A Social-Psychological Analysis of Vandalism: Making Sense out of Senseless Violence

Abstract

The thesis is advanced that the anti-social behaviors labelled as 'vandalism' can be understood in terms of the established nature of the social transactions between the individuals perpetrating such acts and their society. Contrary to the popular notion that vandalism is 'senseless,' 'mindless,' or 'wanton' behavior is the view that these acts of destructive aggression reflect a variety of 'rational' social-psychological causes. Recognition of these antecedents and the social-political conditions which help maintain vandalism leads to strategies of behavior control not based on greater deterrents, law and order, or attributing the cause to individual deviant pathological states, but rather to improving the quality of the social-psychological environment in which we live. A field experiment is reported which suggests that conditions which promote feelings of anonymity lower inhibitions about engaging in destructive acts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1970
Accession Number
AD0719405

Entities

People

  • Philip G. Zimbardo

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Automobiles
  • Behavior Control
  • Correctional Facilities
  • Housing Projects
  • Human Behavior
  • Military Research
  • New York
  • Psychology
  • Schools
  • Second World War
  • Social Psychology
  • Societies
  • Students
  • Telephone Receivers
  • Universities
  • Violence
  • Western Europe

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.