Students scribble
for various reasons
by Ruth Wedergren
Battalion Reporter
Most of us have seen our share of graf
fiti on the walls of high school restrooms
and other places. Things like “Sue loves
Joe 4-ever“ are fairly common, as are
some not-so-sweet things.
But graffiti is not restricted to re
strooms, and the people who write it are
not always lovesick teenagers. The
reasons people write graffiti are as
varied as what is written.
“Most people who write graffiti have
mild frustrations," said Dr. Brian Stag-
ner, an assistant professor of psycholo
gy at Texas A&M. "It's an anonymous
way to be angry."
Dr. John Riskind, also an assistant
professor of psychology, said, "It can be
a way for people to express fantasies
they can't act out. That may be the
reason for a lot of sexual graffiti."
Stagner said that sometimes graffiti is
prompted by sheer boredom. He re
membered a library in Amherst, Mass,
whose stairwell walls were covered with
graffiti written because of boredom.
"The stairs were in enclosed shafts
and were very dull," Stagner said.
"Someone put quotes from 'Star Trek'
every few steps on every floor as if to
say, 'We've got to be in this building so
let's make it more interesting.'"
Dr. Jon P. Alston, an assistant profes
sor of sociology, said graffiti may be an
effort to make a public place more hu
man. "It's a way of making your en
vironment more personal."
Riskind said graffiti also can be a sub
stitute activity for those who can't easily
express themselves to others. A person
may be seeking recognition and atten
tion through graffiti, even though it is
anonymous.
"Some people want to leave a trace —
they need to be remembered," he said,
"and graffiti is a way to get recognition.
It's also a way of testing one's ideas and
thoughts. Because it's anonymous, it's a
safe form of approval."
Riskind also said that along with
allowing recognition, writing graffiti
gives a person a sense of control and a
way of marking his territory.
In speculating about specific types of
people who write graffiti, he said, "I
think a bored, frustrated person is more
likely to write graffiti than a satisfied
person. Satisfied people would find that
a low choice of action."
Riskind said an inhibited person
would be less likely to express some
thing through graffiti than an impulsive
person.
As for Freudian interpretations of
graffiti, Stagner said, "I think Freud
would wonder, 'What was the meaning
for the actor? Was it out of a creative
need or out of rage?"'
Graffiti is not a new form of ex
pression.
"Walls dug-up from the ancient city of
Pompeii are full of graffiti. We've had
graffiti as long as we've had writing,"
Alston said/
Egyptians probably got frustrated and
bored, too.
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