What is it about?
Riots often involve damage to property, rather than lethal violence, and damage may include graffiti. This study examines literature and an analysis of graffiti in the Solomon Islands to suggest graffiti and property damage arise in conditions where people feel oppressed, and this behavior has important psychological and political functions. Reading graffiti to understand people’s thoughts and the conditions under which they live can help identify options for more peaceful cities.
Featured Image
Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Reading graffiti to understand people’s thoughts and the conditions under which they live can help identify options for more peaceful cities. Often the views of people in cities in the Global South can be hidden or misrepresented by only listening to political leaders and security authorities as experts on why and how riots arise. Understanding communication of city dwellers can help broaden our knowledge about riots as a complex psychological, political and social behavior.
Perspectives
I have been on the streets during three major riots in the Pacific, and seeing and feeling the emotion of the crowd led me to think more deeply about what riots mean for people in the city and what we can learn from them. I hope this article can correct some of the cliches about "senseless rioters" and point more towards how rioters have their own logic and stories that make a great deal of sense for them, and understanding this is an important first step towards thinking about riot prevention.
Anouk Ride
Australian National University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reading the riot: Understanding urban graffiti and riot violence., Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology, August 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/pac0000816.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
