Communication and Broken Windows: Graffiti Debates

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Communication and Broken Windows Graffiti
Debates

• Irina Gendelman
• University of Washington
• Department of Communication

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Public Space

• Medium of communication
• Arena for representation
• Arena for negotiation of meaning

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Broken Windows Theory
We suggest that "untended" behavior also leads to
the breakdown of community controlsA piece of
property is abandoned, weeds grow up, a window is
smashed. Adults stop scolding rowdy children the
children, emboldened, become more rowdy. Families
move out, unattached adults move in. Teenagers
gather in front of the corner store. The merchant
asks them to move they refuse. Fights occur.
Litter accumulates. People start drinking in
front of the grocery in time, an inebriate
slumps to the sidewalk and is allowed to sleep it
off. Pedestrians are approached by panhandlers.
(Wilson and Kelling, 1982)

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Question

• How do people talk about public spaces?
• What relationships of power are revealed in
  community discussions about the use of public
  spaces?
• What effects might the governance of public
  spaces have on communication?

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Olympia Graffiti Debates
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Research Methods

• Text analysis of a local newspaper
• Analysis of public records of a Community
  Conversation
• Interviews with key players

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The Daily Olympian

• 1999 Free Walls
• 2002 Bad Behavior

Table1 The number of graffiti related articles
in The Daily Olympian
1 Only articles printed in the first five
months of the year 2002 were collected due to the
time constraints of the research.
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1999 The Daily Olympian

• Quote from the Olympia Downtown Association
  Coordinator
• Its gotten very rampant, in recent months, the
  graffiti has spread from legal walls to nearby
  businesses, garbage cans, newspaper boxes, even
  treestagging makes downtown look neglected and
  shoppers feel unsafe, she said. When people see
  graffiti of any kind, they think its dangerous.

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Quote from an editorial

• Former Olympia Police chief John Wurner had a
  no tolerance policy for graffiti. He calls it his
  broken window theory

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• Quote from a letter to the editor
• Graffiti does not just come about like dirt on
  the sidewalkit is a method of expressingfor
  some reason obnoxious advertising, flashing
  lights and whitewashed walls are more inviting
  than vernacular art in the alleys.

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Quote from an article about the graffiti debates

• Without it, the city will lose an important
  cultural site, said Jeffrey Bartone, the film
  societys technical director. If the city shuts
  down its free graffiti walls because of a handful
  of malicious taggers, the vandals will win.
  Thats all that will be left if we take down the
  free walls, he said

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Results of 1999 Debates

• A compromise between the ODA and graffiti
  advocates was reached. One graffiti wall reopened
  in April, 1999.

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2002 The Daily Olympian

• Graffiti as communication is no longer part of
  debates
• City clean up agenda shifts from graffiti to a
  wide-ranging eradication of various "untended"
  behaviors deemed damaging to the vitality of
  downtown, such as
• panhandling
• homelessness
• intoxication
• loitering youth

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2002 editorial Our Views Safety must be
restored.

• Cathie Butler, the communications manager for
  the city of Olympia, is afraid to go downtown.
• Last Christmas she set aside a day to do her
  holiday shoppingTwice on that day, she said, she
  was approached by aggressive panhandlers. She
  refused their demands for money. One spit in her
  face the other spit at her feet. On a subsequent
  shopping trip to purchase furniture, she was
  chased for a full block by a panhandler demanding
  money. She bought her furniture online, instead.

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• Butler said too many people in downtown Olympia
  lack respect for others, and in the back of her
  mind she wonders how big a step it is from lack
  of respect for personal space to lack of respect
  for human lifeButler asks, "At what point does
  the collective lack of respect represented by
  spitting in the faceor urinating on a building,
  or damaging property with graffiti and etchings,
  translate into a knife in the back?"

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• Good question -- and one the Olympia City
  Council must come to grips with. Maybe now that
  they are hearing these personal stories from
  people they work with and care about, council
  members will be moved to action.
• If you have a story to tell or a plea to make on
  downtown safety, contact the Olympia City
  Council. Let them know you expect solutions --
  now!

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Community Conversation 2002

• Problem Statement.Shop owners, downtown users,
  visitors, police and others in the community note
  a high level of offensive and illegal behavior in
  downtown Olympia. This behavior threatens
  Olympias vision of a safe and vibrant downtown.
  
• Questions. 1. Why is this behavior occurring in
  downtown Olympia?2. What needs to be done to
  correct the situation?3. Who needs to be part of
  the solution, and what roles should they play?

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Conversation Themes

• Too friendly a place
• It anti-social behavior is tolerated. Services
  are provided for these people (on the streets)
  and it gives them a crutch
• Weak Policing
• Resources to underprivileged also attract
  willfully delinquent, need stronger ordinances
  and enforcement
• Expression
• Graffiti happens because people feel that they
  dont have a voice

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• Vandalism
• Tagging creates a violent, hostile environment
  but is separate from graffiti art
• Homeless blamed unfairly
• Discussion is targeting a population (homeless)
  and this has been framed in the organization of
  this event much discussion on this point.
• Larger social problems
• Olympia is a reflection of greater crisis (which
  will worsen without a spiritual solution
  presented by the community).

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Problems of Perception

• Lack of communication creating hostility and
  negative perceptions
• The issue isnt safety, its a matter of
  comfort/discomfort
• Perception of a safety problem
• The stories we choose to tell create myths and
  perceptions. I question that question. I could
  tell just as many wholesome positive stories.

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Questioning Assumptions

• Who is complaining about these people and/or
  problems?
• Behavior is too vague
• The question is a gross over-generalization of
  the behavior problem
• If we take the question as given Id come away
  from the conversation dissatisfied

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The Problem of Governance

• Although the Olympia community members
  acknowledged the complexities of managing
  downtown, the majority of practical solutions
  still come from the policing efforts focused on
  criminalization and expulsion.

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Challenging Assumptions of Broken Windows

• Perception needs to be addressed
• increased control can perpetuate fear by
  creating suitable, but not necessarily real,
  enemies.
• Broken Windows Theory is short sighted
• while focusing on signs of disorder offers a
  tangible solution to local problems, it can lead
  to a superficial policing technique that ignores
  larger social issues more difficult to tackle.

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• Studies have shown that while graffiti may
  symbolize a lack of social control, it does not
  necessarily correlate with crime. Instead, the
  presence of graffiti may be an indication of a
  disconnected community rather than a criminal one
  (Raudenbush and Sampson, 1999 Ross and Jang,
  2000 Taylor 2001).
• Blaming social services, and at the same time
  targeting signs of disorder for eradication is an
  ironic example of shortsighted solutions proposed
  by the Broken Windows.

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• Further studies on communication and public
  space must address the social construction of
  fear and recognize this as an important problem
  in place making.