Preventing Graffiti and Vandalism

When the media indulge in their periodic outbursts of outrage at vandalism and graffiti, the picture they usually present is one of wilful destruction by young, alienated, often socially- and economically-disadvantaged teenagers. The truth is much more complex. Vandalism and graffiti are very different problems, and each is multi-faceted. Not all graffiti is written by alienated teenagers, and not all vandalism constitutes wilful damage. Before we can begin to devise solutions, therefore, we must understand the problems. Graffiti tests the axiom that beauty is in the eye of the be holder. To many train travellers graffiti is ugly, anti-social daubs, while for the kids who write them, it may be the only self-expression they know, perhaps their only claim to fame. Imaginative graffiti can make the concrete walls or dilapidated factory walls it decorates look a lot better, and some artists, sociologists and writers even reward graffiti as a sophisticated art form, calling it "spraycan art". (A point of view which, I might add, tends to make railway officials and maintenance crews somewh at irritable.) For some exponents, graffiti is a powerful propaganda tool. Many anti-smokers, critic