)

29. Plutchik R. A Theory of ego defenses. Ego defenses: theory and measurement. Ed. by H. R. Conte and R. Plutchik. New York: Wiley; 1995. p. 13–37.

30. Zaraeva L. V. Social justice as a measure of equality and freedom. Bezopasnost’ Yevrazii = Security of Eurasia. 2008; 2 (32): 273–286. (In Russ.)

31. Gulevich O. A. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya spravedlivosti = Social psychology of justice. Moscow: Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2011. 284 p. (In Russ.)