The Effectiveness of Contingency-Specific and Contingency-Nonspecific Prompts in Controlling Bathroom Graffiti

This study replicates and extends the work of Watson (1996) in which a sign eliminated graffiti when posted on bathroom walls. The present study investigated the effects of three different signs on walls in six men’s bathrooms located on a university campus. Posting the signs was followed by the elimination or sharp reduction of graffiti. Removal of the signs was followed by a resurgence of graffiti. DESCRIPTORS: community behavior analysis, prompts, graffiti, signs Graffiti represents a nuisance to public and private establishments that strive to maintain a clean bathroom environment. Further, the often obscene and distasteful messages are aversive for many users who are offended by vulgarity. Multiple desirable be-havior changes have been achieved by the use of signs, and, relevant to this paper, Wat-son (1996) showed that signs could be used to reduce bathroom graffiti. At least three types of sign-based messages have produced success. Austin, Hatfield, Grindle, and Bailey (1993) found that plac-ing signs over different receptacles that sim-ply identified the types of items to be dis-posed, but that contained no contingency, increased recycling in an office setting. Cope and Allred (1991) used signs that specified a negative contingency to reduce illegal parking in spaces reserved for individuals with disabilities in a shopping center parking lot. Watson (1996) found that signs speci-fying delayed positive contingencies com-Special thanks are extended to David Anderson, Di-rector of Physical Plant Administration at the Univer-sity of Southern Mississippi, and to Donald Holcomb for their cooperation and assistance with this project. Correspondence and requests for reprints should b