Abstract
The paper deals with the phenomenon of vandalism and vandal behavior of adolescents. Vandal behavior consists of intentional or unintentional actions for the damage, destruction, and unauthorized transformation of material objects of a strange or public property. Despite the obvious damage done to the environment by vandals, this form of deviant behavior of adolescents is examined exclusively in terms of the statement of fact, description of forms of consequences,
and determination of effective measures to combat them. To the authors’ best knowledge, no publications can be found available in the literature that describe predictors of vandal activity of the person, consider the mechanisms of the emergence of this strategy of human interaction with environmental objects, and analyze the genesis of this deviation. Of course, these circumstances reduce the potential effectiveness of the developed programs and methods for prevention
and counteraction to vandal behavior. Understanding vandalism as a form of defensive and coping behavior makes it possible (a) to reveal determination mechanisms of this deviation and (b) create
a scientific basis for understanding the psychological nature of destructive human interaction with material objects, which can ensure the creation of effective ways to prevent it. To study correlations of the person’s defense and coping system and the choice of the model of vandal behavior, the authors surveyed 60 adolescent respondents by applying a cross-sectional method using standardized questionnaires. The obtained data processing was carried out in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Statistics 19.0) by means of
descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The discovered patterns of relationship (a) confirmed the assumption that vandalism is conditioned by defensive and coping mechanisms of personality, and (b) determined relations between certain types of a teenager’s destructive activity and elements of psychological defenses
and coping actvities.
References
Abul'khanova K. A. Rubinshteinovskaia kategoriia sub"ekta i ee razlichnye metodologicheskie znacheniia: Problema sub"ekta v psikhologicheskoi nauke [Rubinstein’ category of the subject and its various methodological meanings: The problem of the subject in psychological science]. Moscow, Akademicheskii proekt Publ., 2000, pp. 13–26.
Bogdanova M. V. Zashchitno-adaptatsionnye konstrukty v sisteme zhizneobespecheniia lichnosti [Defense and adaptive constructs in the life support system of the person]. Vestnik Tiumenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye issledovaniia. Humanitates – Bulletin of Tyumen State University. Humanistic Studies. Humanitates, 2009, no. 5, pp. 113–119.
Vatova L. S. Sotsial'no-psikhologicheskie osnovaniia molodezhnogo vandalizma i ego profilaktika [Socio-psychological foundations of young people’s vandalism and its prevention]. Moscow, Narodnoe obrazovanie Publ., 2007.
Vodop'ianova N. E. Psikhodiagnostika stressa [Psychodiagnostics of stress]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2009.
Vorob'eva I. V., Kruzhkova O. V. Psikhologiia vandal'nogo povedeniia: monografiia [The psychology of vandal behavior]. Yekaterinburg, Ural State Pedagogical University Publ., 2015.
Vygotskii L. S. Sobranie sochinenii v 6-ti tomakh. T. 3. Problemy razvitiia psikhiki [Collected works in 6 volumes: Vol. 3: Problems of mental evolution]. Moscow, Pedagogika Publ., 1983.
Kruzhkova O. V., Shakhmatova O. N. Psikhologicheskie zashchity lichnosti [Psychological protection of personality]. Yekaterinburg, Russian State Professional and Pedagogic University Publ., 2006.
Kriukova T. L. Psikhologiia sovladaiushchego povedeniia [The psychology of coping behavior]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University Publ., 2004.
Ostroukhova E. G., Shtroo V. A. Zashchitnaia aktivnost' gruppy v usloviiakh gruppovoi tselostnosti: Identichnost' i organizatsiia v meniaiushchemsia mire [Defensive activity of the group in group integrity: Identity and the organization in the changing world]. Moscow, Higher School of Economics Publ., 2008, pp. 213–232.
Smolova L. V. Psikhologiia vzaimodeistviia s okruzhaiushchei sredoi (ekologicheskaia psikhologiia) [The psychology of interactions with the environment (environmental psychology)]. St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work Publ., 2010.
Zhuravlev A. L. Stress, vygoranie, sovladanie v sovremennom kontekste [Stress, burnout, and coping in the modern context]. Moscow, Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011.
Subbotina L. Iu. Psikhologicheskaia zashchita i stress [Psychological defense and stress]. Kharkov, Gumanitarnyi Tsentr Publ., 2013.
Iagovdik E. V. Transformatsiia rituala v kul'turno-evoliutsionnom protsesse (filosofsko-kul'turologicheskii analiz). Diss. kand. filosof. nauk [The transformation of ritual in a cultural and evolutionary process (philosophical and culturological analysis). Cand. philos. sci. diss]. Belgorod, 2005.
Conte H. R., Apter A. The Life Style Index: A Self-Report Measure of Ego Defenses. Ego Defenses: Theory and Measurement. H. R. Conte, R. Plutchik (Ed.). N. Y.: Wiley, 1995, pp. 179–201.
Cordier J., Ledebvre C. Vandalism – Symbolic Behavior? Revue Internationale de Criminologie et de Police Technique, 1980, V. 33 (3), pp. 263–270.
Elliott D. Multiple problem youth. N. Y.: Springer-Verlag, 1988.
Gilbert P. Defense and safety: Their function in social behaviour and psychopathology. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1993, V. 32, no. 2, pp. 131–153.
Janis I. L. Groupthink. 2-nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982.
Le Blanc M., Freshette M. Male criminal activity from childhood through youth. N. Y.: Springer-Verlag, 1989.
Mawby R. I. Burglary. Devon, UK: Willan Publishing, 2001.
Russell M. A., Smith T. W., Smyth J. M. Anger Expression, Momentary Anger, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Chronic Disease. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2015, P. 13.
The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping. S. Folkman (Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press Publ., 2011.
Wills T. A., Sandy J. M., Yaeger A. M., Cleary S. D. & Shinar O. Coping dimension, life stress, and adolescent substance use: A latent growth analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2001, 110, pp. 309–323.