Vandalism
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Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.[1]
The term includes
Etymology
The
Historically, vandalism has been justified by painter
In a proposal to the International Conference for Unification of Criminal Law held in Madrid in 1933, Raphael Lemkin envisaged the creation of two new international crimes (delicta juris gentium): the crime of barbarity, consisting in the extermination of racial, religious, or social collectivities, and the crime of vandalism, consisting in the destruction of cultural and artistic works of these groups.[4] The proposal was not accepted. A figurative accusation of vandalism was applied towards the theology of Marcion of Sinope.[5]
As a crime
Private citizens commit vandalism when they willfully damage or deface the property of others or the
More serious forms of vandalism that may take place during public unrest such as
Examples
Examples of vandalism include salting lawns, cutting trees without permission, egg throwing, breaking windows, arson, spraying paint on others' properties, tagging, placing glue into locks, tire slashing, keying (scratching) paint, ransacking a property, flooding a house by clogging a sink and leaving the water running, and pulling up plants from the roots without permission.
Political
In elections, opposing candidates' supporters may engage in "political vandalism"—the act of defacing opponents' political posters, bumper stickers, billboards, and other street marketing material. Although the nature of this material is temporary, its effect can be long-lasting as it may reflect both negatively and positively on the candidate whose material is being vandalized as well as on the presumed candidate whose supporters are engaging in the vandalism.
In addition, activists may use the tactic of
Motives
Actions of this kind can be ascribed to anger or envy, or to spontaneous, opportunistic behaviour, possibly for peer acceptance or bravado in gang cultures, or disgruntlement with the target (victim) person or society. Another common motive is to seek attention, and for personal gain. Opportunistic vandalism of this nature may also be filmed, the mentality of which can be akin to happy slapping. The large-scale prevalence of gang graffiti in some inner cities has almost made it acceptable to the societies based there, so much so that it may go unnoticed, or not be removed, possibly because it may be a fruitless endeavour, to be graffitied on once again. Greed can motivate vandalism as can some political ideologies, wish to draw attention to problems, frustration, even playfulness. Youngsters, the most common vandals, frequently experience low status and boredom. Vandalism enables powerless people to attack those above them, take control and frighten others. Unpunished vandalism can provide relief which reinforces the behaviour. Vandalism by one person can lead to imitation.[9] Teenage boys and men in their 20s are most likely to vandalize, but older adults and females are also known to sometimes vandalize, with young children occasionally vandalizing, but in a much smaller form, such as making small crayon drawings on walls.[citation needed] Criminological research into vandalism has found that it serves many purposes for those who engage in it and stems from a variety of motives. Sociologist Stanley Cohen describes seven different types of vandalism:[10]
- Acquisitive vandalism (looting and petty theft).
- Peer pressure – Teenagers spend more time away from home with peers, and whether they act constructively or destructively can depend on the contacts they make. Disobeying authority can appear cool.
- Tactical vandalism (to advance some end other than acquiring money or property – such as breaking a window to be arrested and get a bed for the night in a police cell).
- Ideological vandalism (carried out to further an explicit ideological cause or deliver a message).
- Vindictive vandalism (for revenge).
- Play vandalism (damage resulting from children's games).
- Malicious vandalism (damage caused by a violent outpouring of diffuse frustration and rage that often occurs in public settings).[11] Cohen's original typology was improved upon by Mike Sutton[12] whose research led him to add a seventh sub-type of vandalism – Peer Status Motivated Vandalism.[13]
Reaction of authorities
In view of its incivility,
In the 1990s, former New York City mayor
Cybervandalism
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Cybervandalism is vandalism on the internet. For example, vandalism on Wikipedia involves adding questionable content, removing content, or changing content in order to make it questionable, generally with the objective of harming Wikipedia's reputation. Forms of online vandalism have been recorded, the most common of which is website defacement. Vandalism on web maps has been called "cartographic vandalism".[15] Certain kinds of malware without financial intent also count.
Cybervandalism could be said to be a form of creativity and artistry. An example of this was when the Cheltenham paint festival was cancelled due to COVID-19, and artists still proceeded to celebrate their artistry virtually.[16]
Defacement
Defacement is a type of vandalism that involves damaging the appearance or surface of something. The object of damage may be architecture, books, paintings, sculpture, or other forms of art.[17]
Examples of defacement include:
- Marking or removing the part of an object (especially images, be they on the page, in illustrative art or as a sculpture) designed to hold the viewers' attention
- Scoring a book cover with a blade
- Splashing paint over a painting in a gallery
- Smashing the nose of a sculpted bust
- Damaging or chiselling off sculpted coats of arms
- Altering the content of web sites and publicly editable repositories to include nonsensical or whimsical references
Iconoclasm led to the defacement of many religious artworks.
As art
Though vandalism in itself is illegal, it is often also an integral part of modern popular culture. French painter
After the burning of the Tuileries Palace on 23 May 1871, Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche himself meditated about the "fight against culture", wondering what could justify culture if it were to be destroyed in such a "senseless" manner (the arguments are: culture is justified by works of art and scientific achievements; exploitation is necessary to those achievements, leading to the creation of exploited people who then fight against culture. In this case, culture cannot be legitimised by art achievements, and Nietzsche writes: "I {also} know what it means: fighting against culture". After quoting him, Klossowski writes: "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture".[3]
As destruction of monument, vandalism can only have sense in a culture respecting history,
Attendu que la colonne Vendôme est un monument dénué de toute valeur artistique, tendant à perpétuer par son expression les idées de guerre et de conquête qui étaient dans la dynastie impériale, mais que réprouve le sentiment d'une nation républicaine, [le citoyen Courbet] émet le vœu que le gouvernement de la Défense nationale veuille bien l'autoriser à déboulonner cette colonne.[18]
('As the Vendôme column is a monument devoid of any artistic value, whose expression tends to perpetuate the ideas of war and conquest from the imperial dynasty, but that reject the sentiment of a republican nation, citizen Courbet declares that the government of National Defense should allow him to dismantle this column.)
Hence, painter Courbet justified the dismantlement of the Vendôme column on political grounds, downgrading its artistic value. Vandalism poses the problem of the value of art compared to life's hardships: Courbet thought that the political values transmitted by this work of art neutralized its artistic value. His project was not followed; however, on 12 April 1871, the Commune voted to dismantle the imperial symbol, and the column was taken down on 8 May. After the assault on the Paris Commune by Adolphe Thiers, Gustave Courbet was condemned to pay part of the expenses.
In 1974,
Graphic design
Defacing could also be one of the techniques that many graphic designers use, by applying their own hand writing on a graphic itself. Sometimes the use of this technique might be mistaken as vandalism to the original work, as exemplified by the work of
See also
- Abuse
- Broken windows theory
- Criminal mischief
- Iconoclasm
- Latrinalia
- Library book vandalism
- Malicious mischief
- Vandalism of art
References
- ^ "Oxford English Dictionary". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ^ Merrills and Miles 2010, pp. 9–10.
- ^ a b See Pierre Klossowski, Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle, first Chapter: What is the value of culture if those who are exploited by it destroy it? "En sorte qu'il nous faut être bien loin de vouloir, du haut de notre sentiment de nous-mêmes, imputer le crime d'un combat contre la culture exclusivement à ces malheureux. Je sais ce que cela veut dire: le combat contre la culture. (...) je me campronnai avec une conviction sérieuse à la valeur métaphysique de l'art, lequel ne saurait exister à cause des pauvres gens, mais doit accomplir des missions plus hautes. Mais, en dépit de mon extrême douleur, je n'étais pas en état de jeter la moindre pierre à ces profanateurs qui, pour moi, n'étaient que les suppôts de la culpabilité universelle, sur laquelle il y a beaucoup à méditer!" Nietzsche quoted by Klossowski pp. 29–30 French edition, who adds: "Le combat criminel contre la culture n'est lui-même que l'envers d'une culture criminelle" ("The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture")
- ^ Raphael Lemkin: Akte der Barbarei und des Vandalismus als delicta juris gentium Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Anwaltsblatt Internationales (Wien), November 1933.
- ISBN 978-1-137-51276-5. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ Ley and Cybriwsky 1974.
- ^ J. Scott Armstrong (1978). "The Graffiti Solution" (PDF). The Wharton Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ Is it OK for protesters to damage property? Archived 14 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine, New Internationalist Magazine, issue 440
- ^ "Psychological Analysis of Vandalism". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ Cohen 1973.
- ^ "The Psychological View of Why Children Vandalize". Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Center for Problem-Oriented Policing | Biographies". Popcenter.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ Sutton, Mike (1987) Differential Rates of Vandalism in a New Town: Towards A Theory of Relative Place. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, October
- from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- ^ Ballatore 2014.
- ^ "Cheltenham Paint Festival goes virtual during lockdown". 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ Library of Congress (1996). Library of Congress subject headings. Library of Congress. p. 1430. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ^ "La Colonne Vendôme déboulonnée" (in French). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ "Fine Art, Sí, Vandalism, No". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
- ^ D.E. Funk (7 October 2013). "Banksy the Artist". www.Medium.com. Medium-All things art. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ Odling-Smee Anne (2002) the new handmade graphics: Beyond digital design. RotoVision SA
Other references
- Ballatore, A. (2014), "Defacing the map: Cartographic vandalism in the digital commons", The Cartographic Journal, 51 (3): 214–224, S2CID 1828882
- Cohen, S. (1973), Ward, C. (ed.), Property destruction: Motives and meanings, London: Architectural Press, pp. 23–53
- Goldstein, A. (1996), The Psychology of Vandalism, New York: Plenum Press
- Ley, D. & Cybriwsky, R. (1974), "Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 64 (4): 491–505,
- Merrills, A.; Miles, R. (2010), The Vandals, ISBN 978-1-4051-6068-1
- Williams, M. (2006), Virtually Criminal: Crime, Deviance, and Regulation Online., Abington, UK: Taylor & Francis
Bibliography
- Chris Hammond. Bank. Retrieved 9 March 2016
External links
- Media related to Vandalism at Wikimedia Commons
- The Free Dictionary: Vandalism
- Merriam Webster: Vandalism
- The dictionary definition of vandalism at Wiktionary