ABSTRACT

Graffiti provide exemplary unobtrusive measures of behaviors privately produced for public observation and response. Much of the research on graffiti has been theory dominated, with little systematic attention to the content of the graffiti, the method of collection, the sample size, or the reliability of the classificatory systems employed. A temporally paced, reliability-evaluated content analysis was made of the graffiti in nine buildings on the campus of The University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The study shows that graffiti are a more sensitive barometer of social events than had been thought; systematic significant changes over time in both frequency and content of graffiti occur. Results provide clear answers to two frequently discussed issues of graffiti research: First, graffiti differs significantly among buildings with different (student) populations. The results show the previously reported continuing secular decline in the production of sexual graffiti.