Competition Between Graffiti Writers: A Behaviour Ecological Perspective

• In Event: Using Optimal Foraging Theory to Understand Offender Target Selection and Exploitation

Abstract

Aim: While target selection strategies of offenders under environmental constraints has been extensively studied, limited attention has been paid to effects of competition amongst offenders. The present research assesses how competition for scarce graffiti space affects the distribution of different types of graffiti (tags, throw-ups and masterpieces). We argue that graffiti artists are motivated by the visibility and recognition of their art, and assume an accepted hierarchy amongst graffiti types (tags < throw-ups < masterpieces). Our analysis is inspired by behavioural ecology, where social foraging theory describes the effects of intra-species competition for scarce resources on foraging choices of individuals.
Method: We use information about more than 17000 graffiti items, including their type and their location. These data were collected through systematic social observation by 88 observers in Ghent, Belgium.
Findings: Preliminary results suggest that the presence of masterpieces deters graffiti writers from spaying tags or throw-ups, likely because higher status graffiti devalues the recognition from lower-status graffiti. Thus, taggers and throw-up writers prefer to stay away from masterpieces to maximize their visibility and recognition.
Conclusions: Understanding the effects of competition amongst graffiti writers may inform agencies involved in graffiti prevention. Promoting masterpiece graffiti types may help reduce the writing of tags and throw-ups, which are often associated with disorder and fear of crime.

Authors

• Kuralarasan Kumar, Univesity of Ghent

• Wim Bernasco, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)

• Christophe Vandeviver, Ghent University