Vandalism as a Symbolic Act in Free Zones
Author
Editor
- Christensen Harriet H.
- Johnson Darryll J.
- Brookes Martha H.
Summary, in English
The concept of vandalism is analyzed as a symbolic act. An analysis of vandalism
from a situational-positivistic, or a motivational-psychological, approach hardly gives
an understanding of vandalism as a meaningful individual and social act. A humanistic
and cultural perspective can supply ways to understand a nonprescribed behavior
such as vandalism. The original meaning of vandalism is plundering and laying
waste of a civilization's symbols and environment. This appropriation of physical environment
also occurs in the industrialized societies' urban environment and then
often is perceived as motiveless. "Free zones" develop in societies where norms
and obligations are neutralized. Vandalism is nonprescribed in that it appears in
these free zones where norms, obligations, utility, and common sense are switched
off. The environment is "marked" by damaging or destroying objects to change the
message of the physical milieu. Vandalism is a gesture of "negative honor," which
reflects a complex of feelings. Vandalism comprises two sides of an autonomy problem:
to be isolated from an unwanted membership (juvenile vandalism) and to be
free of an unwanted outside position (adult vandalism). An essential question is
which methodological and theoretical concepts a researcher in the social sciences
should use to discover the rationality of vandalism and to make it comprehensible.
from a situational-positivistic, or a motivational-psychological, approach hardly gives
an understanding of vandalism as a meaningful individual and social act. A humanistic
and cultural perspective can supply ways to understand a nonprescribed behavior
such as vandalism. The original meaning of vandalism is plundering and laying
waste of a civilization's symbols and environment. This appropriation of physical environment
also occurs in the industrialized societies' urban environment and then
often is perceived as motiveless. "Free zones" develop in societies where norms
and obligations are neutralized. Vandalism is nonprescribed in that it appears in
these free zones where norms, obligations, utility, and common sense are switched
off. The environment is "marked" by damaging or destroying objects to change the
message of the physical milieu. Vandalism is a gesture of "negative honor," which
reflects a complex of feelings. Vandalism comprises two sides of an autonomy problem:
to be isolated from an unwanted membership (juvenile vandalism) and to be
free of an unwanted outside position (adult vandalism). An essential question is
which methodological and theoretical concepts a researcher in the social sciences
should use to discover the rationality of vandalism and to make it comprehensible.
Department/s
Publishing year
1992
Language
English
Pages
71-87
Publication/Series
Vandalism: Research, Prevention and Social Policy
Full text
Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
Seattle: US Dept. of Agruculture / Pacific Northwest Research Station and University of Washington.
Topic
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Keywords
- sociologi
- sociology
- symbolic
- vandalism
- free zone
- negative honor
- autonomy
- humanistic perspective.
- history
Status
Published