Olga V. Kruzhkova

Background. While the phenomena of intentional destroying and damaging of private property have been known since ancient times, the term “vandalism” appears only in 19th century. In the 20th century, much research devoted to vandalism was conducted in the spheres of criminology, sociology, psychology, and education. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to investigating the correlation between a child’s propensity for vandalism and the child-parent relationship. 

Objective and Method. The main purpose of our research was to investigate the correlation between the styles of family upbringing and adolescents’ propensity for vandalism. For this purpose, we analyzed the main predictors of adolescents’ propensity for vandalism on the basis of the psychological diagnostics of 60 Russian families from Ekaterinburg. We investigated whether the fact that a child was brought up in a one-parent or disadvantaged family is significant for forming an adolescent propensity for vandalism. We also clarified the influence of various styles of family upbringing on an adolescent’s propensity for vandalism of different types. 

Results. Based on statistical analysis, we concluded that an atmosphere of violence within the family plays a key role in forming adolescents’ propensity for vandalism. The style of maternal upbringing has a greater influence on determining adolescent destructive behavior than the paternal, especially when the father’s parenting style is “non-interference.” 

Conclusion. Based on our research results, we suggest that preventive the efforts against vandalism should be directed toward the prevention of family violence, and that there should be a differential approach toward parental education directed toward correcting individual parental styles of upbringing. 

Currently, in the Russian Federation more and more attention is being paid to the quality of human capital. The innovative future of the country as a whole and its regions in particular depends on having young people with an active lifestyle, a high level of education, and a desire to be included in the development process of their country, region, city, or town. In most regions of the Russian Federation, programs and projects are supported that promote the self-actualization of young people and create conditions to ensure a full and rich life for the younger generation. But, despite these measures, as well as major government funding, the process of active internal migration and the outflow of talented young people from provincial areas into the central regions, as well as from rural to urban settlements, lead to the significant negative skewing of socioeconomic development in the regions of the Russian Federation. Thus, these are the issues: which characteristics of life in a megalopolis are valuable and attractive to young people and are there differences in the images of a big city held by native young people and newcomers.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of the value-sense and need-motivational spheres of native and newcomer youth in a megalopolis as well as to reveal the specifics of their images of a contemporary megalopolis. A comprehensive study conducted in Ekaterinburg among young people in the senior classes of secondary schools, colleges, and universities, as well as among young working men and women (N = 1108; ages 17-25), disclosed the base values in the subjective evaluation of the environment of a megalopolis by native and newcomer youth. In accordance with the objectives of the study, the sample was divided into two contrasting groups: native residents of Ekaterinburg (living there since birth) 437; newcomer residents of Ekaterinburg (living there fewer than 3 years) who were actively adapting to life in the megalopolis at the time the of the study 671 people. The study was conducted with the use of age-specific characteristics of a battery of diagnostic instruments. This article describes the specifics of the value orientations and evaluations of the image of the city among native and newcomer young people. Value determinants of the assessment of the environment of the big city by the native respondents for the most part had a social focus, and at the same time this category of young people generally did not seek to dominate and manage the environment of the megalopolis. The newcomer young people had an intense orientation to values. This orientation ensured their adaptation to and formation of a positive image of the city as a potential location for their personal self-realization.

This study was developed because vandal behavior is an increasing threat in the world. Countries, commercial companies, and individuals experience great damage to property as a result of individual vandal acts. In addition, vandalism threatens not only “tangible assets” but also the cultural and historical heritage of modern humanity. Despite the threatening spread of vandalism, the study of its psychological foundations, including its origins, in the context of individual life courses is in many ways terra incognita. The objective of the present study was to investigate the genesis of vandal behavior and the sociopsychological and individual personality factors in the formation of readiness to destroy public property and the property of others. A comprehensive study of children, adolescents, and young adults (N=1522), as well as of their social environment, revealed mechanisms of the readiness to commit vandal acts that were present since childhood. The study was conducted by examining four age groups: preschoolers (4–6 years), primary school pupils (7–9 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and young adults (17–22 years); the instruments used were specific-age batteries, observation, expert techniques, and questionnaires. We found that the characteristics of parent-child relationship are is the basis for forming the boundaries of the permissible activity of the child; disturbance in the parent-child relationship can lead to the development of forms of vandalism in children. We describe the specificity and intensity of the vandal activity of adolescents and young adults in the context of their environment, and we look at the individual characteristics that promote deviant behavior. Thus, vandal activity is not only a specific characteristic of adolescents and young adults, and it is not always very destructive. Basic vandal activity originates in the early stages of ontogenesis as a result of a deformation in social interaction that becomes fixed and converted into the destructive actions of people trying through this form of activity to understand themselves in social space.