Vandalism

SIGNIFICANCE: Although vandalism arrests have declined since the early 1990s, vandalism remains an ongoing problem that adversely affects cities, schools, businesses, and residential communities across the United States, and it accounts for a large portion of juvenile arrests.

The word vandalism derives from the name of a Germanic people called the Vandals, who were known for their frequent and spirited raids into the Roman Empire during the fifth century CE. In modern times, the term vandal has come to be applied to individuals who willfully damage and deface public and private structures and vehicles. During the twentieth century, vandalism became a widespread problem throughout the United States and in other industrialized nations. It includes such acts as ravaging schoolrooms and offices, smashing windows and mailboxes, and painting graffiti on buildings, vehicles, and public places.

One of the most common and most visible expressions of vandalism in the United States is graffiti—words and pictures painted on walls, signs, buildings, buses, and other vehicles and public places. Usually applied with aerosol spray-paint products and other permanent markers, graffiti is closely associated with youth gangs, which use it in many cities to mark distinctive symbols and words on their "turf"—the areas they claim as their own territories. Such graffiti advertises the gangs’ presence and serves to warn members of rival gangs to stay away. Ironically, the same graffiti sometimes also assists police to identify and track gang activity within their jurisdictions.

In many urban neighborhoods, graffiti is also recognized as street art that symbolizes more than simple vandalism. Its creators view their paintings as forms of artistic self-expression and symbols of neighborhood and cultural pride. Some graffiti artists have been featured in museum exhibitions and even accepted as major artists of renown, such as Banksy. Many established and up-and-coming artists have also employed graffiti stylings into their gallery work, often to communicate themes of postmodernism, urbanism, socioeconomics, and politics. However, although some graffiti art may have nothing to do with gang activity, it is nevertheless regarded as a form of vandalism when it is carried out in unwanted places, and property owners must deal with the reconstruction and cleanup of the art left by these individuals. Many communities try to reduce graffiti by banning the sale of spray-paint products to minors. Some promote positive graffiti and mural art in designated spaces or provide other artistic opportunities to encourage budding artists to avoid breaking the law by committing vandalism.

Prevalence

The news media tend to convey the impression that vandalism is a crime that is always on the increase. However, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime statistics have shown that arrests for vandalism were actually declining in the early twenty-first century. In fact, vandalism has gone through several historical cycles in the past. Between 1980 and 1982 arrests for vandalism declined, and then gradually increased each year until 1994. They then began another period of decline until 1997. Overall, during the ten-year period between 1993 and 2002, total arrests for vandalism of persons under the age of eighteen in the United States decreased by 33.3 percent. However, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports also showed that vandalism in some suburban and rural areas increased by slightly more than 3 percent.

The 1980s and 1990s saw heavy attention to the problem of graffiti and other vandalism, especially among youth, as part of an overall shift in public attitudes and government policies toward a tough-on-crime approach. Though this fervor diminished in the ensuing decades along with a general decline in crime rates, after the turn of the twenty-first century vandalism still ranked as one of the most widespread offenses of all property crimes that are reported to law-enforcement officials. Police officers spend enormous amounts of time investigating vandalism complaints from a wide variety of victims. Among the frequent complaints they hear are those concerning graffiti, which appears on walls, freeways, buildings, and other noticeable public properties. It is difficult to apprehend perpetrators because they tend to leave few clues and can disappear rapidly.

Adults who are arrested for vandalism are usually charged with a misdemeanor, which is punishable by one year or less in jail or prison. However, most vandals are under the age of eighteen. Juveniles arrested for vandalism usually make contact with juvenile probation officials, who conduct presentence investigations to understand the individual cases and offenders. The officials typically interview family members, school officials, and other people with connections with the offenders to learn as much as they can about the offenders. After cases are referred to juvenile courts, decisions are made whether to handle them formally or informally.

When cases are handled informally, the juveniles may be sent to diversion programs or similar first-offender programs. The goal of the courts is to keep youths out of the juvenile justice system. Approximately 49 percent of vandalism cases are handled informally, and about one-half of those cases are dismissed after the offenders meet all of the requirements set forth by judges. Most cases require offenders to participate in community service, pay fines, or furnish restitution.

In approximately 54 percent of the vandalism cases that are handled formally, youthful offenders are adjudicated as juvenile delinquents. In these cases, formal probation is generally ordered for the majority of the offenders, and restitution may be required, along with fines and community service.

In modern times, social media has contributed to greater awareness of vandalism. Witness footage of destruction of natural features at national parks has been widely shared and has helped to identify perpetrators. Photos of graffiti on signage and other property at historic sites have been posted online to ask for the public's help in finding the vandals.

Some people have used the tools and tactics of vandalism to raise awareness of issues. In the early 2020s, people sprayed graffiti on statues of enslavers and Confederate military leaders to protest monuments with racist connotations. Starting in 2022, climate activists targeted works of art in museums to draw attention to climate change. Though the activists pelted paintings with mashed potatoes and canned soups, the works were well protected and not damaged.

Bibliography

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