The first, sometimes referred to as displacement, is where they take out their feeling on inanimate objects, or on another person instead. An example of this is a typical movie scene where a father and son for instance have an argument. At the end of this there may be a scene where the son, (usually a teenager), leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. This is a scene of anger, or strong emotions, being expressed through violence on inanimate objects, such as the door. It is of course a better way to express these feelings than on the person who started them, but results in an unhappy and harmful environment. If these emotions are slowly built up, or carefully kept inside, then instead of initial anger they may instead purposefully harm somebody’s creation, art work, or anything that they feel can be an outlet for their emotions. This, in simple terms, is vandalism.
Another way some hidden emotions break out is through what some people call ‘projection’. This is where they project what has been done to them to somebody else in a slightly irrational attempt to stop it being done to them, or to at least feel powerful in their own right. For example they may feel stupid due to a remark made by a colleague, so instead of admitting to feeling stupid, they call the other person stupid. Alternatively they may shy away in that conversation only to later rub in their superiority on somebody else. This can also apply to vandalism.
The third way I will mention as to why people deal out damage to other people for seemingly pointless reasons is due to extorted revenge. They may have had something done to them, and in revenge they ruin something of that persons. If they for some reason cant or don’t want to take it out on that person they may do it to somebody entirely random.
Yet another reason is that they feel hard done by and don’t want somebody else to be happy when they are consistently down in the dumps. They might try to dull down the other person’s life to whatever emotions they are feeling at the time. This applies even more readily to bullying, but still applies in vandalism.
And then there is the atmospheric reasons, group dynamics and excitement associated with vandalism. I think that there is a lot of these reasons involved in the committing of crimes, and in some ways they get addicted to the pressure and adrenaline that comes alongside committing these offences. Naturally the more chance of being caught the more adrenaline runs through their bodies. It is this selfish and unhealthy dynamic that I believe heavily contributes to why they do vandalism. It doesn’t harm them, much, and they find it exciting; so they do it. This attitude is also displayed in unstable families, and unstable friendship groups. This is generally not a stand alone reason to do vandalism, but more of an addition to other reasons.
And lastly there is the peer pressure that can be exerted on people in certain situations, where if they refuse to do such things it results in loss of ‘friends’, or where they think that they will lose prestige in the eyes of their comrades. This is also characteristic of unhealthy relationships and an unstable social background, but is nonetheless a major problem in our society. There is also a very strong social focus in such groups, which leads to a ‘loyal to the death’ attitude, which is found in many gangs.
Even having presented some psychological reasons behind vandalism, it is still a highly irrational crime and one that in many ways should be attributed not only to the people themselves, but also to the parents. A strong family background secures you firmly out of such circles, and gives you the knowledge and will to do so. I personally find that having a strong faith makes people more considerate of other people, and emotionally more able to deal with issues that may otherwise rise up as an insurmountable problem. While this view is not actually adopted by most atheists, it has sufficient backing to be worth more than a mention in psychological studies.
In conclusion, having an insecure emotional state, often caused by unhealthy family situations, is the main cause of vandalism, (this also makes teenagers especially vulnerable), there are many psychological reasons behind such vandalism but it is still a thoroughly irrational response, and healthy religious circles are often more secure emotionally, and therefore almost no vandalism is committed in individuals with a strong faith.
