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The Mural as Graffiti Deterrence

London, England; Melbourne Australia

Louis S. Leland, Jr

University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand

Michelle G. Bussell

Simon J. Munday

Auckland, New Zealand

Karen Walsh

This study investigated whether the use of a colorful mural as a passive thematic prompt could significantly reduce new graffiti attacks in an area prone to graffiti. A control design with a preceding baseline tested this hypothesis. It was predicted that the mural would reduce the proportional amount of new graffiti that appeared on the mural area compared with a blank area. Acolorful muralwas painted on the section of a wall that had attracted the most graffiti during baseline. Data consisting of numbers of instances of new graffiti were recorded by two observers. Eight new graffiti attacks were recorded on the newly cleaned area with the mural after weeks (vs. 14 attacks in the fortnight of baseline). The main control section of wall was subject to significantly higher levels of graffiti during intervention than the mural section.

Key Words: graffiti • mural • tagging • vandalism • graffiti deterrence

Environment and Behavior, Vol. 38, No. 3, 422-434 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916505281580


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