NCJ Number
77465
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This filmstrip, for use in junior and senior high schools, shows teenage vandalism in schools, against ethnic groups, and in the form of graffiti, and asks why this destructive behavior occurs and how it can be curtailed.
Abstract
The film presents a discussion group of teenage boys and girls who express their opinions in answer to a narrator's questions about the nature of vandalism. School vandalism is attributed to students who have developed antagonistic and resentful attitudes toward their school and express them destructively. Vandalism of ethnic centers has a motivation different from that of 'breaking things up for the fun of it.' Hate messages frequently turn out to be adult influenced. Graffiti is different from vandalism because its perpetrators do not intend to destroy property, but merely to use it for display of a social or personal message. One response to this defacement of property is practiced by the New York subway system: easily cleanable surfaces from which graffiti can be removed at little cost. Tougher enforcement policies alone will not eliminate vandalism, which stems from the need to express frustration and rage. In addition to protective devices and security measures, positive incentives for desisting from destruction might work. A teachers guide with background information, discussion questions, and a text of the filmstrip is provided.